Wildcats Lose at Montana State, 75-72, in 2010-11 Big Sky Conference Opening Game

Weber State, down by eight (72-64) with one minute left, rallied back, but Scott Bamforth's three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out and Montana State escaped with a 75-72 win in the opening game of Big Sky Conference play for both teams.

MSU, which had committed just five turnovers in the first 39 minutes, coughed up two in the final 60 seconds allowing the Wildcats to creep back within two at 74-72 on a pair of free throws by Kyle Bullinger. The Wildcats then fouled Rod Singleton who made the first shot but missed the second with nine seconds remaining. Lindsey Hughey threw the ball up court to Bamforth who let go with long three-pointer which would have tied the game.

“We played hard and fought through a lot, especially in the second half, but in the end our turnovers did us in,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “You just can't give a team seven extra possessions, especially when you are the road team. MSU did a good job of controlling the tempo and didn't let us get going offensively down in the post.”

Weber State held a 34-33 half time lead with Bamforth scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first half. Montana State took the lead for good with 14:06 remaining on a three-pointer by freshman Shawn Reid. The turning point came at the 9:23 mark when the Bobcats went on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 60-50 lead on back-to-back dunks by Jourdain Allou.

Kyle Bullinger, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, then scored five straight points to rally the Wildcats back, but a three-pointer from Erik rush quickly quelled the WSU. Rush scored four straight points to put MSU back up by ten at 67-57.

The Wildcats then put together a 10-5 scoring run. Lindsey Hughey, who scored a career high 21 points and had a career high 10 rebounds, knocked down a three-pointer with 54 seconds left cutting the lead to five at 72-67. Rod Singleton's two free throws put the Bobcats back up by seven, but Hughey scored, and was fouled, with 24 seconds left and brought the Wildcats back to within four at 74-70.

Lindsey Hughey recorded his first “double/double” in a WSU uniform, and as mentioned above, his 21 points and 10 rebounds are both single game career bests. Erik Rush led MSU with 16 points, Cody Anderson scored 15 on 7-11 shooting from the floor, and Bobby Howard had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Weber State drops to 6-6 overall for the season and 0-1 in Big Sky play. Montana State is now 7-6 overall, 1-0 in Big Sky play and 5-0 at home this season. Weber State plays at Montana this coming Friday, December 31 in a 1:05 p.m. (MST) tip off in Dahlberg Arena. Montana defeated Northern Arizona, 83-80, on Wednesday afternoon in Big Sky Conference play.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Scott Bamforth

Kyle Bullinger

Lindsey Hughey

Weber State University Athletics