Clutch Plays Late Help Propel Bobcats Over Portland

Friday, November 26

San Antonio, TX

1 p.m.

Montana State University

2-3,0-0Big Sky

Portland

5-2,0-0WCC

Portland

Montana St.

Abdul Mohamed

Photo by: Garrett Becker

11/26/2021 4:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Montana State made crucial plays down the stretch and was led by a career day from Abdul Mohamed as the Bobcats topped Portland, 69-66, on Friday to open the UIW Thanksgiving Invitational

By: Andrew Pedersen

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Montana State made crucial plays down the stretch and was led by a career day from Abdul Mohamed as the Bobcats topped Portland, 69-66, on Friday to open the UIW Thanksgiving Invitational at the McDermott Convention Center. The win was MSU's first away from Bozeman and improved the Bobcats to 2-3 overall, while the MSU victory ended the Pilots' five-game win streak and dropped Portland to 5-2.

The Bobcats had two different seven-point leads erased by the Pilots during the second half. MSU held a 59-52 advantage with 6 minutes, 5 seconds remaining, but Portland went on a 10-2 run to gain a 62-61 edge with 2:15 to play.

Montana State responded on its ensuing possession as Jubrile Belo drove the lane and finished off a two-handed dunk to put the Bobcats back in front. MSU forced a missed shot on defense then followed with a 3-pointer by Abdul Mohamed. The Bobcats held on to a lead the rest of the way as Mohamed made three of four free throws down the stretch and had a critical block with the Pilots trailing by two with just 46 seconds remaining.

Portland hit two free throws and got the ball back trailing by three with four seconds left, but the Pilots missed a contested 3-pointer to cap the opening ballgame for Montana State at the UIW Thanksgiving Invitational.

"We gutted it out, especially over the last four minutes," Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "Portland is dangerous, they can just score so easily and all five guys can shoot the basketball.

"We got some big stops down the end. We made it interesting by making a boneheaded play fouling that we just can't do. It's good that we can win and still be able to clean that up."

Mohamed paced the Bobcats over the course of the game as he finished with a career-high 25 points. He helped MSU get out to a 34-33 halftime lead by scoring half the team's points in the opening 20 minutes of action.

"I'm so proud of him and how far he's come," Sprinkle said of Mohamed. "He's been our best player (this season). His activity, his leadership, his positive attitude and work ethic, everything he's doing he's being rewarded for. I'm Super happy for him. We don't even get close to winning this game without him today."

The Bobcats outshot the Pilots from the field 53.2-50.0% while both teams shot over 40% from long range. MSU took advantage from the line going 17-for-19 (89.5%) while Portland hit just 12 of its 19 at the charity stripe.

Amin Adamu (15), Belo (12) and Xavier Bishop (10) joined Mohamed in double digits in the scoring column. Belo had a team-high seven rebounds followed by Mohamed's five.

MSU continues its Thanksgiving Invitational appearance at UIW by playing the host Cardinals on Saturday. Tipoff time for the contest has been adjusted to 10:30 a.m. MT. Incarnate Word dropped its opener in the tournament, 79-76, to SEMO.

"Next play mentality," Sprinkle said of the Bobcats' upcoming matchup. "We can enjoy this for a couple hours, but then we've got to get on to Incarnate Word. They're going to be a hungry team after losing on a last-second 3 today. Any time you're playing a Division I team on their home floor, you've got to be prepared and our guys will be tomorrow.

A live stream is not expected to be provided for Saturday's game, but fans can tune into Voice of the Bobcats Zach Mackey on the Bobcat Radio Network, on msubobcats.com/watch and on the Varsity Network app.