Dec. 30, 2003

Box Score

Bozeman, Mont. - Jason Erickson scored 17 points to lead host team Montana State to an 84-69 victory over Western Carolina to win its own Holiday Stores/Big R Classic Tuesday night at Worthington Arena. The Bobcats improve to 6-5 overall, while the Catamounts fall to 6-4 and have their five-game winning streak snapped.

Erickson, who was named tournament MVP, was 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in playing all 40 minutes. Calvin Ento added 16 points, making all seven of his shots from the field, while Nick Dissly contributed 13 points. Bobcat guard Frank Brown turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Kevin Martin paced Western Carolina, scoring a game-high 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Sophomore David Berghoefer performed well off the bench, scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulling down eight rebounds. Kyle Greathouse added 13 points for Western.

Western took its only lead of the game at 8-6 at the 15:34 mark on a Martin field goal. Dissly answered with a 3-pointer and Montana State held the lead the remainder of the game. However, the game was tight through the 14 minutes with the lead reaching no more than seven points. At the 5:23 mark of the first half, Ento drained two free throws for an eight-points Bobcat lead (31-23). Twenty-six seconds later, Montana State got its first double-digit lead with a jumper by Erickson. After two free throws by Corey Muirhead with 1:42 left before halftime, WCU trimmed it deficit to six, 37-31. However, MSU's Danny Faaborg connected on a pair of free throws and drained a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to provide the 42-31 halftime lead.

Montana State rushed out to a 15-point lead (51-36) to start the second half. After trailing by 11 with 12:53 left, Western Carolina would go on a 7-1 run to make it a five-point game (55-50) with 9:24 left. For the next minute, the game remained close with MSU holding a 61-56 lead. Bobcat forward Josh Barsh hit 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give MSU an eight-point lead with 7:40 left. A pair of free throws by Erickson pushed the Bobcats' lead to 10 (66-56) and Western never threatened again.

Coming into the game as the Southern Conference leader in field goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage defense, Western Carolina allowed Montana State to shoot 57.4 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range. Not only did the Bobcats hold a 34-26 advantage on the boards, but MSU was 71.4 percent from the line (25-of-35), while Western was just 58.6 percent from the charity stripe (17-of-29).

Western Carolina will return to action Jan. 3, hosting North Greenville. Tip-off at the Ramsey Activity Center is set for 7 pm. The game, which was originally set to be played in November, was moved to the Jan. 3 after the schedule cards and posters were released.