Battle Buzzer Beater Lifts Bobcats Over Bears in Gritty Regular Season Finale

Saturday, March 5

BOZEMAN

4 p.m.

Montana State University

24-7,16-4Big Sky

Northern Colorado

18-14,13-7Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana St.

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Battle Buzzer Beater Lifts Bobcats Over Bears in Gritty Regular Season Finale

3/5/2022 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

A RaeQuan Battle buzzer-beating three-pointer turned what would have been a disappointing loss into a thrilling 87-85 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Mont. – RaeQuan Battle took the pass with just under four seconds to play in the backcourt, surveyed the scene, took four dribbles forward and to his right, and set his feet just beside the logo at center court.

"Honestly, no," Battle said when asked if he felt he'll ever miss a shot when he sets his feet and squares his shoulders. He let the ball fly, the buzzer sounded as it soared toward the basket at the west end of Worthington Arena, and it passed through the cylinder touching nothing but the net.

Battle's buzzer-beating three-pointer turned what would have been a disappointing loss into a thrilling 87-85 victory over Northern Colorado. The Bobcats overcame the absence of starting center Jubrile Belo and the second half without starting point guard Xavier Bishop, a pair of all-league players, against a team fighting for a top-three seed in next week's Big Sky Tournament.

"It probably was our grittiest (win)," said Bobcat coach Danny Sprinkle. "They just kept battling. They came back to huddles and had a look in their eye like, 'coach, we're going to win this game.' And it's like I told them, we made enough plays to put ourselves, even with (the mistakes), in position to win."

The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout. Northern Colorado led for 22:34 minutes of the game, MSU for 10:58, but the Bears' largest lead was eight and Montana State's seven. The Cats trailed for much of the second half, but Nick Gazelas hit a jumper with 6:22 to play to tie the game at 67-67. Gazelas then made two free throws to give the Cats a lead, and then a Great Osobor charity toss pushed MSU's lead to 70-67.

The Bears responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a Daylen Kountz dunk that made the score 73-70 UNC. The score pinballed back and forth, but with 22 seconds to play Gazelas hit what seemed to be a dagger.

"We came out of the one time out and Abdul (Mohamed) drove and kicked it back because they collapse hard on drives, and Nick knocked a big shot down," said Sprinkle. That three-pointer gave MSU an 84-80 cushion.

Kountz answered with a driving layup with 16 seconds to play, and on the ensuing inbound play a Bobcat turnover resulted in a steal by Dalton Knecht. The Bears forward found Bodie Hume all alone in the corner, and he calmly hit a three-pointer that, again, looked like a dagger. UNC led 85-84.

That set up MSU's game-winning heroics, but the situation didn't unfold exactly as planned. "He's the second option," Sprinkle said of Battle. "As soon as they put Kur Jongkuch back there I knew we couldn't throw it to Amin (Adamu). It'd be hard. So (we told him) if you get it, you've just got to go."

Battle's thought process upon receiving the inbounds pass was simple. "Four seconds is a lot of time," Battle said. "Our initial play was to go to Zino and when I caught it I was looking for him, but they double-teamed and that gave me the opening to go straight up the middle. If you give me that option, I'm going to shoot it."

There were moments when the proposition that Montana State would be in position to win the game seemed unlikely. One occurred in pregame, when Belo arrived on the court in street clothes. The next came at the start of the second half, when Bishop returned to the bench in a walking boot after an injury at the end of the first half.

With Belo sidelined, Osobor played an enormous role. The freshman center scored 19 points on 7-9 shooting, grabbed five boards, and blocked two shots with two steals. Adamu, on his senior day, scored 17 points with six rebounds and four assists.

But the most important contribution came by Gazelas, normally a shooting guard who shared point guard duties in the second half with Kellen Tynes. "(Gazelas) completely saved the day," Sprinkle said. "He was really aggressive driving the basketball, he was tremendous. He was the key. Being aggressive, getting the ball to the rim, and now he's a threat because he made some great passes."

While Gazelas hasn't played much point guard in games as a Bobcat, he did in high school and junior college, and also takes those reps in practice. "I work on it a lot," he said. "I don't do it a lot in games but I'm comfortable enough that if they ask me to do it, I'll do it. Anything to help my team win, I'll do."

Gazelas did plenty to help his team win on Saturday. The junior poured in 19 points and dished out two assists without a turnover. He shot 7-12 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, and 3-3 from the line, and chipped in a steal.

The win pushed the season record for the 2022 Big Sky regular season champions to 24-7, the most wins by a Bobcat team since Brick Breeden's 1951 squad won 24. The only other post-war Bobcat squad with more wins was Breeden's 1946-47 team that finished 25-11. MSU is 16-4 in Big Sky play and heads to Boise for next week's Big Sky Tournament. The Cats play on Thursday. UNC is 18-14, 13-7.