Weber State University’s men’s basketball team won in a battle against Montana State Bobcats 73–63 on Feb. 9 at the Dee Events Center.

Coming off a blowout 88–54 loss to the University of Northern Colorado on Feb. 6, the Wildcats were looking to get their first win against the Bobcats since Dec. 30, 2021.

Montana State guard Raequan Battle started scoring early in the first half of the game, hitting a 3-pointer to go up early. Wildcat forward Dillon Jones then came back down the other end to hit a go-ahead layup.

The scoring went back and forth during the first half, with Montana State keeping a slight lead. Going into halftime, Montana State was up 39–34.

Going into the second half, Jones said he told the team they had to lock them down on the defensive side of the ball. He said the Wildcats were scoring but needed more stops to take the lead.

In the second half, Montana State came out in a zone defense to slow the Wildcats down. Their zone worked the first few possessions until the Wildcats figured it out and made a run. Weber State went on a 30–7 run to capture the lead by 14 points.

After the run, Weber State kept their distance. With six minutes left, tempers rose when Wildcat center Alex Tew and Bobcat guard Battle both got technical fouls.

With two minutes left, Montana State trimmed the lead to 6-points, but free throws from Wildcats forward Dyson Koehler and guard Junior Ballard sealed the game.

“We had some good post-defense tonight, credited to our team for being able to lock in and know what we’re doing,” Jones said. “We just had to get them to miss. We were making shots all night.”

Wildcats head coach Eric Duft said they won this game because of their players and that his belief in his players was on full display.

“We got their big guys to turn it over 11 times. I thought that was the difference in the game,” Duft said. “Coach Russel had a really good game plan. He knows them well, and it’s a credit to our players. You better have the right guys this time of the year.”

Jones said this game shows how the team is maturing at the right time of the year.

“Nobody thought we were going to be good. In-house, we knew what it took. We knew how good we were,” Jones said. “When you look at our season, we basically played two seasons the way we started so bad you’ll never think our record is what it is.”