Bobcats Hold Off San Jose State Rally for Road Win

Sunday, December 13

2 pm PT

Montana State University

5-4

San Jose State

4-6

Montana State

San Jose State

Bobcat coaches Brian Fish (left) and Kenya Crandell

12/13/2015 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Guard line triggers victory, but many contribute

By: Bill Lamberty

Freshman Tyler Hall calmly drained five of his six free throw attempts in the game's closing minutes, as Montana State topped San Jose State 91-83 at the SJSU Event Center on Sunday afternoon.

A week after the Bobcats' own comeback fell short against Omaha, MSU held off a furious Spartan effort at overcoming a 15-point first half Montana State lead. The win was the second by the Cats over SJSU in a month.

"To get a sweep of a team like San Jose State from the Mountain West Conference, to finish it on the road, is a good feeling," said second-year Bobcat coach Brian Fish. "It's a good credit to the kids."

Montana State led 43-28 when Marcus Colbert hit a three-pointer with 1:45 left in the first half, but a Spartans flurry trimmed the lead to nine before Danny Robison's triple as time expired gave MSU a 47-35 advantage at the intermission. A week ago the Bobcats overcame a large deficit to vault back into contention, and San Jose State did that on Sunday.

A 13-4 run drew the Spartans within three at the 12:36 mark, 60-57, and after a three-point play by Robison SJSU scored seven straight to grab a 66-64 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. The teams played on even terms for about five minutes, but Colbert's three-point play at the 2:58 mark gave the Cats a lead they would never let go.

The Cats received a balanced offensive effort in the scoring column. Hall scored 24 points, including MSU's first 11 of the game, but Sarp Gobeloglu's career-high 16 and Robison's 14 spurred the team.

Fish was most pleased by leading scorer Colbert's below-average scoring day – he finished with 12, seven below his eight-game average – because of what it meant to his teammates. "I thought Marcus did a great job getting everyone involved," Fish said, "and he was able to score when we needed him."

Colbert dished out nine assists on Sunday. That was a season-high, one tick below a career-best, and according to Fish helped boost several teammates. Among them was Hall, whose 24 point extended a remarkable string of games to begin his career. He has scored more than 20 in three of MSU's last five games, and averages 17.1 points a game on the season.

"He's a special player," Fish said, "I've been saying that. That's obvious. But there's a lot left. He has a lot of things to improve to become even better."

Entering the game's final 71 seconds Sunday, Montana State's free throw shooting appeared to be a problem. The team was 8-for-18 from the line at that point. But Marcus Colbert split a pair and Hall hit six of his last eight to seal the win.

The missed free throws and 16 turnovers would often provide an obstacle to large to overcome, but the Cats were able to do so Sunday, Fish said, by relying on many different players. "Danny Robison really gave us a boost, Marcus overcame some mistakes to give us a boost, Sarp stepped up and hit some big shots. It was a good group effort."

Fish also lauded the play of junior center Shy Blake, whose eight points was his most against a Division I opponent. Blake scored six of his eight points in the second half. "You look at his line in the box score and it doesn't jump out at you," Fish said. "But I thought Shy was really important today. He hit a couple of layups when they were really showing some energy on the perimeter (defensively). That changed how they had to play us."

The win gives MSU a two-game sweep of its Mountain West Conference opponent, and boosts the Bobcats to 5-4 on the season. SJSU is now 4-6. The Cats play at North Dakota State on Wednesday.