Cats Beat the Griz Despite Fan Fiasco

MSU Conquers the Griz

Saturday night, the Montana State University Men's Basketball team faced off against the Griz.

The Bobcats maintained a consistent lead most of the game. During the final media time out, the Bobcat mascot Champ and the cheer squad sent hundreds of the tiny golden balls flying into the crowds. A member of the crowd threw one of the balls at Grizzly coach Wayne Tinkle which hit him in the back and another nearly grazed UM center Brian Qvale in the middle of a free throw attempt.

The second fan toss prompted MSU head coach Brad Huse to grab the public address microphone from its perch. "You're going to cost us a technical foul," Huse said, among other things, in a quick speech to the crowd of 6,427 - the largest Brick Breeden Fieldhouse has seen this season. The address was met with applause. But little did Huse know, his home fans had just cost him a technical foul, as the referees had already issued a warning after the original ball hit Coach Tinkle.

Qvale, who made the first free throw despite the distraction, made the second and Anthony Johnson hit the two technical foul shots which cut the Bobcat lead to 51-50 with 2 minutes, 33 seconds to play. Worthington Arena got a little quieter until Bobcat forward Branden Johnson drilled a deep 3-pointer with 1:59 to play, putting MSU back up four. "Getting the crowd back into it, it was a great feeling," said Johnson. That bucket and a layup from Navarre seconds later ended the game with a final score Montana St. 61, Montana 52.

After the game, Bobcat senior Branden Johnson commented that "the ball incident was crazy," and Coach Huse said his team was appreciative of the fans, saying "they helped us a heck of a lot more than they hurt us." However, those two novelty Bobcat basketballs will likely give Montana State's promotional department something to think about this week.

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Bozeman Chronicle's article