BOZEMAN — The Montana State men's basketball team got back in the win column Thursday, rallying past Sacramento State for a 70-58 Big Sky Conference win inside Worthington Arena.
The Bobcats led 34-29 at halftime, but the Hornets opened the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 39-36 lead. Montana State later responded with its own 15-4 run to turn a 41-40 deficit into a 55-45 advantage it would hold onto the rest of the game.
Patrick McMahon keyed the critical run for the Bobcats, scoring 11 points in the stretch. He finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 2-for-3 mark from 3-point range. He also made 8 of 10 free throws in the game, as the Bobcats made 19 of 26 from the stripe. Sac State was 10 of 12 on free throws.
Brandon Walker (17 points), Max Agbonkpolo (12) and Jabe Mullins (10) also finished in double-figure scoring for Montana State.
The Hornets were led by Julian Vaughns with 19 points, and Jacob Holt added nine points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Sac State shot just 35% from the field (20 of 57) and committed 15 turnovers that resulted in 22 Montana State points.
The Bobcats (9-13 overall, 4-5 Big Sky) have now won three of four games — the lone loss came last Saturday at Montana — as they head into Saturday's matchup with Portland State, which entered Thursday's action in third place in the conference standings. MSU and PSU tip off at 6 p.m. inside Worthington Arena.
Sac State (6-15, 2-6) plays at Montana on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
