Moss guides MSU past Eastern

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Marvin Moss scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Derek Edmonds scored a career-high 24 points to lead Montana State to an 82-70 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball win over Eastern Washington on Thursday.

The Bobcats (11-9, 4-2) held conference scoring leader Rodney Stuckey to 18 points, four less than his average, on 6-of-20 shooting. He scored only four points in the second half.

EWU (8-11, 3-3) held a 45-42 lead after a dunk by Paul Butorac and a layup by Kellen Williams with 17 minutes, 11 seconds remaining.

MSU answered with an 11-0 run, including three 3-pointers by Edmonds, to take a 53-45 lead with 15:56 left. Ja’Ron Jefferson, who scored 18 points for MSU, also scored during that run. Edmonds made 6 of 7 3-pointers.

Eastern closed to 61-56 with 8:05 left on a three-point play by Butorac, who finished with 16 points. The Eagles got no closer.

A short jumper by Moss and a hook shot by center Al Beye gave the Bobcats a 65-56 lead with 6:56 left.

EWU led by as much as 35-25 with 4 minutes left in the first half following a free throw by Stuckey.

MSU answered with a 10-0 run to tie the score at 35 on a Moss layup with 1:10 to play. But free throws by Butorac, Stuckey and Williams put EWU up 39-35.