Saturday, November 30
Bozeman, Mont.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-2,0-0Big West
72
at
69
Montana State
3-5,0-0Big Sky
1
2
OT 1
F
CSUN
35
29
8
72
Montana St.
36
28
5
69
Photo by: Connor Clark
CSUN Pulls Out Gritty OT Win at Montana State
11/30/2024 2:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOZEMAN, Mont.---CSUN Men's Basketball outlasted Montana State in a thrilling overtime 72-69 victory on Saturday afternoon at Worthington Arena. Marcus Adams Jr. scored a team-high 21 points to go with 5-of-9 shooting from three while Keonte Jones finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. CSUN held off Montana State in overtime behind timely free throws from Adams and Jordan Brinson while holding the Bobcats without a field goal in the extra session.
The Matadors closed out a challenging four-game week in Montana at 3-1 with Saturday's victory.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bobcats stormed out to an 8-0 lead in the early moments of the game as CSUN did not convert a field goal until the 15:56 mark of the first half. Overall, Montana State made 8-of-10 shots to open the game for a 19-7 lead. The Matadors though weathered the storm and began to work their way back into the game in the closing minutes of the first period. Adams came off the bench and gave CSUN a lift as his three closed the gap to 22-15 with 10:17 to play. After a Grady Lewis basket inside, Brinson drained a three then picked up a steal leading to an easy two to close a 9-0 run to pull CSUN to within 25-24.
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After falling behind 33-26, the Matadors went on a 9-3 run with Jones pulling CSUN to within 36-35 with 2:45 left to play. The two sides though went scoreless for the remainder of the half with the Matadors trailing by a point heading into intermission.
Out of halftime, Montana State extended to an 43-35 lead with a quick 7-0 run. Mahmoud Fofana ended that scoring run with a dunk while Adams scored five consecutive points to bring the Matadors closer at 46-42 with 15:25 left to go. Adams drained two more threes in the ensuing minutes with his second trey pulling CSUN to within 51-48. Tyler Beard later converted a layup before PJ Fuller II nailed two at the free throw line to give CSUN its first lead of the afternoon at 52-51 with 10:45 on the clock. A Beard jumper gave CSUN a 54-51 edge, but the Bobcats answered with a 5-0 run. The back and fourth action continued when Jones tipped in a basket for a CSUN 58-56 lead before Montana State grabbed the lead on a three from Brian Goracke. Moments later though Festus Ndumanya scored through contact plus a foul for a Matador lead once more with 4:38 left to play.
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The Matadors picked up a 64-61 lead on a Scotty Washington layup, but Sam Lecholat responded with a basket to pull the Bobcats within one with 1:23 to play. Both sides collected defensive stops leading to the final seconds where Patrick McMahon drew a foul with two seconds to play. McMahon drilled the first free throw but missed the second. Washington put up a last second halfcourt shot, missing the mark as the game went into overtime.
In the extra session, Washington and Fofana scored back-to-back shots for a 68-64 CSUN lead. Montana State eventually evened the game up with four consecutive free throws, but Adams worked his way to the line and made two free throws to put CSUN back ahead 70-68 with 1:22 to play. McMahon again drew a late foul but made 1-of-2 free throws leading to Brinson drawing a foul with 15 seconds to play. The senior calmly made both attempts to put CSUN ahead 72-69. On the final possession, Goracke was off the mark from three as CSUN held on for the win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH SCOTT CUTLEY
"Montana State is a really good team. They're really well coached and we knew that going in. We knew it was going to be a challenging game that's going to take the first guy to the last guy on the bench. We did a great job of guarding their stuff and it wasn't easy. Hats off to them for making us play ridiculously hard, but down the stretch, I thought our guys executed and guarded, and that's why we came away with the win."
