Big The Bobcats had their shot.
A frenetic final nine seconds began with Montana State possessing at its end of the floor and ended with a shot by senior point guard Marcus Colbert and a Danny Robison tip attempt each falling off the rim. MSU’s missed opportunity Northern Colorado to preserve a 78-76 win in Greeley on Saturday.
The Bobcats erased an eight-point deficit in the game’s final eight minutes, tying the score with 39 seconds to play on a Tyler 3-point shot. On MSU’s next possession, Hall was fouled, and converted the free throw to finish with a game-high 22 points. UNC’s Jeremy Verhagen made a pair of free throws with 26 seconds to play to set up MSU’s final possession.
“We wanted Marcus to drive to the basket and see if we could get a couple guys open,” said MSU head coach Brian Fish. “He got right to the basket. We got what we wanted, but it would have been nice to get a (more open) shot.”
Northern Colorado turned the game’s tide before and after halftime. The Bears closed the first half on an 8-0 run then allowed a 9-5 spurt to open the second half. In all, UNC scored on 11 of 14 possessions surrounding intermission.
UNC’s early second half run was keyed by excellent shooting. The team hit seven of its first 10 shots in the second half, and finished the game at 47 percent shooting. The Bears shot 60 percent in the second half, and hit 17 of 23 free throws. MSU was 9-for-12 from the free throw line.
“Our effort has been good all along,” Fish said. “But we have to get some stops. You can’t allow 60 percent shooting in the second half, and you can’t put the other team at the line as many times as we do, and win on the road.”
Dallas Anglin nailed 5-of-11 from the floor, 2-of-5 from the floor, 8-of-8 from the free throw line for a team-high 20 points. He also dished out six of UNC’s 16 assists. The Bears drilled 7-of-18 3-pointers, including 3-of-4 from Jordan Wilson, who finished with 10 points. Anthony Johnson scored 16 points off the bench and Jordan Davis joined Wilson with 10 points as UNC outscored MSU 36-24 in the paint.
In the first half, each team used 39 possessions, and while neither team shot better than 40.5 percent, each grabbed eight offensive rebounds. Northern Colorado scored 20 of its 42 first-half points in the paint and six came on second-chance possessions.
UNC scored on six of its final seven first half possessions to take a 42-41 lead to the break. MSU junior Steph Holm scored all 11 of his points off the bench in the first half. MSU’s Sarp Gobeloglu shook off a 1-of-5 shooting night from beyond the arc to hit all three of his shots inside to finish with 11 points. Fish elected to go with Robison off the bench, giving Shy Blake his first start as a Bobcat. Blake played just six minutes however; Robison was 1-of-4 from the floor for three points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes. Colbert scored 19 points and dished out three assists. The senior point guard was 7-of-17 from the floor, 1-of-5 from deep. MSU hit 11 3-pointers in the defeat.
Montana State’s loss was its third straight, and drops the Cats to 7-11 overall, 2-4 in Big Sky play. Northern Colorado is now 5-13 overall, 2-4 in the league, and snaps a four-game skein. MSU returns to action at home Thursday against Eastern Washington, the defending Big Sky champions.
By BILL LAMBERTY
Montana State Sports Information
