GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Montana State's Marcus Colbert scored all 18 of his points in the second half and none were bigger than his fade-away baseline jumper at the buzzer that lifted the Bobcats to an 80-78 victory over North Dakota in men's Big Sky basketball action Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

Colbert had his initial shot at a game winner blocked by Quinton Hooker, but quickly corralled the carom and his 10-foot jumper went through the rim as time expired.

Junior Terrel de Rouen led UND (8-16, 4-9 BSC) with a career-high 20 points and senior Jaron Nash added 19, but Colbert's heroics zapped the air out of the arena after the home team had erased a nine-point deficit in the closing two minutes.

Estan Tyler had 17 points as well for UND and it was his layup after a steal by Hooker with 27 seconds to play that capped an 11-2 run and made it 78-78.

“They did a nice job of isolating a couple of our guys and they made some tough shots,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We got the lead (back) because we were really guarding there in the second half.

“I thought we played hard the entire game, but they have guys who can make some individual plays and we have to guard the dribble better than we did today.”

As big as Colbert was in the first half, senior Eric Norman carried the Bobcats (6-19, 3-10 BSC) throughout the game as he finished with career-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor.

Norman did not miss a shot in the first half as MSU built a 28-18 lead after he scored eight straight for the visitors. UND would regroup, however, outscoring the Bobcats 16-9 over the closing six minutes to trim the deficit to 37-34 by halftime. De Rouen had eight points during that closing stretch to get the home team back in it.

Unfortunately, Norman did not cool off from halftime as he came out and knocked down his first two field goals. Those two shots coupled with a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Michael Dison put the Bobcats up by nine again. The senior guard finished with 18 as well for the Bobcats.

UND did not relent though, putting together its best stretch of the game over the next four minutes to claw all the way back and take a 54-49 lead on a 3-pointer by de Rouen. His trifecta capped a 16-2 run by the home that went a season-best 8-for-16 from beyond the arc for the game.

The Bobcats never went away though as they put together a 19-3 run over a five-minute span that found them back in the lead by nine once again with 1:55 to play. Colbert netted the first 12 points of that run.

UND managed to get to the free throw line 23 times in the second half, but could only make 14 of those attempts. Nash, who had 16 of his 19 after halftime, made all four of his in the final two minutes and had six points in UND's closing run, but Colbert and company found away to make one more play and pick up their second straight win Big Sky road win.

Dustin Hobaugh led UND with a career-high rebounds, but Norman's work on the glass helped MSU hold a 40-37 edge in that department. His near perfect day from the floor as helped the Bobcats shoot 44 percent from the field. UND shot 52 percent after the break and finished with a 47 percent clip.

UND takes to the road next week for a pair of Big Sky games at Portland State and Sacramento State. The trip starts in Portland where UND will take on the Vikings Thursday at 9 p.m. CT.

-- UND --