The Vikings and the Bobcats clashed in their second Big Sky match-up on Thursday. Both teams had just come off recent losses and sought to avoid a losing streak.
It was a slow start in the first half as both teams struggled to produce on offense early in the game.
The Vikings went scoreless for nearly five minutes into the first half. With the first five minutes in the bag, the score was only 4-4. Both teams picked up the tempo later in the first half finding scoring opportunities.
Montana State kept on the Vikings’ heels, but they pulled away from the Bobcats in the final minutes of the first half. By halftime the Vikings were up 38-31.
Having picked up momentum at the end of the first half, the Vikings decided to take things up a notch going into the second half.
“Telling our guys 40 minutes of focus,” Viking head coach Tyler Geving said. “We did a good job defensively for 20 minutes, we needed to keep it up for another 20.”
The Vikings followed by playing an aggressive defense, taking rebounds and quickly transforming the intensity to the offensive side of the ball. They displayed patience and ball movement on the offensive, leaving the Bobcats unable to answer.
“I think we just stayed focused defensively, rebounded the ball well, and pushed it on the offensive side,” Viking forward Isaiah Pineiro said.
The Vikings prevailed over the Bobcats for a second time this season with a final score of 83-68.
Strong performances from PSU players included forward Isaiah Pineiro with 22 points (7-12 FG), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and De’Sean Parsons recording a double-double with 13 points (5-6 FG), 13 rebounds and 4 steals.
MSU forward Zach Green led his team with 17 points (6-11 FG) and 3 rebounds.
PSU jumps to a record of 8-12 heading into a match-up with the conference leading Montana Grizzlies this Saturday at the Stott Center at 7:05pm.
