Bobcats, Sprinkle Rain 3’S On Eagles

Sometimes it doesn’t sprinkle, it pours. Danny Sprinkle scored 11 of his 20 points in the first 2 minutes of the second half Thursday to lead Montana State to a 91-58 victory over Eastern Washington.

Sprinkle hit three 3-pointers during the spurt that gave Montana State (12-4 overall, 4-1 Big Sky) a 43-29 lead.

The Bobcats hit 63.3 percent of their second-half shots, including 8-of-9 3-pointers, in winning their ninth straight home game. MSU outscored Eastern (8-7, 2-3) 59-31 in the second half.

MSU’s 3-point shooting was the obvious key to the game, Eastern coach Steve Aggers said.

“Our guys battled and fought hard,” he said. “It was just a case where a really good team at home shot the ball extremely well. We did a good job in the first half containing them, but in the second half they just killed us.”

John Berger, playing his first game since he broke his right foot Nov. 25, led Eastern with 12 points in 14 minutes.

“You can tell how much we missed him,” Aggers said. “He’s probably our most physical frontline guy and plays with great energy and intensity. Hopefully, he can give us that guy on the front line that we desperately need.”

Montana St. 91, E. Washington 58

E. Washington (8-7) - M. Lewis 2-8 0-0 5, Scott 4-13 1-1 9, Sims 3-8 1-2 7, Williams 1-6 2-2 5, Taylor 3-10 0-0 7, Stone 1-1 0-0 2, McGee 1-2 4-4 7, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, Berger 2-9 8-10 12, K. Lewis 1-2 0-0 2, White 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-62 16-19 58.

Montana St. (12-4) - Sullivan 4-8 0-0 11, Ollie 3-8 3-3 10, Holmstadt 6-10 3-4 16, Hooper 1-2 0-0 3, Sprinkle 5-9 6-6 20, Williams 1-2 0-0 3, Henry 0-3 0-1 0, Rabb 1-5 2-2 5, Jordahl 0-1 0-0 0, Harry 6-8 1-5 14, Badding 3-5 3-3 9. Totals 30-61 18-24 91.

Halftime-Montana St. 32, E. Washington 27. 3-point goals- EWU 4-17 (McGee 1-2, Williams 1-3, M. Lewis 1-3, Taylor 1-5, Berger 0-1, Scott 0-3), MSU 13-20 (Sprinkle 4-6, Sullivan 3-5, Hooper 1-1, Williams 1-1, Harry 1-1, Ollie 1-1, Holmstadt 1-1, Rabb 1-3, Jordahl 0-1). Rebounds-EWU 35 (Scott 9), MSU 41 (Ollie 9). Assists-EWU 12 (Williams, Taylor 3), MSU 23 (Hooper 6). Total fouls-EWU 20, MSU 17. Technicals- Badding, M. Lewis. A-5,522.

, DataTimes