Goracke scores 23, hits winning 3 at buzzer; Montana State beats Southern Utah 89-88 in OT

Dec 20, 2023, 12:44 am

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- — Brian Goracke scored 23 points — including a 3-pointer as time expired — as Montana State beat Southern Utah 89-88 in overtime on Tuesday night.

Zion Young hit two free throws to give Southern Utah an 88-85 lead with 14 seconds to play. Goracke missed a 3-point shot at the other end but Brandon Walker grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws about eight seconds later. The Bobcats immediately fouled, Braden Housley missed both foul shots, Tyler Patterson secured the rebound and Montana State called timeout with 2.5 seconds left. Patterson lobbed the inbounds pass to the opposite block where John Olmsted jumped up a tipped the ball to Goracke, who, after coming around a screen by Sam Lecholat, gathered the ball and pump-faked as a defender flew by before calmly knocking down the winner from the right wing.

Goracke added nine rebounds for the Bobcats (5-5). Walker scored 17 points, shooting 5 of 8 from the field and 7 for 8 from the foul line. Robert Ford III was 4-of-12 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 16 points.

The Thunderbirds (3-8) were led by Dominique Ford, who posted 25 points, six rebounds and two steals. Braden Housley added 21 points and four steals for Southern Utah. Parsa Fallah also put up 14 points and 10 rebounds.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.