Weber State Holds Bobcats at Bay

Saturday, January 10

7:05 pm

Montana State University

3-13, 0-4

Weber State

7-8, 2-2

Team	1	2	F
Montana State	29	33	62
Weber State	32	33	65

Michael Dison led the Cats in Ogden Saturday

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

1/10/2015 9:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Late rally falls short for Bobcats

By: Bill Lamberty

Again, Montana State fought to the end. And again, crucial mistakes at key moments cost dearly.

Joel Bolomboy made five free throws and a contested layup in the last four-and-a-half minutes as Weber State held off the Bobcats 65-62 in Ogden on Saturday. Montana State's 19 turnovers, to WSU's 12, and an enormous deficiency in free throws proved decisive.

"We're still changing habits," MSU head coach Brian Fish said of the turnovers that hindered his team on Saturday. "We had a chance to win this game in a pressure situation, and some bad habits came out."

Bolomboy led the Wildcats with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Michael Dison led MSU with 17 points, while Danny Robison grabbed seven boards. MSU out-rebounded the Wildcats 31 to 29, and made more field goals and more free throws. But WSU finished 24-for-31 from the line, while MSU was 9-for-13.

"They scored 15 more points from the free throw line than us," Fish said. "That's a tough deficit to overcome."

The first half followed a familiar pattern. MSU started hot, scoring on three of its first four possessions and jumping out to a 14-6 lead with 13:28 to play in the first half. The Bobcats shot 70% in that game-opening spurt. Weber State answered with a 10-0 run, pulling even at 16-16 nine minutes into the game.

A long MSU dry spell followed. The Cats went seven minutes without scoring, and Weber opened a nine-point lead, but the Bobcats steadied. Marcus Colbert hit a shot just inside a minute to draw MSU within within 30-23, Eric Norman hit a triple, and as the halftime horn sounded Stephan Holm hit a 35-footer to cut the lead to 32-29.

Fish was pleased with his team's effort. "That's as proud as I've been of our effort all year," he said. "It's as long as we've competed in a game this year. It proved to be a winnable game and we didn't get the win, but it's a big stride in the right direction."

MSU falls to 3-13 with its eighth straight loss, 0-4 in Big Sky play. Weber State evened its league record at 2-2, and is now 7-8 on the season. MSU plays at Montana next Saturday.