Bobcat Men Make Critical Plays Late to Collect Home Win Over Vikings

Thursday, February 10

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

19-5,11-2Big Sky

Portland State

8-14,6-8Big Sky

Portland St.

Montana St.

Tyler Patterson made four 3-pointers on Thursday

Photo by: Jack Murrey

Bobcat Men Make Critical Plays Late to Collect Home Win Over Vikings

2/10/2022 10:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

RaeQuan Battle’s 15-foot jumper with 22 seconds to play gave Montana State a two-point lead and Amin Adamu’s free throw 20 seconds later provided the final margin as the Bobcats beat Portland State 77-74 in Worthington Arena on Thursday

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Mont. – RaeQuan Battle's 15-foot jumper with 22 seconds to play gave Montana State a two-point lead and Amin Adamu's free throw 20 seconds later provided the final margin as the Bobcats beat Portland State 77-74 in Worthington Arena on Thursday.

The win, sealed when Ian Burke's half-court attempt missed the mark at the buzzer, extended the Bobcat win streak to 10 games, the team's longest since 1995. The team's 10th straight Big Sky win is a program record and MSU's 19th win on the season is the program's most since winning 20 in 2002.

Portland State used a swarming defense to overcome an 11-point MSU lead with 15:56 to play, and when Damion Squire hit a jumper with 46 seconds left, the Vikings had tied the game for the fifth time in the second half.

"They're a physical team and their activity on defense caused us problems," said Bobcat coach Danny Sprinkle. He credited Battle's creative playmaking for breaking the game's final tie. "That was just RaeQuan making a terrific play."

The teams waged a back-and-forth contest in the first half. PSU trimmed the margin to 37-33 when Squire hit a second-chance basket four seconds before the intermission, but Kellen Tynes drained a long 3-pointer as time expired to give MSU a 40-33 halftime lead.

Battle and frontcourt-mate Tyler Patterson provided most of the Bobcats' offense early, with Battle nailing all three of his triples before the break and Patterson converting all four of his. "We don't win that game without the way those two played in the first half," Sprinkle said. "They combined to go 7-for-7 (from 3-point range) and that was big."

PSU's comeback was led by Squire, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half on five-for-five shooting. Ezekiel Alley scored 18 to lead all players, while Squire and Khalid Thomas added 16. The Vikings forced 16 MSU turnovers while committing only eight, but MSU out-rebounded the visitors 36-to-29.

Abdul Mohamed scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Cats, and Sprinkle credited him for providing a spark in the second half. "Abdul's play in the second half was great," he said.

The Bobcats shot 56.5% in the second half to boost their field goal percentage for the game to 50.9%. The Cats hit 11 of their 19 three-point attempts, while PSU shot 47% on the night, 17.6% from beyond the arc.

MSU raised its record to 19-5 with the win, and the team's 11-2 Big Sky mark is the best in the league after Thursday's games. Portland State is 8-14 overall, 6-8 in the conference. The Cats host Northern Arizona at 12 noon on Saturday.