Montana State fought tooth and nail in Moscow in search of its first road in almost a year. Again, Tyler Hall made clutch shots. Again, the sophomore sensation surpassed 30 points. Again, Montana State fell on the road as the Bobcats’ losing streak dating back to February 6 of 2016 reached 10 games.
BJ Blake’s tip-in with three seconds to play in overtime lifted Idaho to an 83-81 overtime win over Montana State in Moscow on Saturday night. The Bobcats lost for the ninth time in 10 outings this season as a season that once started 5-2 sits at 6-11, including 1-3 in Big Sky Conference play.
Hall scored 32 points two nights after dropping 33 in a 82-64 loss at Eastern Washington. He hit 9-of-10 free throws, including two to put MSU up 70-67 with 25 seconds left in regulation. But Benson Osayande fouled Idaho All-Big Sky junior Victor Sanders on a 3-pointer. Sanders hit all three free throws to tie the game at 70 with three seconds left in regulation.
Montana State sophomore Tyler Hall/by Brooks Nuanez
In overtime, Hall hit a pull-up jump shot to put MSU up two with three minutes left. He hit three straight free throws to give MSU a 78-76 lead with 1:36 left. After getting called for an offensive foul that led to two Sanders free throws, Hall hit a turnaround 3-pointer to tie the game at 81 with 35 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Idaho wound the clock almost all the way down before Pat Ingram missed a layup. Blake tapped the ball in to give UI the final margin with three seconds left. Sam Neumann’s inbounds pass was stolen by Ingram as Idaho secured its first Big Sky win.
Blake, who missed Idaho’s 70-57 loss to Montana on Thursday with an ailing back, finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds as Idaho built a 43-38 advantage on the glass. Sanders scored 27 points, including hitting 15 of his 17 free throw attempts on a night that saw the Vandals sink 35-of-42 from the stripe. Chad Sherwood finished with 17 points and hit three 3-pointers, including a triple with 1:18 left to put Idaho up 79-78.
The 30-point performance for Hall is his fifth this season and the seventh of his career. Montana State is 0-7 in those contests. Hall converted 9-of-20 from the floor and made half of his 10 3-point attempts in 43 minutes of action. The 6-foot-5 sophomore surpassed 400 points this season. He has 411 points and carries a scoring average of 24.2 points per game.
MSU freshman Harald Frey hit 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and scored 15 points in 38 minutes of action. The bobcats buried 11 3-pointers overall. Senior Quinton Everett bounced back from Thursday’s one-point performance to score 15 points in 26 minutes despite a bothersome knee. Everett hit the Bobcats’ other 3-pointer aside from the 10 Hall and Frey combined for. MSU was 1-of-10 from deep other than its starting backcourt.
