Twenty-four hours before his team hosted its rival with either the chance to end a losing streak or watch it extend to a once unthinkable five games, Travis DeCuire sat in his office and maintained the message he had delivered from the first day of practice: Growth is more important than wins.
Following a 90-84 triumph over Montana State on Saturday night at Dahlberg Arena, DeCuire didn’t have to reconsider his position.
“When you get a win you feel better about your growth,” said DeCuire as the longest losing streak any of his three teams at his alma mater has experienced came to an end. “You feel better about the decisions you make heading into the game. I think we showed growth and that’s why we won.”
MSU guard Tyler Hall (3)
Mired in a slump and surrounded by rumors about what was happening behind closed doors, DeCuire used the days leading up to Saturday to test his team’s toughness. He switched up the scrimmage teams and ratcheted up the intensity. Then in the second half, with the Bobcats’ backcourt duo of Harald Frey and Tyler Hall causing some predictable issues, DeCuire forced his team to tap into the mentality that was forged throughout the week.
“They were just attacking us, putting us on our heels and we weren’t getting stops,” Hall said. “You have to credit them. They were the tougher team in that stretch.”
Montana put the ball in the hands of Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine and let them relentlessly drive to the basket. The two sophomores combined to score 41 points in the final 20 minutes, with 26 coming from Rorie. Montana converted 15 of its 21 shots and 27 of the 31 free throws after halftime, largely a product of the Grizzlies dogged attacks.
And the Griz defense, which had been maligned in the two-week slump, but remained the hallmark of the team, did its part to slow Hall, who entered as the leading scorer in the conference. It wasn’t until about midway through the second half that Hall made his impact. He knocked down a tough jumper and a difficult pull-up three over the outstretched arms of Bobby Moorehead. Those five points, which helped stake Montana State (11-13, 6-5) to a four-point lead, came as the Griz were poised to take control.
After a 3-point play from Frey, freshman Sayeed Pridgett hit a 15-footer as a collision under that basket resulted in a Montana State foul and gave the ball back to the Grizzlies (11-13, 6-5). Out of the inbounds, seniorWalter Wright found a wide-open senior Jack Lopez in the corner for a three that completed a rare five-point possession and put the Griz up one.
UM guard Ahmaad Rorie (14) drives on MSU guard Harald Frey (5)
“Little plays like that help us get the win,” said Rorie, who finished with a game-high 28 points on just 12 shots. “You never know till after the game how big plays like that can be. We were able to get the five-point swing on that and put us up by one. It gave us good momentum and we just had to lock in and guard.”
Rorie played a central role in Montana’s second half push, which produced 60 points by the final buzzer, the most in a half since DeCuire took over. Along with Oguine and Pridgett, Rorie helped produce 38 of the final 44 points as the Griz pushed their lead to as much as 14 with 3:04 remaining in the game. Rorie, who was suspended for the Eastern Washington loss, got to the rim, hit mid-range jumpers, floaters and 1 of the 2 threes he put up. He finished two and-1s and hit all 11 of his free throws.
“(DeCuire) just kind of cleared it out for me and I just saw a lot of space and stuff,” Rorie said. “I saw guys that didn’t want to slide their feet so I felt like I could exploit the mismatch.”
It was a similar game plan to what Montana used in wins over the Bobcats last year when Wright and Oguine slashed to the hole to combine for at least 30 in both games. Oguine was the benefactor of the strategy early as he scored seven while hounding Hall everywhere the high-scoring sophomore went.
Frey, who drew praise from DeCuire in the aftermath of Montana’s first win since Jan. 14, opened with a three and then Hall followed suit with a difficult triple from the corner that was followed by another from Frey and one from Sam Neumann as the ’Cats hit before 8 minutes had expired.
Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12
“You try not to look at it like that, like every game is important,” said Oguine, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists. “But of course when you have a rivalry game and the fans come out like they did — the football team, especially — there was a whole bunch of energy. We really knew that we wanted the ball game and this was one to win and get out of this losing streak.”
NOTES: Hall and Frey each scored 22 to lead the Bobcats. … Montana out-rebounded Montana State 15-11 in the second half. … Montana hit 33 of its 40 free throws. … Freshman Jared Samuelson gave Montana a lift in the first half with seven points. He played just one minutes in the second. … Both teams were sub-40 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and better than 50 percent in the second.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
