by CEDAR CITY, UTAH – RaeQuan Battle (Tulalip Tribe) has already had his fair share of clutch moments, so it was no surprise he delivered again for the Montana State men’s basketball team against Southern Utah on Wednesday night.
With seven seconds left and the game tied at 83, Southern Utah’s Deng Dut tried making a cross-court pass with Battle defending him, but the 6’5″ junior stole the ball, raced down court and finished a right-handed layup through contact with four seconds to go. His free throw closed the book on Montana State’s 86-83 road win.
“RaeQuan was unbelievable,” Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle told Bobcat Sports Radio Network. “Some of the shots he was making in the second half were unbelievable. I told him after the game that what he did tonight was unbelievable, but that’s who he is.”
Battle would lead all scorers with 29 points — including a career-best 7-for-11 clip from three — plus two rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Darius Brown II finished with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting (and a perfect 3-for-3 from three) while dishing out five assists and grabbing five rebounds. As a team, the Bobcats shot a season-best 54.2% (13-for-16) from three and they out-rebounded the Thunderbirds by a 35-32 margin.
Great Osobor (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Caleb Fuller (13 points) provided valuable minutes off the bench after Jubrile Belo was issued a flagrant foul and ejected with six minutes to go in the first half.
“Everything happens for a reason, and it made a lot of the other guys step up,” Sprinkle said of the ejection. “Great Osobor was terrific — he went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Caleb Fuller was tremendous. Those guys really stepped up in Jubrile’s absence.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys,” Sprinkle added. “They literally had everything stacked against them tonight, but they kept fighting. It was our fourth game on a long road trip in multiple different time zones. But they came and fought against a really good team.”
Montana State (4-5) faced adversity early, as Belo’s aforementioned ejection put the Bobcats on the ropes during a gritty first half. Bolstered by a full-court press, Southern Utah (4-4) would claw back from a double-digit deficit in both halves, yet the Bobcats countered by shooting 61.5% (8-for-13) from three in the first half.
Brown II would score the first of his 15 first-half points by sinking a three, then Fuller came off the bench and scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Bobcats an early 12-7 lead. The Bobcats would lead by as many as 12 off a jumper from Battle made it a 23-11 game with 10:08 to play.
This prompted Todd Simon’s Thunderbirds to turn up their defensive pressure.
In a disastrous two-minute span for the Bobcats, SUU forced six Montana State turnovers, Belo was ejected, then Cameron Healy gave the hosts a 24-23 lead with 6:33 left. Yet Battle snapped the scoreless drought with a straight-away three, Osobor made a layup, then Battle hit another three to make it a 31-25 game.
Southern Utah would pull within three points once more, only for a flurry of threes from Brown II, Nick Gazelas and Tyler Patterson to give the Bobcats a sizable lead. MSU would take a 46-35 lead into halftime after Brown II made a midrange, pull-up jumper as time expired.
“I’ve been waiting for us to have a breakout shooting night — especially Nick Gazelas, Tyler Patterson and even Darius,” Sprinkle said. “We know Darius can shoot, but sometimes he’s been too unselfish. We told him to be more aggressive tonight and he made Southern Utah pay. I thought he was tremendous in the first half.”
Battle’s third three kicked off the second half scoring, yet the Thunderbirds went on an 8-0 run until a pair of Osobor free throws halted SUU’s momentum for a moment. Southern Utah would go on a 9-0 run to take a 58-56 lead, then field goals from Caleb Fuller and Sam Lecholat helped give MSU the lead.
Tension built in the second half. Both teams were assessed technical fouls after made baskets, and both teams got into foul trouble late as the Thunderbirds appeared to seize momentum. Yet the Bobcats out-shot the Thunderbirds 75% to 63.2% from the free-throw line in the second half, which helped keep Southern Utah from pulling away.
Trailing 71-67 with five minutes left, Battle came alive with back-to-back threes. Although SUU threatened to pull away late, MSU tied the game at 76 with a layup from Fuller, then Battle tied it at 79 with 2:19 to go. Battle’s jumper gave MSU a 83-81 advantage, then the Thunderbirds responded with Jason Spurgin’s layup that tied the game at 83 with 46 seconds to go.
A MSU miss on its penultimate possession gave Southern Utah the ball with 12 seconds left and the shot clock turned off, but Battle would come through for his game-winning layup.
