Portland State jumped all over a group of lackadaisical Bobcats, bursting to a 13-4 lead less than four minutes into the Vikings’ matchup at Montana State on Saturday afternoon. And that was before Cameron Forte even entered the game.
Once into the lineup, Forte could not be stopped. The 6-foot-8 Georgia graduate transfer came off the bench to dominate Montana State. Forte threw down four monster dunks and converted 12-of-18 shots overall in scoring 26 points to go with 11 rebounds as Portland State staved off a late surge from Montana State to earn a 77-70 win in Bozeman on Saturday afternoon.
Portland State forward Cameron Forte finishes at the rim
“Forte is pretty good and it’s no secret we try to go to him every game,” Portland State head coach Ty Geving said of his team’s leading scorer. “For him to do what he did today, we needed that. It’s pretty nice to bring in a guy off the bench who can get 26 and 11. He flows right into it. That was a big win for us. We needed that.”
The victory gives Portland State a split for its first road trip of the Big Sky Conference season. PSU fell 79-66 to Montana in Missoula on Thursday night. The loss also means Montana State splits its first home stand of the conference season. MSU beat Sacramento State 71-64 on Thursday night. PSU is 2-1 in league play, 6-8 overall. MSU is 2-2 in league play, 7-9 overall.
“I was proud of the guys,” Geving said. “I’ve been doing this thing for over 20 years and you know when you have good kids who listen to the coaching. They do what you ask them to do. I keep saying that if you keep doing that, I’ve been doing it too long, I know it will turn. I’ve had it where you are constantly fighting guys, attitudes and that’s the cool thing about this group. They haven’t fought me.”
Montana State dug itself a 38-25 at halftime. The PSU lead grew to 59-44 with nine minutes, 23 seconds left in the game when Bryce White converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. Then the Bobcats ratcheted up the intensity defensively and took advantage of various Portland State miscues — the Vikings missed four straight free throws — during an 18-2 run that gave MSU its first lead more than 35 minutes into the game.
MSU true freshman Tyler Hall drilled his fourth 3-pointer to give MSU a 62-61 lead with 4:37 to play. A Sarp Gobeloglu put-back two possessions later gave MSU a 64-63 advantage. But a White 3-pointer and a hook shot in the lane by Donivine Stewart with 44 seconds to play helped the Vikings to a six-point lead. Zach Gengler drilled 5-of-6 free throws to ice the Portland State victory.
MSU guard Tyler Hall pulls up for a jumper
“I’m one of those guys, I don’t know if home and away mean a lot, especially on the second game of a weekend home stand,” Fish said. “I think what’s more important is energy and effort. That first 10 minutes of the first half, we didn’t have it. Then we played like we needed to play in the second half, started guarding, get the lead. Then we relax on defense and give it right back.”
Hall scored 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting to pace the Bobcats. The true freshman also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 37 minutes. Gobeloglu and junior Quinton Everett each scored 12 points off the bench for MSU, who had to battle through senior point guard Marcus Colbert’s shooting woes (2-of-11) and foul trouble. Colbert fouled out with 78 seconds to play.
White hit 7-of-17 shots, including 2-of-6 3-pointers and a triple with 2:10 to play to give PSU a 68-64 lead. Isaiah Pineiro scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for a Vikings team that shot 48.3 percent despite hitting just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Each time Portland State needed a bucket, the Vikings would find a way to isolate Calaen Robinson or White in high pick and rolls with Forte. Forte used powerful positioning and a smooth southpaw touch in dominating MSU during his 29 minutes on the floor.
“Whipped us, just absolutely whipped us,” Fish said. “It wasn’t anything we didn’t see. Left-handed, going to the left block, scoring with the left hand. If he didn’t make it, he was going to grab the ball and put it back in. That’s pretty simple basketball right there. He just whipped us.”
PSU forward Cameron Forte posts up MSU forward Danny Robison
During the game’s first 10 minutes, Montana State struggled shooting the basketball, struggled to hang on to the basketball and struggled to guard any Viking with the basketball. Portland State hit six of its first seven shots while MSU committed eight early turnovers as Portland State built a 21-6 lead. By the 5:34 mark of the first half, a Robinson layup gave PSU its largest lead, 31-13.
“They played pretty hard in the first half,” Hall said. “There was about a 10-minute stretch where we weren’t really playing. We weren’t focused or locked in. That’s when it got out of hand. We came back in, had a couple of breakdowns defensively late in the game that hurt us.”
“That was layup line drills there,” Fish said. “They were just taking the ball from us and running us into the floor. They had no one guarding them. We just weren’t tough enough. Ultimately, those five layups are what cost us.”
A sweet catch-and-finish in transition by Everett sparked the Montana State comeback. Gobeloglu scored six of his points during the run and nine points during the game’s final nine minutes. The 6-foot-10 native of Turkey grabbed a rebound after a Forte missed free throw to set up Hall’s go-ahead 3-pointer. But Forte answered on the next possession, scoring a layup as the shot clock expired to put PSU back up after the Vikings relinquished the lead for the first time.
MSU guard Quinton Everett on the fast break
“He was a tough matchup because once he gets the ball, he’s always attacking, always in attack mode,” Everett said. “We haven’t played a big this year that has tried to attack the basket every single time.”
Following Stewart’s go-ahead bucket in the lane, Gobeloglu was fouled. He missed the second free throw but Hall secured the offensive rebound. Thirteen seconds later, Steph Holm turned the ball over. MSU fouled and Gengler went to the line for the first of three straight trips to the stripe.
Montana State split its first road trip by salvaging an overtime win at Northern Arizona last Saturday. This weekend, MSU earned the win on the front end and then started with no energy during Saturday’s matinee. Fish hopes his players learn from failing to complete the home sweep.
“That’s part of growing up,” Fish said. “(Portland State) lost at Montana on Thursday night and they probably had some tough meetings. You have to know that coming in. We were happy we won Thursday and we should’ve been happy but then again, you have to get ready again for Saturday. That’s a learning process and that’s something I hope we learn from this.
“Winning Thursday is good but then it comes with Saturday. We are certainly making advancements but I would’ve liked to advance today with a win.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
