Tate Unruh registered a game-high 20 points as the Northern Colorado Bears battled back from a double-digit deficit in order to secure a 77-64 overtime victory against the Montana State Bobcats in Big Sky Conference action at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
Also scoring in double figures for the Bears (7-16, 4-8 Big Sky) were Tevin Svihovec with 15 points and Emmanuel Addo with 13 off the bench as the team snapped a three-game slide. Mike Proctor added eight points, 13 rebounds and five assists for the squad as well.
The Bobcats (11-12, 6-6) were paced by Shawn Reid with 18 points in a reserve role, while Jeff Budinich and Mohamed Fall accounted for 12 and 10 points, respectively, as the program suffered a fifth straight loss.
Both teams shot under 38 percent from the floor in the first half, and even though MSU made only 25 percent behind the three-point line, the team was able to grab a 34-25 advantage at the break.
Just three minutes into the second half the Bears found themselves trailing by 14 points, 42-28, but the team refused to back down and leaned on Connor Osborne who made 3-of-4 at the free-throw line in the final minutes to give the hosts a one-point lead at 55-54.
With under a minute to play MSU's Xavier Blount connected on the first of his two free throws to knot the score at 55-55 and send the meeting into overtime.
In the extra session the Bobcats were held scoreless until midway through the period by then it was too late as UNC ran away with the double-digit win.
Northern Colorado outscored the visitors at the charity stripe by a margin of 27-10.
Game Notes
