Men’s basketball wins Cardinal Thanksgiving Invitational

The MSU basketball team traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to compete at the University of the Incarnate Word for the Cardinal Thanksgiving Invitational from Friday, Nov. 26, to Sunday, Nov. 27. The Bobcats claimed a trio of wins on top of their 1-3 overall record this season. That is exactly what they did.

In their first game in the McDermott Center, the Cats faced the Portland Pilots. The excitement of this game set the tone for the rest of the invitational. "Portland is dangerous, they can just score so easily, and all five guys can shoot the basketball," Bobcat Head Coach Danny Sprinkle said. The score of this game went back and forth. During the second half, the Pilots were able to overcome two seven-point Bobcat leads. With 2:15 to go, the score was 62-61, with the Pilots in front. Thanks to a sweet dunk by forward Jubrile Belo, the Cats once again pulled ahead. Forward/guard Abdul Mohamed solidified the Cats’ lead by sinking three out of four free throws. "We gutted it out, especially over the last four minutes," Sprinkle said.

In the next game, MSU faced the tournament hosts, the University of the Incarnate Word. Entering the game the Cardinals had a record of 0-5. After the close game against Portland, MSU was primed and ready to perform. The team put up its best shooting performance of the season. The Cats got up early, scoring the first nine points. They led the whole game and ended the half ahead, 38-22. "Our starters came out with some great energy and got us off to a tremendous start. I knew it was going to be important,” Sprinkle said. “The way Incarnate Word lost yesterday at the buzzer, I knew if we came out and kind of punched them early, it'd be tough for them to recover." Sprinkle was right — Incarnate Word unable to recover. MSU ended the game with 15 three-pointers and a score of 64-38.

The last game of the invitational was against Southeast Missouri State University. "We sold it to our guys like it was a Big Sky Championship … You've got to win the first game to get to the semifinals,” Sprinkle said. “Yesterday we took care of that, and today we had to win the championship." The game started slow for the Cats. Southeast Missouri gained an early lead. At the break, the Redhawks led, 31-27. After halftime, MSU took the court hot and soon commandeered the lead, hanging onto it until the final buzzer sounded a 75-68 Bobcat victory. Sprinkle gave a recap of the game: "Amin [Adamu] had double-digit rebounds and Jubrile had some huge blocks down the stretch which was big for us … We missed some free throws we usually make and we had some uncharacteristic turnovers. We've got to clean it up, but like yesterday, it's better to clean it up behind a win."

MSU now has a 4-3 overall record going into its first Big Sky Conference basketball game against Northern Colorado on Thursday, Dec. 2, in Greeley, CO.