Bobcats Persevere to Top Vandals in Double-Overtime

Thursday, January 26

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

5-410-12/ Big Sy

Idaho

4-49-10/ Big Sky

OT 1

OT 2

Idaho

Montana State

Devonte Klines

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

1/26/2017 11:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Devonte Klines scored nine points in the final five minutes to boost the Bobcats

By: Bill Lamberty

One thing is clear after Montana State's 94-91 double-overtime win over Idaho in Bozeman on Thursday: 40 minutes is not enough when these two ancient Big Sky rivals get together.

Just 19 days after Idaho needed 45 minutes to top the Cats 83-81 in Moscow, Devonte Klines scored nine of his 13 points in the second overtime to boost MSU to the win and extend the team's win streak to four games. Tyler Hall led all players with 31 points, and he liked his team's competitiveness.

"It was kind of similar to our away game at Idaho a couple weeks ago," the sophomore said. "It was tough, it came down to the final possession a couple times. We kept fighting. We've been doing that for four straight games now. We're trying to establish a mindset going into every game."

Each team missed an earlier opportunity to win. Hall's three-pointer at the end of regulation rimmed out, and Pat Ingram missed a layup as the first extra period expired.

"That's not how we drew that up," Bobcat coach Brian Fish said of that play. "We dodged a bullet," Hall said.

After Benson Osayande opened the second overtime with a short jumper, Tyler Hall came up with a steal near mid-court on the ensuing possession and shoveled the ball ahead to Klines. MSU's six-foot guard who admits to feeling "about 6-10" when he gets a head of steam going toward the rim hammered the ball home with emphatic dunk to extend the lead to four. Idaho tied the game on free throws, setting up Klines for the game's pivotal moment.

With 1:51 remaining, he hit a short jumper to give MSU the lead. Then, after another Hall steal, Klines found himself with the ball late in the shot clock.

"I felt me gaining momentum after hitting my mid-range shot," he said, "and when I caught the ball and there were like seven seconds left (on the shot clock) I heard coach say, 'Shoot it.' When I hear that it gives me more confidence, so I shot the ball."

The result was a dramatic, high-arching three-pointer that burrowed to the bottom of the twine, giving the Cats a five-point lead. The Vandals only got as close as two with less than four seconds remaining, and MSU held on the for the win.

Fish liked his team's mentality throughout the exhaustive affair. "Good teams just grind," he said. "They don't celebrate (during the game), they just grind. I thought our guys did that tonight."

Fish also found a little math in his team's favor on Thursday. In the earlier meeting between the Vandals and MSU, Idaho scored 35 points from the free throw line (on 42 attempts), while MSU managed just 23 attempts, converting 18. "It's tough to win when you get out-scored by 17 points from the line," he said. On Thursday, MSU was 30-for-41 from the free throw line, while Idaho was 22-for-37.

While both teams fought adversity throughout, MSU's biggest dose came with just under three minutes remaining in regulation when freshman point guard Harald Frey fouled out. "Harry does a lot for us that people don't really notice," Hall said. "Fans don't really pay attention to how hard it is to bring the ball up every time. He's our press breaker. Without him out there we struggled a little bit, but we found a way."

That way came with Hall and Klines handling the ball for the game's final 12-and-a-half minutes. While combining to run the point, the sophomore tandem scored 25 of MSU's final 30 points.

Idaho hit turbulence late in regulation, as well, when leading scorer Victor Sanders fouled out. He finished with 18 points after torching the Cats for 27 in the earlier meeting.

Hall scored 31 to lead all players, the ninth 30-point contest in his 53-game career and the first of those Montana State won. Frey scored 20, and Sam Neumann gobbled up a career-high 12 rebounds.

Montana State raised its record to 10-12 with the win, 5-4 in Big Sky play. Idaho is now 9-10, 4-4. The Cats host Eastern Washington at 2 pm on Saturday.