Montana State University
SACRAMENTO STATE
MSU Men Hold Off Hornets
1/19/2012 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Hot shooting early, timely shooting down the stretch boosts Cats to win
Montana State countered a late Sacramento State surge by converting all six of its free throws in the last 30 seconds, holding on for a 72-65 win in Bozeman on Thursday.
“We made plays we needed to make there at the end, certainly starting with Rod's charge,” Bobcat coach Brad Huse said of guard Rod Singleton. “We made free throws in a clutch situation. That's important.”
Montana State built a lead as large as 16 points in the second half, but the Hornets slowly whittled the lead. Jourdain Allou's layup at 13:07 pushed the lead to 54-41, the last time it would be that large. A 5-0 Sac State run cut the lead to eight, and after MSU built it back to 12 the Hornets scored seven straight.
Sac State trailed only 66-63 with 2:34 to play after a Dylan Garrity three-pointer, but while the MSU defense was in the midst of a three-and-a-half minute dry spell, but Bobcat defense cranked up the pressure. The Hornets scored only two points in the last two-and-a-half minutes.
“It's hard to find ourselves in that position (of being in a close game) again,” Huse said of his team's nail-biting win. Six of Montana State's seven Division I victories this season have come by seven points or fewer. “At the same time, our guys have been there before so they knew what had to be done to get the win.”
Each team got off to a scorching shooting start. MSU shot 50% in the first half, while the Hornets shot 52%. But Sac State's 10 first half turnovers allowed the Cats to build a 40-28 lead at the intermission.
Freshman guard Dylan Garrity led all players with 18 points, dished out four assists to only two turnovers, and added three pilfers. Heath Hoffman added 15 points for the Hornets on 6-for-9 shooting.
Tre Johnson registered his first double-double as a Bobcat, scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds. He also blocked a shot. Xavier Blount added 14 points, while Mohamed Fall scored 10 points with seven rebounds and two blocks.
The Bobcats raise their record to 9-8 with the victory, including a 4-2 mark in conference play. The Hornets are 5-12 overall, 0-6 in the league. MSU hosts Northern Colorado Saturday at 7 pm.
