Montana State University
10-10,5-2Big Sky
Sacramento State
6-14,2-5Big Sky
Bobcats Hang On for Road Win in Sacramento
1/25/2024 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cats pick up 70-62 victory over Sacramento State on Thursday night to improve to 5-2 in conference play
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Montana State men's basketball weathered a second-half offensive drought and hung on for a 70-62 road win over Sacramento State on Thursday night at The Nest in Sacramento.
The Bobcats have now won four of their last five and sit in second place in the Big Sky Conference.
Montana State (10-10, 5-2 Big Sky) led by as many as 17 with 13:37 left on a Robert Ford III three-pointer, but could not convert on another field goal for nearly seven minutes, allowing Sacramento State (6-14, 2-5 Big Sky) to slowly climb back into the game.
The Hornets cut it to a four-point game at 57-53 with 7:13 left before the Cats finally got a shot to fall as Sam Lecholat buried an important triple from the corner with 6:15 to go.
Lecholat finished with a loud seven points, five rebounds, and two steals off the bench after being called into action due to foul trouble for Brian Goracke.
Goracke shot the lights out in the first half, dropping 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 4-of-5 performance from beyond the three point line.
However, the junior picked up his fourth foul early in the second half--contributing to the offensive slog for the Cats in the middle of the second half--before finishing with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds. Thursday marked the fifth 20-point game of the season for the native of Monroe, Oregon, who is currently fourth in the Big Sky in scoring (15.7 ppg).
Montana State led 40-29 at halftime, with Ford burying a step-back three just before the horn to give the visitors momentum in front of a loud, sold-out crowd at The Nest.
Ford would finish with 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists, doing most of his damage in the second half to will the Cats down the stretch.
Brandon Walker added 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Tyler Patterson knocked down a pair of threes in the first half and finished with eight points.
Montana State shot 63% from the field in the first half, going 15-of-28 from the floor and 5-of-8 from deep. Things got tougher as a tight whistle halted the momentum of the game in the second half, with the Cats shooting 43% from the floor.
Montana State matched the physicality of Sacramento State and buckled down on defense, holding the Hornets to just one made field goal over the final three-and-a-half minutes of action.
Up by five points with under two minutes left, Ford converted a driving layup through contact, then sunk the and-one free throw to push the lead to 68-60 with 1:49 to go.
Two more free throws for Ford at the 56-second mark sealed the deal for the Cats, who now sit in second place in the Big Sky after Eastern Washington defeated Northern Colorado and Portland State took down Montana on Thursday.
Montana State never trailed in the game.
"[Playing from ahead is] a heck of a lot better than playing from behind," head coach Matt Logie said. "I thought our guys got off to a great start today. Obviously put up 40 points in the first half and were able to build a lead and absorb some of the momentum swings. I thought today was a great testament to what we say all the time when we huddle up before and after practice—we use the word 'attitude' and you had to have the right attitude today to have poise to absorb some situations that occurred. We had a stretch there where we had three consecutive layups at the rim that would have continued to have that lead between 10 and 14, and we didn't make them. Those can be attitude killers if you don't have the toughness and poise that this group has. I'm really proud of their response."
UP NEXT
Montana State concludes its West Coast swing with a clash against Portland State on Saturday night at Viking Pavilion in Portland, Oregon.
Tip is set for 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live radio play-by-play from Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly on the Bobcat Sports Network.
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