by Bill Lamberty
MISSOULA, Montana – Darius Brown II scored five points in the game’s final 77 seconds and RaeQuan Battle added three to lead Montana State to a 67-64 win over Montana in Missoula on Saturday.
The victory was MSU’s first in Dahlberg Arena since 2010. The Cats controlled the action for much of the game, but when Dischon Thomas hit a three-pointer with 1:34 to play the Grizzlies led 62-59. On the next possession Brown hit a jumper at the right elbow, drew a foul, and made the free throw. A Brandon Whitney jumper with 52 seconds to play pushed the Grizzlies in front 64-62, setting up the Bobcats’ late game heroics.
With 40 seconds to play Battle attempted a three-pointer from the left angle and drew contact from UM’s Lonnell Martin Jr. Battle made all three free throws, pushing the Cats to a 65-64 lead. After a missed jumper by Aanen Moody, who led the Grizzlies with 21 points, Brown II was fouled. He calmly made both free throws. Moody’s shot with three seconds to play missed the mark, and Montana State escaped with the win.
“We came in with an edge,” said Brown II. “We knew we had to bounce back after a tough loss on Monday. Everything about today we knew it was going to be hard. This was my first year being with this team and playing in this rivalry. The team helped fill me in on what it’s like to play here and how tough it is. The word of the week is toughness, you’ve got to fight through everything, toughness, toughness, toughness. That’s what this team did, and it feels great to win here. It must feel even better for (Jubrile Belo), but I’m happy to be part of the team and help get the win here.”
Bobcat coach Danny Sprinkle, who carved out a winning record against Montana as a player in the Blue and Gold in the late 1990s, said his players are right in treasuring the triumph. “It’s meaningful because it’s one of the best rivalries in the country, and it’s meaningful because of what our players did,” he said. “I think the way the game unfolded, it was perfect. For them to come back and make a big three, the place was going crazy, one of the loudest environments in the West, and our guys kept responding. They make a three, we got a three-point play. Darius got steals. We made the plays when we had to make the plays in the second half.”
The Bobcats led 42-33 with just under 16 minutes left when Aanen Moody, a transfer from Southern Utah, hit a jumper for the Grizzlies. That jump-started the team, and ignited Moody. Brandon Whitney hit a layup, and Moody drained a three to make the score 42-40. His triple at 10:50 made the score 45-43, then he hit a jumper at 9:54 to make the score 46-45. His two free throws at 5:33 tied the game at 51-51, and he did that again at 4:33 to tie the score at 53.
Roles switched at 2:16 when UM’s Brandon Whitney made two free throws to push the Grizzlies to a 59-57 lead. Battle’s jumper in the paint tied the score, but Thomas’ three-pointer set the stage for Brown II and Battle to take over for the Bobcats.
“That’s what they do,” Sprinkle said. “They’re big-time players. They’ve been in this spot a lot, and they’re tremendous free throw shooters. Even when we were going through some free throw shooting woes as a team, I knew it wouldn’t last long because our guys can shoot free throws, especially our guards, but you’re not going to win here without shoot well at the free throw line, I know that.”
While Sprinkle was plenty pleased with his team’s physical toughness, the mental side of the equation was even more crucial, he said. “I thought it was great, and not just physical toughness,” he said. “It’s always a physical game when you play Montana, probably moreso than any other team in the league, especially here, and I thought our guys did a tremendous job. But we’ve been talking about mental toughness the last two, three weeks. I thought today was the most mentally tough our team’s been this year. We’ve been in situations like this this year, we’ve been in environments and we didn’t get it done in those games, but we learned from those experiences. I’m proud of how they played and competed.”
Brown II led all players with 23 points, while Battle added 18. Belo scored 11 points and snared five rebounds. Moody’s 21 points led the Grizzlies, while Whitney added 17. The Cats shot 51.1% from the floor, holding UM to 44.9%, but the Grizzlies out-rebounded MSU 33-19. The Cats forced 14 turnovers while giving the ball away just eight times.
