Bobcats Start Fast, Finish Strong in Win over Portland State

Saturday, February 8

Bozeman, MT

7:05 pm

Montana State University

6-611-12/ BSC

PORTLAND STATE

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Portland State

Montana State

Marcus Colbert's three-pointer helped MSU to a quick start Saturday

Photo by: Ruth Shellenberg

Bobcats Start Fast, Finish Strong in Win over Portland State

2/8/2014 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Paul Egwuonwu leads Cats with double-double

By: Bill Lamberty

Quick start? Check. Rebound well? Check. Make free throws down the stretch? Check.

Montana State cleaned up many of the issues that plagued it during a recent string of five losses in six games, and the result was a 69-64 win over Portland State in Worthington Arena on Saturday. The Cats even had to come from behind to get the win, trailing by as many as many as eight points and as late as the 6:08 mark.

"It was kind of a game of runs," said Bobcat coach Brad Huse. "Obviously we got off to a good start. They ran at us, we hung in there and got it back to a tie at half. Then they jumped out on us in the second half and we made one big run at the end there to get the lead. A lot of things factor into that, but I'm proud of our guys."

The Bobcats jumped out of the gates quickly, grabbing a 16-6 lead at the 13:11 mark. Saturday's game marked the first lead MSU has held at the 10-minute mark of the first half in the last eight games. A pair of Marcus Colbert three-pointers in the first three minutes propelled MSU to that lead.

The Vikings had an answer, though. After a Marcus Hall free throw cut MSU's lead to 16-7, Zach Gengler hit a three-pointer and a free throw, and PSU's run was on. The Vikings scored on nine of ten possessions to take a 28-21 lead at the 6:40 mark. The Bobcats battled back, and when Paul Egwuonwu laid the ball in seven seconds before halftime the Bobcats had forged a 32-32 tie.

Portland State spurted to open the second half, scoring the first seven points and holding an eight point lead with 12:25 to play. The Bobcats chipped away, taking a lead on a pair of Antonio Biglow free throws with 5:28 remaining. Paul Egwuonwu and Biglow hit back-to-back jumpers, then Stephan Holm drilled a three-pointer with 3:17 to play to give MSU a 63-55 cushion.

"A big three, obviously, right in front of the bench," Huse said of Holm's triple. "He's a good shooter, and when he rises to shoot you feel awfully good about it. Then when he hits those clutch free throws, those are a couple of big plays."

The free throws came with 31 seconds left, and capped a wild play. Portland State had possession with a chance to tie, when Flavien Davis tipped a PSU pass then saved it in front of the PSU bench to Holm. The freshman guard was fouled, and calmly canned his first two charity tosses since November. Biglow hit two free throws moments later, and in all the Bobcats were 6-for-6 from the line in the game's final 2:22.

Against the league's smallest lineup, MSU's center position was the center of attention. For openers, Blake Brumwell started instead of Egwuonwu. The junior from Big Sandy grabbed three important rebounds, but Egwuonwu made his presence felt immensely. The 6-9 senior scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out a pair of assists. He also blocked a shot.

"Obviously it's a strength of ours, our interior, between Paul and Flavien," Huse said. "It's obviously important that those two guys and whoever's in there at those two spots come to play."

Both Brumwell and Egwuonwu drew praise from MSU's eighth-year head coach. "Blake is an every-day guy, he just comes and brings it," Huse said. "He's a great communicator on the floor. He's an energy guy, he's a leader on our team and in our locker room. You respect his approach in a sense. The thing that's the best with Paul is his response, just keeping his head down and moving forward and supporting his teammates. Then he comes out and really competes, like he did tonight. And that makes a team, frankly."

Huse liked the way his team solved the puzzle of the size mismatch – PSU played a four-guard lineup for much of the evening – on Saturday. "There are two ways to look at that," Huse said. "You want to go inside, but at the same time you're trying to match up with their quickness and they have good three-point shooters."

Kyle Richardson led the Vikings, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards. Gary Winston scored 14 points for PSU. Holm scored 15 for MSU, while Colbert added 14 and Davis 10. MSU out-rebounded the Vikings 38-to-34, and MSU shot 50% in the second half while holding Portland State to 36% after the intermission.

The trait Huse liked best about his team on Saturday doesn't show up in statistics. "You just try to stay level. It's hard in the midst of four games in eight days and some tough moments in the middle of that. I thought our guys just showed a lot of toughness to keep moving forward."

Montana State and Portland both stand 6-6 in Big Sky play after Saturday. MSU is 11-12 overall, while the Vikings at 11-10. MSU heads to the Midwest for a game at North Dakota on Thursday.