Tyler Hall has spent a minimal amount of time in foul trouble during his two seasons at Montana State. The star sophomore, MSU’s virtuoso leading scorer, picked up his fourth foul with nearly 12 minutes to go in the second half in Bozeman on Thursday night.
But the Bobcats weathered the Portland State storm and extended the lead with Hall sitting on the bench. And when he returned, Hall provided some of the greatest heroics of his young career.
Hall finished with 24 points despite sitting for more than five minutes in the second half. His final two lifted Montana State to yet another heart-stopping overtime victory in front of 2,471 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
With 27 seconds to play in the fourth overtime game this season for MSU, including the third at the Brick, MSU isolated Hall just across the half court. Hall dribbled the clock under 10 seconds before crossing over to his left to get a step on Portland State junior Deontae North. Junior Brandon Hollins came to help but it was too late for the Vikings.
Hall elevated and let go his trademark silky mid-range jump shot. The ball careened off the left side of the rim, rolled all the way around for 1.3 seconds and fell through to give Montana State a 92-90 lead with 3.9 seconds left. MSU held on.
Tyler Hall’s game-winning shot
“(Hall) is the fifth-leading scorer in the country, he’s 6-5, he’s hard to guard and he was 7-of-9 at that point. We want the ball in his hands,” MSU head coach Brian Fish said. “That’s a play we work on. We’ve built a lot of trust in our team that he is going to make that shot. I liked our rebounding position when he shot it, we were playing the miss and we got lucky to pull that one out.”
Portland State senior slasher De’Sean Parsons, who’s free throw with 0.2 seconds left in regulation sent the game to OT tied at 82, got a running look at a straight-away deep 3-pointer that would’ve won it for the Viks. The attempt went long and Montana State secured its eighth conference victory, moving into a tie for fifth place with rival Montana with four to play.
The victory kicked off MSU’s three-game home stand as the Bobcats continue to chase a top-five finish in the Big Sky Conference standings and the bye in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament that goes with it. The Griz lost to Sacramento State 67-65 in Missoula Thursday, the first-ever loss by UM to Sac on its home court. PSU is now 5-8 in league and alone in eighth place.
“This is a huge win for us, especially a home win,” said MSU senior Quinton Everett after the ‘Cats moved their overall record to 13-14, including 10-5 at home. “It gives us a lot of confidence for our game Saturday (against Sac State). This game was great for us because we did some things down the stretch that we can’t do if we want to win ball games. I had some bad turnovers that weren’t forced. I have to be smarter. We have to be smarter because the majority of the time, if we play like that in the end, we aren’t going to come down with the win.”
Montana State guard Devonte Klines (10) drives on Portland State defender Calaen Robinson (11) in a 92-90 victory over the Vikings Thursday/by Brooks Nuanez
Everett put Montana State on his back for a stretch in the second half. His streaking layup with 6:22 left snapped a streak of more than three minutes for the hosts. He scored two more points on a pair of free throws to push his total to 14 and then dished out a nice assist to Devonte Klines for a layup to give Montana State a 77-67 lead with 3:17 left.
Then the breathtakingly athletic Parsons went to work, scoring 11 of his game-high 28 points to help the Vikings chop away. The 51 percent free throw shooter knocked down six straight from the stripe during the closing stretch and finished the game 10-of-13 from the line.
“I think he’s one of the three or four hardest playing guys in the league,” Fish said. “I love his energy. He’s relished being a senior and got after it.”
His two free throws with 33 seconds left cut the MSU lead to 81-78. Parsons’ offensive rebound with under 10 seconds in regulation led to Bryce Canda’s 3-pointer with seven seconds left to cut the advantage to 82-81.
On the ensuing MSU possession, the Vikings trapped Harald Frey in the corner on the inbounds pass and the freshman point guard was called for an offensive foul. Everett committed a foolish foul on Parsons to send him to the line with 0.2 seconds left and a chance to win it.
Parsons hit the first of two free throws. With the crowd roaring as loud as it has been all season and the band waiving their shining instruments under the PSU basket, the second game-winning attempt was long, forcing the third straight overtime game at the Brick.
Montana State is now 3-1 in overtime games this season, including consecutive home wins over Idaho, Eastern Washington and now Portland State.
“It helped us stay poised playing those overtime games earlier,” Everett said. “Those were intense. Once we realized we were going to overtime, we got our composure back, settled down and just tried to execute as best we could.”
Portland State senior De’Sean Parsons
During the five-plus minutes Hall spent on the bench, Frey, Everett, Klines and junior Benson Osayande all contributed as MSU’s lead swelled to 12 points with 9:25 left.
Frey finished with 18 points although he streak of 22 straight made free throws snapped when he missed with 27 seconds left in regulation with a chance to stretch the MSU lead to five right before Canda’s 3-pointer.
Klines slashed his way to 17 points, Everett chipped in 14 and Osayande finished with 10 points off the bench, including sinking 8-12 free throws.
“Name a situation we haven’t been in now,” Fish said. “We have been young all year, but now 27 games in, we are an experienced team and we have to keep building on that.”
Montana State has now won seven of nine overall, including its last four at home. MSU has a chance for its third sweep in league play this season after a 1-4 start with Sac in town on Saturday and the Griz game in Bozeman looming eight days away.
Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12
“In November, there’s one way to win. In February, you’ve gotta find a way to win,” Fish said. “Don’t underestimate finding a way to win. You can correct things off a win.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
