Buzzer-beater beats EWU
Montana State men’s basketball coach Brad Huse can let this one go.
Carlos Taylor buried a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer Thursday night to lift Montana State University to a thrilling 82-79 victory over Eastern Washington in a men’s basketball game at Reese Court. The game served as the Big Sky Conference openers for both teams.
A team that often has often frustrated its coach by settling for 3-point attempts this season, Montana State won for the second time in nine games to improve to 4-10. EWU fell to 6-7 and lost at home for the first time in six games.
“You can’t fool around in games like these,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “You’ve got to take your hat off to Montana State. They hit big shots when they needed them.”
None was bigger than Taylor’s final effort, which swished through the basket as the horn sounded. Taylor collected Casey Durham’s pass 25 feet out and narrowly released a shot over a pair of EWU defenders to give the Bobcats a much-needed victory.
“I was just trying to get it off and get a good look,” said Taylor, who tallied a team-high 20 points. “Casey made a great read and got the ball to me.”
Taylor’s shot may have been the final blow that sealed the victory, but Eastern suffered through an inordinate number of self-inflicted mistakes that allowed MSU to escape with a win. The Eagles allowed too many offensive rebounds (12), missed 13 of 34 free throws – five in the final 3 1/2 minutes – and couldn’t make defensive stops consistently.
Rodney Stuckey led four EWU players scoring in double figures with 26 points, and his layin tied the game at 79-all with 11.8 seconds remaining. But the defending Big Sky player of the year wasn’t immune from going cold at the foul line. He missed two free throws with 57 seconds left with Eastern trailing 77-75.
“You have nights like that,” Burns said about his team in general. “The ball gets tipped, you’re missing free throws and open threes – you’ve got to credit Montana State with that. They made those things happen.”
MSU led 41-39 at halftime despite shooting 5 for 15 from beyond the arc. The Bobcats attacked Eastern’s interior defense relentlessly, and they did so with success thanks in part to drawing the Eagles’ top shot-blocker, Paul Butorac, to the perimeter with skilled-shooting big men Branden Johnson and Ted Morris.
“They did a nice job spreading us out,” Burns said, “but I thought we didn’t rotate fast enough defensively.”
Butorac scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Kellen Williams and Derek Risper each scored 10 for EWU.
Johnson finished with 11 points off the bench to help the MSU reserve outscore the Eagle bench 40-22. Durham added 12 points and four assists, and Nick Dissly recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Eastern hosts Montana at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, and MSU travels to Portland State.
Montana 82, EWU 79
Montana (4-10)- Durr 3-8 0-0 7, Dissly 4-9 0-2 10, Durham 3-7 4-6 12, Davis 4-5 0-0 8, Morris 2-4 1-2 5, C.Taylor 8-18 1-2 20, Zamora 1-2 1-2 3, Rush 0-0 0-0 0, Piepoli 2-3 0-0 6, Johnson 3-8 2-2 11. Totals 30-64 9-16 82.
E. Washington (6-7)- Williams 4-10 1-4 10, Taylor 0-3 2-2 2, Butorac 5-8 3-4 13, Krayem 2-5 1-2 6, Stuckey 9-20 7-11 26, Hinton 0-0 1-2 1, Penoncello 2-4 4-6 9, Humphrey 1-2 0-1 2, Risper 4-5 2-2 10, Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 21-34 79.
Halftime—Montana State 41-39. 3-Point Goals—Montana St. 13-32 (Johnson 3-6, C.Taylor 3-7, Piepoli 2-3, Dissly 2-5, Durham 2-5, Durr 1-5, Davis 0-1), E. Washington 4-18 (Penoncello 1-3, Williams 1-3, Krayem 1-3, Stuckey 1-6, Taylor 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Montana St. 38 (Dissly 11), E. Washington 36 (Williams 8). Assists—Montana St. 17 (Dissly 5), E. Washington 15 (Stuckey 7). Total Fouls—Montana St. 26, E. Washington 16. A—2,329.