Montana State Opens Northern Classic with 77-66 Loss to UNC Greensboro

Friday, November 25

Montreal, Canada

2:30 p.m.

Montana State University

3-3,0-0Big Sky

UNC Greensboro

3-2,0-0SoCon

UNC Greensboro

Montana St.

Jubrile Belo

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

Montana State Opens Northern Classic with 77-66 Loss to UNC Greensboro

11/25/2022 8:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Jubrile Belo, RaeQuan Battle and Great Osobor finished in double-figures, yet free-throw shooting woes prevented MSU from hanging with the Spartans late.

MONTREAL — Hindered by a late drought and free-throw shooting woes down the stretch, the Montana State men's basketball team fell to the UNC Greensboro Spartans 77-66 in the first game of the Northern Classic, held in Montreal, Canada on Friday night.

In a game with nine ties and 23 lead changes, the Bobcats (3-3) clawed back after trailing the Spartans (3-2) by as many as eight points. Yet free-throw shooting was the key late, as the Spartans went 17-for-19 (89.5%) from the charity stripe in the second half while the Bobcats went 7-for-14 (50%). Although UNCG committed more turnovers (17) than the Bobcats (16), the Spartans out-rebounded MSU by a 31-28 margin and connected on 46.9% of their field goals.

"There are little things we have to clean up, but I thought our guys played hard," Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle told Bobcat Sports Radio Network. "Give UNCG credit, they played really hard and they had great energy, but I thought we matched it. I think it came down to a couple of possessions at the end of the game that I wish we would've capitalized on."

Jubrile Belo (18 points on 6-for-12 shooting), RaeQuan Battle (14 points) and Great Osobor (13 points) all finished in double-figures to lead the Bobcats. Friday's game marked the fourth double-figure effort for Battle and a season-high for Osobor, the latter of whom sparked the Bobcats in the second half.

"I am happy for Great," Sprinkle said. "He finished today and really did a great job on the low block. When he posts up hard and does what he did tonight, he's really good. Hopefully he can continue that tomorrow night because we're going to need him."

Montana State jumped out to an early 5-2 lead with Battle's first field goal, then a corner three from Tyler Patterson, but the Spartans would go on a 7-0 run of their own to take the lead. Belo rattled off three-straight points for the Bobcats to help MSU take a 16-15 lead with 13:35 to go, but UNCG took advantage of a 3 minute, 21 second-span without a made field goal to take a 23-16 lead.

Battle moved into double-figures for the fourth time of the season with a three that helped pull MSU within a possession, trailing 27-24 with 9:04 to play. Yet UNCG would eventually extend its lead to eight points off a transition layup from Bas Leyte to make it a 36-28 game with 5:21 left.

Robert Ford III provided a spark for the Bobcats late by scoring five-straight points: first by barreling into the lane for a right-handed layup, then by sinking a wide-open corner three off a pass from fellow guard Darius Brown II. The Bobcats would take a 38-37 lead on an and-one opportunity from Osobor, but UNCG would carry a 39-38 halftime lead.

Belo would continue drawing contact from UNCG's bigs to open the second half, as he got the scoring started by splitting a pair of free throws. A Belo dunk and a friendly roll off a layup from Sam Lecholat gave Montana State a 44-43 lead, then both teams kept things close until Brown II's layup put MSU up 53-49 with 11:38 to go.

However, a slew of costly MSU turnovers midway through the second half kept the Spartans in the game when the Bobcats could have put the game away.

"At around the 10-minute mark, we had three-straight turnovers, and UNCG capitalized on all of them," Sprinkle said. "We had a chance to get the lead to six, eight or ten points, but we gave up a couple of 'pick sixes.'"

The Bobcats would go over three minutes without a field goal until Osobor went on a personal 4-0 run to give MSU a 58-57 lead with 6:41 to play. Then the scoring stalled for both sides. Belo tied the game at 59 by splitting a pair of free throws with 5:39 left, but four-straight free throws from UNCG put the Spartans up 63-59.

With 4:12 to play, Patterson's second three of the game gave MSU new life and made it a one-point game in favor of the Spartans. The Bobcats wouldn't get closer. Although both teams were in the bonus, UNCG went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe while MSU went 2-for-4 after the final media timeout to hand the Bobcats a 77-66 loss.

Keondre Kennedy led the Spartans with 20 points and 6 rebounds — both of which were game-highs.

MSU's next game in the Northern Classic is this Saturday night against the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. The Bobcats will finish the MTE with a game against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 27 at 11:30 a.m. MT. All games will be streamed on BeTheBeast Event Live+, which can be purchased online or at the link provided on the men's basketball team's schedule page at msubobcats.com. Additionally, a free radio broadcast will be provided through the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.