Bobcats Use Offense Early, Defense Late to Stop Sac State and Reach Big Sky Title Tilt

Tuesday, March 12

Boise, Idaho

6:30 p.m.

Montana State University

16-17,9-9Big Sky

Sacramento State

10-24,4-14Big Sky

Sacramento St.

Montana St.

Sam Lecholat

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Bobcats Use Offense Early, Defense Late to Stop Sac State and Reach Big Sky Title Tilt

3/12/2024 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Robert Ford III and Sam Lecholat power Montana State to a fourth straight Big Sky Championship Game appearance

By: Bill Lamberty

BOISE, Idaho -- The mission was simple.

"My family and I came to Montana State to compete for championships," Montana State's first-year head coach Matt Logie said after his team beat Sacramento State 74-71 to advance to the Big Sky Championship game for the fourth straight season. "The guys that stayed at Montana State stayed to compete for championships. The guys we brought in last spring came to Montana State to compete for championships. Tomorrow night, that's what we'll do."

The opportunity to play for a third straight Big Sky title came to pass because of another supreme effort by Robert Ford III and spectacular efforts by several others. Ford III scored 19 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-7 from beyond the arc. He grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, and produced four pilfers. The four steals give the Portland native 95 for the season, pushing him past Chris Conway (1987-88) for the most in program history. Logie said that leadership from veterans such as Ford III and Sam Lecholat is as important as production.

"There comes kind of a subtlety to winning championships, and it's culture-related," Logie said in post-game interviews flanked by Ford III and Lecholat. "I was fortunate to take over a program that had a strong culture, these guys stuck around to help carry that forward, our staff has a tremendous amount of experience in these types of moments and situations, and we've felt very confident all year long that if we can stick to the process and keep growing, but the time we get to this week we can play our best basketball and our best basketball is good enough."

In a game that produced several extended scoring runs, Montana State's ability to hold the fort in the final moments proved the difference. The Cats led 71-65 with 2:25 to play when Ford III knifed through Sac States defense for a layup. Austin Patterson answered to trim the lead to four, and after a Bobcat turnover Alex Kovatchev's putback drew the Hornets within two, 71-69.

A Hornet stop gave Sac State the chance to tie, but Sam Lecholat blocked a Zee Hamoda layup and snared the rebound, giving the Cats possession with 62 seconds remaining. Another MSU miss produced a scramble for the rebound, and Brian Goracke was whistled for a foul. At the other end, Hamoda missed the front end of the one-and-one forcing Sac State to foul with 27 seconds left.

Ford III was the recipient, and he connected on the front end before missing the second shot. With the Cats leading 72-69, Austin Patterson's layup from the baseline with 19 seconds to play again narrowed the lead to one, 72-71. On the inbound play MSU guard Jed Miller was torpedoed for a foul, then calmly drained both charity tosses.

"I'm really proud of Jed," Logie said. "He's hung in there all year long, and we've had to plug him into some pretty pressurized situations. The kid has moxy. He's done it before. That's what winners do."

Leading again by three, the Bobcats forced an off-balance three-pointer by Hamoda and a layup attempt by Emil Skytta. The ball bounced out of bounds with 0.2 seconds left, not enough time to catch-and-shoot from the arc, and Lecholat stole the inbound pass and flinged it into the rafters.

"The feeling when I threw the ball up, Rob has been here a couple years and he knows what it feels like, it's something that we're going to be here for a fourth time and we're prepared," Lecholat said. "When Coach Logie came here, I had no doubt from that first coaching interview that he was the guy for us. He's led us tremendously and I can't thank him enough."

In a 66-63 win in Bozeman in late February, the Hornets out-rebounded MSU 37-27. On Tuesday night in Boise the Bobcats turned the tables. The Cats out-rebounded Sac State 37-32, and in spite of allowing 11 offensive rebounds gave up just nine second-chance points. "That was just effort," Logie said. "It doesn't ever feel like (you're out-rebounding) those guys. Sam Lecholat giving us 11 boards and some great rim protection down the stretch was really important."

Lecholat logged his second double-double of the season, scoring 13 points with 11 rebounds and two important blocked shots late in the game. He also blocked three shots in Monday's win against Weber State, complementing his nine points and six rebounds. "I thought Sam was tenacious out there," Logie said. "When you have a team as physical and as big as Sacramento State you need guys to play above their weight class. (Lecholat and Ford III) are all heart, they're all fight, they represent what this program is about. They're blue-collar, chip-on-the-shoulder type guys, and I couldn't be prouder of how they stepped up."

Two scoring runs defined the first half. With Sacramento State leading 18-17 at the 13:34 mark, Sam Lecholat hit a three-pointer to give MSU its first lead since the game's early seconds. A turnaround jumper by Goracke expanded the lead to 22-18 and by the time Brandon Walker sank a layup with 6:05 remaining in the half the Bobcats had banked a 21-6 run to build a 38-24 lead. Lecholat scored nine points during that stretch, and Goracke five.

Unfazed, the Hornets responded. Austin Patterson dropped a couple of jumpers and Sacramento State closed the first half on a 14-4 run to draw within 42-38. Montana State shot 52 percent from the floor and 47 percent from three-point range in the first half, while Sac State hit at a 50 percent clip from the floor and a scorching 55 percent rate from deep.

Logie liked his team's early aggressiveness. "We hit them with a pretty good punch there in the first half, we built a big lead and were playing really good basketball. One of the things we've been trying to develop with this group is a killer instinct and they wanted to continue to break it open. When Sac State made their run the first thing we had to address was, This isn't going to be easy. You're not usually going to blow people out in March in the conference tournament. We expect to be able to handle those runs the way our guys regrouped after that and understood this is going to be a 40 minute fight."

MSU's commitment to team defense allows him to work inside, Lecholat said. "On the defensive side when we have to be in the gaps and everything, when other guys drive it's kind of an advantage to be a little smaller because I can hide behind other guys and just magically appear (to block a shot)."

MSU's defense limited Sacramento State to 41 percent shooting on the night, but the Hornets also made 41 percent of their three-point attempts. While the Cats out-rebounded Sac State, the Hornets forced 12 Bobcat turnovers while giving the ball away only eight times. Four of those turnovers were steals by Ford III. Lecholat and Brandon Walker each added 13 points to Ford III's game-high 19. Austin Patterson scored 16 to lead the Hornets, while Bowyn Beatty grabbed seven boards to pace the Hornets.

Montana State's trip to the Big Sky title game is its fourth in a row, tied for the second-longest such streak in league history, and the team's current eight-game tournament winning streak is tied for the longest conference history.

#GoCatsGo