UP NEXT
CSUN returns home to open Big West play on Thursday, Dec. 5 against UC Riverside. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
#GoMatadors
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The Matadors closed out a challenging four-game week in Montana at 3-1 with Saturday's victory.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bobcats stormed out to an 8-0 lead in the early moments of the game as CSUN did not convert a field goal until the 15:56 mark of the first half. Overall, Montana State made 8-of-10 shots to open the game for a 19-7 lead. The Matadors though weathered the storm and began to work their way back into the game in the closing minutes of the first period. Adams came off the bench and gave CSUN a lift as his three closed the gap to 22-15 with 10:17 to play. After a Grady Lewis basket inside, Brinson drained a three then picked up a steal leading to an easy two to close a 9-0 run to pull CSUN to within 25-24.
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Jordan Brison picks up the steal and the layup on the other end.
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 30, 2024
CSUN on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to one. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/hwMe3LhykH
After falling behind 33-26, the Matadors went on a 9-3 run with Jones pulling CSUN to within 36-35 with 2:45 left to play. The two sides though went scoreless for the remainder of the half with the Matadors trailing by a point heading into intermission.
Out of halftime, Montana State extended to an 43-35 lead with a quick 7-0 run. Mahmoud Fofana ended that scoring run with a dunk while Adams scored five consecutive points to bring the Matadors closer at 46-42 with 15:25 left to go. Adams drained two more threes in the ensuing minutes with his second trey pulling CSUN to within 51-48. Tyler Beard later converted a layup before PJ Fuller II nailed two at the free throw line to give CSUN its first lead of the afternoon at 52-51 with 10:45 on the clock. A Beard jumper gave CSUN a 54-51 edge, but the Bobcats answered with a 5-0 run. The back and fourth action continued when Jones tipped in a basket for a CSUN 58-56 lead before Montana State grabbed the lead on a three from Brian Goracke. Moments later though Festus Ndumanya scored through contact plus a foul for a Matador lead once more with 4:38 left to play.
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Festus Ndumanya with the and one off the feed from Tyler Beard.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/jZT1wcmpPi
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 30, 2024
The Matadors picked up a 64-61 lead on a Scotty Washington layup, but Sam Lecholat responded with a basket to pull the Bobcats within one with 1:23 to play. Both sides collected defensive stops leading to the final seconds where Patrick McMahon drew a foul with two seconds to play. McMahon drilled the first free throw but missed the second. Washington put up a last second halfcourt shot, missing the mark as the game went into overtime.
In the extra session, Washington and Fofana scored back-to-back shots for a 68-64 CSUN lead. Montana State eventually evened the game up with four consecutive free throws, but Adams worked his way to the line and made two free throws to put CSUN back ahead 70-68 with 1:22 to play. McMahon again drew a late foul but made 1-of-2 free throws leading to Brinson drawing a foul with 15 seconds to play. The senior calmly made both attempts to put CSUN ahead 72-69. On the final possession, Goracke was off the mark from three as CSUN held on for the win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 6-2 on the season while Montana State, the defending Big Sky champion, falls to 3-5.
- The Matadors shot 44.3 percent overall while making 7-of-23 from three and 11-of-18 from the free throw line. Montana State was held to 37.7 percent shooting to go with 10-of-33 threes (30.3 percent) and 13-of-19 free throws (68.4 percent).
- CSUN won the rebounding battle 43-39 while outscoring Montana State 34-20 in points in the paint.
- Washington finished with nine points and four rebounds while Fofana totaled six points on 3-of-3 shooting and Brinson tallied seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
- Jones' double-double was his fourth of the season through eight games. He had five all of last season.
ACCORDING TO COACH SCOTT CUTLEY
"Montana State is a really good team. They're really well coached and we knew that going in. We knew it was going to be a challenging game that's going to take the first guy to the last guy on the bench. We did a great job of guarding their stuff and it wasn't easy. Hats off to them for making us play ridiculously hard, but down the stretch, I thought our guys executed and guarded, and that's why we came away with the win."
UP NEXT
CSUN returns home to open Big West play on Thursday, Dec. 5 against UC Riverside. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
CSUN
MSU
FG%
.443
.377
3FG%
.304
.303
FT%
.611
.684
RB
43
39
TO
14
12
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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