Grizzlies hold off Bobcats, 89-85
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 10 months, 1 week AGO
BOZEMAN — Montana led Montana State wire to wire Saturday; it just didn’t feel that way.
Kai Johnson scored 23 points to lead five Grizzlies in double figures, and UM held off MSU 89-85 in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Brandon Whitney added 18 points while Malik Moore had 14, Joe Pridgen and Te’Jon Sawyer 12 for the Griz. Johnson and Pridgen both fouled out of a game that saw 46 personals.
Montana (20-8 overall, 12-2 in the Big Sky) swept the Cats for the seventh time in 10 seasons and got Travis DeCuire his record-tying 221st career coaching win with the Griz. But it was tough.
UM led 49-40 at halftime and then withstood repeated charges by the Bobcats.
Sam Lecholat’s three-point play brought MSU to 53-52 with 15:10 left in the game; Moore’s 3-pointer gave the Griz some momentum and eventually Kai Johnson hit a three for a 69-59 lead with 10:02 left.
The Bobcats hung in, paring the gap to four several times thanks to plenty of and-1 baskets. In the second half they had a chance to convert seven old-fashioned three-point plays (converting just two), including two by Patrick McMahon in the final minute.
McMahon missed his bonus free throw both times, part of a 15 of 26 performance by the Cats at the line in the second half. After his bucket cut UM’s lead to 87-85 with 12 seconds remaining, Sawyer rebounded the missed free throw for UM and put the game away with two free throws of his own.
McMahon had 22 points to lead the Bobcats (12-16, 7-8 in the Big Sky), including an 8-for-11 performance at the line. Jabe Mullins added 17 points and Brandon Walker checked in with 16 for MSU.