BOZEMAN, Mont.- CSUB stressed defense in tonight's matchup
with Montana State, the Bobcats countered that effort as both teams grinded out
a defensive struggle with Montana State handing CSUB a 71-67 loss Saturday
night at Worthington Arena.
The Roadrunners and Bobcats exchanged several leads in the
first half with the 'Runners holding a 42-38 lead at the half. CSUB would
extend that leads to eight points 47-39 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Montana State however went on a 9-3 run to recapture the lead with 7:34
remaining. CSUB recaptured the lead on the ensuing possession on a dunk by
Rashad Savage (Jr., Philadelphia,
Penn. Odessa CC), but the Bobcats came back to take the lead for good on the
next possession with an Xavier Blount jumper. While the Roadrunners tied it up
again at 56, the Bobcats ability to get to the free-throw line late allowed
them to build a 6-point lead on two more occasions, the last with two minutes
remaining.
Donald Johnson (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Eastern Arizona CC)
hit two late three-pointers, the last with 15 seconds remaining to make it a
one-point game, but the Bobcats hit their final free throws to hold on for the
71-67 win.
"We're obviously disappointed but I told the guys you want
to put yourself in a position on the road to win and we did that, but just came
up short.," said head coach Rod Barnes. "We need to get back home and as a
staff and players work on some things and make sure this doesn't run over into
Wednesday night."
CSUB's starters were fairly quiet offensively with bench
players Johnson and Robert Hayes (Sr., San Diego, Calif., San Francisco
State) leading the way with a 16
points on 7 of 9 shooting and 13 points on 4 of 6 from three point range
respectively. The Roadrunners struggled to find an offensive flow managing a
season-low 43% from the field and just 36% from the three-point arc.
Defensively the 'Runners held Montana State to just 40% from the field and 27%
from three-point range but sent the Bobcats to the free throw line 37 times.
MSU hit 28-37 while CSUB was 14-24 missing a few key free throws in the final
minutes.
"Not to take anything away from these guys but this was a
game we felt we could come in here in win, so we're disappointed tonight,"
Barnes said. "I am proud of this
team with the way we competed and winning three straight on the road, we'd like
to be 5-1 right now but we get to head home and hopefully the fans will come
out to support us Wednesday night."
Stephon Carter added 13 for CSUB on 4 of 9 from the field in
25 minutes of play and spent much of the first half on the bench in foul
trouble. Rashad Savage added 10
for the 'Runners in the loss.
CSUB returns home Wednesday night hosting Sacramento State
at 7 P.M. in the Icardo Center.
