By Green Bay Athletics
For the Press Times
BOZEMAN – The UW-Green Bay men’s basketball team outlasted the Montana State Bobcats Monday, Nov. 20, in overtime, 54-53. The Phoenix win is the first career Division I win for head coach Sundance Wicks.
Noah Reynolds led the Phoenix (2-2) with 19 points and seven rebounds on the night. Amari Jedkins had a near double-double with seven points and nine rebounds, and Preston Ruedinger chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.
A big advantage on the boards was key in the win for Green Bay, with the Phoenix pulling down 45 rebounds to Montana State’s 32.
Green Bay’s defense held Montana State to only 20% shooting from beyond the arc and 27.4% from the field.
How it happened
A back-and-forth first half ended with the Bobcats taking a 24-23 lead thanks to a pair of free throws from Robert Ford III. Ford accounted for 15 of the Bobcats 24 first half points.
Green Bay came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, starting on a 12-0 run finished off by Ruedinger’s layup, to seize a 35-24 lead with 13:53 to go. The Phoenix extended its lead to 14 at 44-30 when Noah Reynolds made a free throw with 8:20 left in the contest. However, Montana State would respond by outscoring the Phoenix 19-5 over the last eight minutes, including a 7-0 run in the final 40 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime.
Elijah Jones gave the Phoenix a 51-49 lead in overtime with a putback layup. Reynolds scored the remaining three points for the Green & White in overtime, which proved to be enough as the Phoenix got a stop on the final possession to secure the 54-53 win.
Coming up
Green Bay finished the road trip on Tuesday, Nov. 21 when they took on UC-Riverside at Worthington Arena at 8 p.m. CT. The Phoenix will return home to host St. Thomas at the Resch Center on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics and Green Bay Men’s Basketball, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.