Bishop, Bobcats thump Thunderbirds

BOZEMAN — Point guard Xavier Bishop had his second straight excellent game with 28 points, and Montana State downed Southern Utah 69-53 Tuesday to earn at least a share of its first Big Sky Conference men’s basketball title in 20 years.

Amin Adamu added 13 points and Jubrile Belo chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds as the Bobcats improved to 22-7 overall and 14-4 in league games, in front of 3,288 fans at Breeden Field House.

Bishop, who scored 27 points in MSU’s 80-74 loss at Montana Sunday, hit 9 of 14 shots from the floor and all nine free throws while playing 40 minutes for the second straight game.

He had 10 points at halftime, by which the Bobcats led 31-20.

The gap grew to 35-20 before Southern Utah (18-10, 12-6 in league) fought back, closing to 41-40 and 43-42 on jumpers from John Knight III.

Bishop’s layup at 8:25 pushed the lead back to 45-42; the guard then converted a three-point play for a 50-43 lead with 7:10 left, then hit a three to make it 53-47 with 5:52 remaining.

Abdul Mohamed added a three for MSU to push the gap to 56-47, and Bishop hit two free throws with 3:05 remaining to make it 60-49.

The Bobcats sank 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:55.

Knight scored 12 points, Dre Marin had 11 and Aanen Moody added 10 for SUU. The Thunderbirds fell into a tie for third with Northern Colorado in the league standings.

Weber State (20-10, 13-6) sits second, and MSU has two games left, including a home game against Sacramento State (9-16, 5-13) Thursday. A win would clinch the outright regular-season title for the Bobcats.