Bobcats hold on to snap six-game losing streak against the Griz

BOZEMAN - Amin Adamu scored 19 points and Jubrile Belo grabbed 10 rebounds, but Montana State coach Danny Sprinkle was equally impressed with several less obvious elements of his team's 66-59 win over Montana in Worthington Arena Sunday afternoon.

"Late, we got a couple of big stops," said Sprinkle, who watched his Bobcats stem a 16-3 second-half run that drew the visitors within 56-53 with 4:34 to play.

After that, senior guard Xavier Bishop converted an and-one three-point play and then MSU's defense held the Grizzlies to 1-for-4 shooting with two turnovers.

"Kellen Tynes came in and had a couple huge strips and rebounds. I'm really proud of our bench. I'm really proud of our two freshmen, Great Osabor and Sam Lecholat, who came in. We don't win that game if they don't do what they did."

Montana State's win snapped a three-game Grizzlies win streak this season, and a six-game UM streak in the series, and it came with UM perched atop the league standings with a 4-1 mark entering play Sunday and the Cats a game behind. The Bobcats found their way to the winners' column with one particular type of occurrence.

"We call them championship plays," Sprinkle said, "and you have to make those plays to beat the University of Montana. To beat a Travis DeCuire-coached team you have to make those plays. I kept telling the guys the last eight minutes you can't wait for something to happen. You can't wait for the rebound to come to you. You have to make the play. You have to be aggressive, and if you're not aggressive you're not going to win the game. And our guys, give them all the credit, they made those plays, especially late."

Along with strong defense on both ends of the floor throughout the evening, the game's benchmark characteristic was physicality.

"It was really physical," said Adamu, a senior forward whose 19 points led all players.

He scored 13 points in the first half, and his strong play early helped the Cats keep contact when Montana started strong.

"We had to match their intensity. They're a physical team and to win a game like this, we had to out-tough them."

Sprinkle agreed that Montana State matching its rival's physicality was a key feature of the triumph.

"I thought it was a tremendously physical game, probably hard to officiate," he said. "I thought both teams battled. It was a defensive-minded game on both sides. It came down to we just made a couple more threes at the end of the day. Holding them to only four threes was critical for us because they can really get it going, especially Beasley. When they start that dribble-drive stuff it's really, really hard to guard."

The Grizzlies built a pair of six-point leads in the opening minutes, but MSU responded. Using a 19-12 run in the last nine minutes of the first half, MSU built momentum heading into the second stanza. At that point, the Cats caught fire. Abdul Mohamed hit a 3-pointer coming out of the intermission, then after a Robbie Beasley triple Adamu answered with a trey, Tyler Patterson used his length to convert a reverse layup, and Bishop hit a short jumper. Then Belo's jam pushed Montana State's lead to 48-35 – the largest it would be - and MSU had control.

"They bounced right back," Sprinkle said. "We had a couple sloppy turnovers, and they started driving us and got to the free throw line."

The engine of UM's comeback was Cameron Parker, who scored only two points in the game's first 25 minutes. When he checked in with 14:46 to play, the game's complexion changed. Perker hit a layup, converted an and-one opportunity, then made four free throws. All of a sudden, MSU's lead was 52-47.

"They have a lot of guys you have to key on," Sprinkle said.

Josh Bannan, who scored 11 points for Montana, hit a jumper, then immediately Parker hit a 3-pointer to draw the Grizzlies within three.

Bishop made one of the game's big plays at that point. With just over four minutes left Bishop took off from near mid-court, got a step on his defender, then made a layup and converted the ensuing free throw to push the lead back to 59-53. Montana never trimmed the lead to one possession again. Belo's dunk with 48 seconds to play pushed MSU's lead back to six, and the Bobcats converted four of six free throws over the next 30 seconds.

"I kept being physical," Belo said, "kept being aggressive, going up strong, just sticking with it."

His physicality led to 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Bishop added 11 points and three assists without turning the ball over.

"I thought (Xavier) having no turnovers was really important," Sprinkle said. Mohamed added 10 points and four rebounds.

With 14 seconds to play, Tynes made his second steal of the late minutes and Montana State dribbled out the win.

"Those are championship plays for sure," Adamu said of the little plays that the Bobcats turned into a big win. "They reminded me of the (conference) tournament last year, and you win games like that making toughness plays."

Parker finished with 18 points to pace the Grizzlies, while Beasley added 15 and Bannan 11. Bannan matched Belo's rebounding total with 10, while Derrick Carter-Hollinger scored nine points, grabbed five boards, and blocked three shots.

Montana State is now 12-5 on the season - the most wins in the Big Sky - and 4-2 in conference play. UM is 11-6, 4-2. The Grizzlies host Southern Utah Thursday before the Thunderbirds visit Montana State on Saturday at 4 pm.