Montana State University’s men’s basketball team narrowly lost to Eastern Washington 72-71 in a close contest at Worthington Arena on Saturday. The defeat ended the Bobcats’ eight-game home winning streak, which had been intact since their last home loss to Denver in November.
Head coach Matt Logie commented on the game’s final moments and overall performance: “We had a play that we work on drawn up, we bobbled the pass, and that kind of took us out of the second layer of it,” Logie said. “We still got the ball right to the rim, had two shots at it – I mean, that was really the story of the game for us on offense. We couldn’t make layups and couldn’t make free throws. But defensively, we allowed them to get confident early with 52% in the first half, and then down the stretch, they scored six times in a row and had two offensive rebounds. We didn’t play well enough to win, and the margins are small. You’ve got to make all those micro-plays to get yourself over the hump.”
The first half remained close until Eastern Washington built a double-digit lead late in the period. Montana State responded with a run before halftime but trailed 37-34 at intermission. The Bobcats capitalized on turnovers during this stretch, recording five steals and scoring nine points off six Eastern Washington giveaways.
In the second half, Montana State managed to take its largest lead after a three-pointer by Seth Amunrud put them ahead 65-58. However, Eastern Washington rallied with a 12-3 run late in regulation. Despite a go-ahead three from Amunrud with less than half a minute remaining, Eastern Washington’s Jojo Anderson scored what would be the winning basket with 18 seconds left.
On their final possession, Montana State missed two attempts near the rim as time expired.
Statistically, Montana State shot 41.4% from the field compared to Eastern Washington’s 48.3%. The Bobcats committed only five turnovers while forcing eleven from their opponents and tallied eight steals along with fifteen fast-break points.
Davis and King led Montana State in scoring with fourteen points each; Miller added thirteen points while Hodges led in rebounds with six.
Montana State will next face rival University of Montana on February 14 at Dahlberg Arena as part of an in-state doubleheader event.
For further updates about Montana State men’s basketball or information about upcoming games and events, fans can follow official social media channels or visit msubobcats.com.
