by GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Playing on a mere 40-hour turnaround, the Montana State men’s basketball team picked up an 81-71 road win over North Dakota on Sunday afternoon.
Offensively, Montana State (3-2) relied on RaeQuan Battle’s (Tulalip) career-high 30 points on 12-for-20 shooting, plus double-doubles from Jubrile Belo (16 points and 10 rebounds) and Caleb Fuller (13 points and 10 rebounds), the latter of whom had his best game in a Bobcat uniform. Battle’s 30-point outing was the first time a Bobcat has scored 30 or more in a single game since Belo did so against Sacramento State on March 6, 2021.
“We gave a tremendous effort — especially after playing on a short turnaround,” Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle told Bobcat Radio Network. “I thought Jubrile Belo and RaeQuan Battle were tremendous in the first half. They really gave us energy and got us going. And Caleb Fuller was terrific — I’m really happy for him. He’s been fighting, so it’s great to see him get rewarded.”
Defensively, the Bobcats held North Dakota (2-3) to shooting 7-for-23 (30.4%) from three and forced 10 turnovers. Montana State out-shot the Fighting Hawks 50.8% to 44.1% — a percentage bolstered by a slew of late field goals as North Dakota tried making a comeback.
“North Dakota shot 44 percent for the game, but they probably scored five or six times at the end,” Sprinkle said. “We probably had them close to under 40 percent shooting, which is our goal. But our defense and rebounding helped toward the end. We got key stops when we needed to.”
Jubrie Belo opened up the scoring with a dunk, yet the Fighting Hawks took an early lead after making two of their first three threes. Nine-straight points from RaeQuan Battle made it a 12-11 game in favor of North Dakota at the 14:46 mark.
Defensively, Darius Brown II was a key player for the Bobcats, as he came in off the bench and forced two North Dakota turnovers that led to Montana State points. Capped off by back-to-back baskets from Belo, the Bobcats used an 8-0 run to take a 17-12 lead with 11:19 to go in the first half.
Late in the first half, North Dakota got cold from deep, going 1-from-9 from distance as the Bobcats extended their lead to seven with points in the paint. Battle consistently took his defenders off the dribble for floaters in the paint, then Tyler Patterson beat the North Dakota defense on a back-cut for his first points of the night, yet Belo was the constant force inside. The senior forward racked up eight points and five rebounds while getting North Dakota’s bigs into foul trouble early.
With less than two minutes to go in the half, Brown II threw a lob to Battle, then sank a three to give MSU a double-digit lead for the first time that afternoon. The Bobcats had a 37-27 lead at half and out-shot North Dakota 51.6% to 32.1% at that point.
Battle opened up the scoring for MSU in the second half, as he blew past his defender for a right-handed layup as the shot clock expired. Montana State’s bigs continued to assert themselves against North Dakota: Belo drew plenty of whistles, gradually wearing down the Fighting Hawks’ frontcourt, then Great Osobor gave MSU a 12-point lead with 15:47 to go.
Yet North Dakota got in the bonus with 14:54 left in the game and snapped their drought with a pair of free throws from Matt Norman. This sparked a 7-3 run over the next two minutes — stopped only by Battle’s corner three. North Dakota would pull within eight, but the Bobcats countered with a 6-0 run in 1 minute and 39 seconds to take a 54-40 lead.
Late in the second half, North Dakota found its rhythm from three, going 3-for-4 from deep to cut into MSU’s lead. The Fighting Hawks only pulled within seven points, as Montana State kept them at arm’s length with Battle eclipsing the 30-point mark, a deep three from Ford III and an emphatic dunk from Belo with 2:33 left.
Although North Dakota made one last push with 11 points in the final 2 minutes and 19 seconds, Montana State would pad its lead by making eight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
North Dakota State was led by Mitchell Sueker’s 18 points, while freshman B.J. Omot chipped in 14 points. For Montana State, Ford III finished with eight points, four rebounds and one assist with no turnovers. Brown II added seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a season-high three steals off the bench. Sunday’s game marked the fifth time MSU has had at least nine players score points.
