Bobcats Escape with Senior Night Win

Thursday, February 27

Bozeman, MT

7:05 pm

Montana State University

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SOUTHERN UTAH

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OT 1

Southern Utah

Montana State

Stephan Holm is fouled against Southern Utah

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

2/27/2014 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Freshman Steph Holm, Senior Flavien Davis post big nights

By: Bill Lamberty

A senior asked, and the freshman delivered.

"He actually talked to me before the game," Bobcat sharp-shooter Stephan Holm, his arm on the shoulder of teammate Flavien Davis after Holm's 22 points helped MSU to a 77-72 overtime win over Southern Utah in Bozeman on Thursday.

"I said, 'Steph, can I get a 20-point game out of you tonight? You haven't had one in a while,'" Davis said with a laugh.

Holm's 22-point outburst, a season high, coupled with Davis' 18 points in his last game in Worthington Arena, proved enough help MSU keep pace in the jam-packed middle of the Big Sky standings. It also extended Southern Utah's losing streak to 25 games.

But it wasn't easy.

With the Bobcats leading 50-39 at the 10 minute mark after a Holm three-pointer, Southern Utah responded. The Thunderbirds scored on got an and-one from Casey Oliverson then three-pointers from AJ Hess and Race Parsons. That spurt led to a scores on 12 of 14 possessions and a 26-12 run that pushed SUU into the lead.

The Thunderbirds led by four when Trey Kennedy hit a free throw with 2:31 to play, but Davis answered with a pair of free throws. A Cal Hanks charity shot at 2:10 pushed the lead back to three, but Marcus Colbert hit two free throws and Terrell Brown one to tie the game, and when SUU's Trey Kennedy missed a 30-footer at the buzzer the game was headed for overtime.

"We grinded it out," Huse said, "figured out a way. It didn't look good for a minute or two. It was disappointing because we had a nice lead that we built and didn't put our foot down. I don't know that we let up as much as they just got more efficient and made plays, and then got stops on the other end."

Montana State's first overtime period of the season began slowly, with just one point by either team – a Paul Egwuonwu free throw – in the first two-and-a-half minutes. But when his team needed him the most, Holm delivered triple.

"That was a big shot," Huse said. "It gave us some separation."

Holm concurred. "That definitely helped us," he said. "It felt really good, too, because that put us up by four."

Davis after a pair of free throws by Hess, Davis hit a runner with 1:35 left to push the MSU lead to 69-64. On MSU's final six possessions the Bobcats nine of 12 free throws to seal the win.

"We've done a good job making free throws as of late," Huse said, "especially in the clutch." The Cats hit 15 of 20 free throws in the final five minutes of regulation and the overtime period, and now shoot 77% from the line in the last five minutes of close games this season.

"We figured out a way, that's all I can say," Huse said. "We made enough free throws and hit enough threes and had enough performance to get the win."

You don't want them walking away from tonight with it not going their way for a lot of reasons. We're still playing for an awful lot. They wanted this tonight."

Holm's and Davis' scoring totals led all players, while Paul Egwuonwu added a dozen and Marcus Colbert 11. MSU shot only 39.6% in regulation, but hit two of their three field goal attempts in the overtime. The Cats were 30-of-41 from the free throw line.

Hess scored 15 and grabbed eight points to lead the Thunderbirds, while Casey Oliverson added 13 and Kennedy and Parsons each added 12. The Thunderbirds shot 16-for-30 after halftime.

The numbers added up to a five-point Bobcat win, but MSU faces a gauntlet next week. The Cats play at Montana on Monday, then visit Northern Arizona on Thursday before closing the regular season at Sacramento State on Saturday.

Still, Huse was happy to get out of Worthington Arena with a win on Thursday. "We can breathe a sigh of relief and move on now with a big stretch of games coming up."