BOZEMAN, Mont. – After last season's thrilling showdown in the Big Sky Conference Tournament Quarterfinals that saw North Dakota rally from a 19-point deficit in the final 10 minutes, Montana State enacted a little revenge on its home court as the Bobcats defeated UND, 81-76, on Tuesday evening at Worthington Arena.
 
MSU (2-6) sealed the game from the charity stipe, converting seven free throws during the final two minutes en route to a 19-for-22 evening from the line and the five-point triumph.
 
Keljin Blevins finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting as all five Bobcat starters reached double figures. Tyler Hall, one of the most prolific scorers in the Big Sky Conference, scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as the senior sealed the victory with a pair of free throws in the dying seconds.
 
Billy Brown erupted for a career-high 17 points in the loss for the Fighting Hawks (4-3) as the junior converted on 5-of-7 from the field. Brown also hit a game-high four from beyond-the-arc, also a career high, needing only five shots to accomplish the feat. The Spirit Lake, Iowa, native also finished with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
 
Bentiu Panoam notched his second-career scoring double figures with 15 points on a near-perfect 7-for-8 shooting night. The sophomore sparked a 12-2 run in the second half with seven straight points and finished a plus-7.
 
After collecting his first double-double of his career on Saturday, Cortez Seales crossed the 10-point plateau for the sixth time in seven contests with 14 points. The senior matched a career best with a trio of makes from three while playing a game-high 37 minutes.
 
Aanen Moody was the final Hawk to score in double figures, tallying all 11 of his points in the first half thanks to three triples and a new career-high five assists.
 
Tuesday was a tough one for Conner Avants as UND's leading scorer entering the night finished with only six points on a 1-of-3 shooting effort. Avants was strong on the defensive end, however, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Rebounding proved to be the difference again for UND as Montana State finished with a 38-26 advantage on the glass. The Hawks have dropped all three of their tilts in which they have lost the battle on the boards.
 
Both sides struggled to find their shooting stroke early in the contest, as MSU carried a 5-3 lead into the game's first media timeout. After the Cats had stretched their lead to 10-4, UND started to make from distance as Seales and Moody each connected to help the visitors level the score at 14-14 with 11:26 to play in the opening half.
 
After Montana State had repossessed the lead following a 6-0 run, North Dakota answered right back with six unanswered thanks to back-to-back buckets from Panoam and a layup from Brown off his own steal to bring the contest back to even. Both teams held the lead for moments as the clock trickled down in the opening stanza, but Moody made sure the visitors were in front at the break with a pair of triples to give UND a 36-34 lead after 20 minutes.
 
Entering play on Tuesday, UND usually enjoyed the outcome when leading at the half as the Hawks 4-0 when holding the advantage after 20 minutes.
 
Montana State opened the half with a quick four points to prompt Head Coach Brian Jones to call a timeout, and the break seemed the ignite the Hawks as the green and white exploded for an 8-0 exclusively from Brown as the junior hit two free throws followed by back-to-back shots from distance, off great ball movement by UND, to push the lead to six, 44-38, at the first media timeout of the new half.
 
UND maintained its advantage until around the halfway mark of the stanza when the Bobcats used a 13-4 run to turn the deficit into a 56-52 lead and bring the crowd to its feet. Like earlier in the game, the Hawks answered right back with a 12-2 spurt of their own off Panoam's nine points to recapture the lead, 64-58. The sophomore attacked the paint with a pair of layups and a jumper, while also hitting a three off the pass from Moody to spark the run.
 
With just under three minutes to play, MSU took back the momentum as a 7-0 run boosted the Cats to a 72-67 lead. The advantage grew after a Blevins dunk and two converted free throws form Harald Frey made it 78-71 with 32 seconds to play. Once again, however, UND answered back as Seales scored five straight points off a three and two makes from the charity stripe to bring the deficit down to just two, 78-76, with 16 seconds remaining.
 
The Hawks got the defensive play they were looking for as Jal Bijiek stole the ball from Sam Neumann with nine seconds left and found an open Davids Atelbauers, as the freshman had an open three to give UND the lead; however, the shot was off and the Cats hit 3-of-4 from the line to close out the 81-76 win.
 
North Dakota returns home to face another former Big Sky foe, Idaho, on Saturday afternoon from the Betty at 3 p.m.