Okorie has strong second half, nets 21 points to rally Stanford past Montana State 77-68

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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Ebuka Okorie scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and Stanford pulled away for a 77-68 win over Montana State on Wednesday night, the third win over a Big Sky Conference team for the Cardinal to start the season.

Benny Gealer added 16 points, Chisom Okpara had 15 and AJ Rohosy 13, including two baskets under the two-minute mark that sealed it for the Cardinal (3-0).

Christian King scored 14 points to lead the Bobcats (1-3). Patrick McMahon added 12 points, Chris Hodges had 11 and Jed Miller 10.

King scored seven points in an 18-4 surge that gave Montana State its first lead at 52-48 with 11:53 to play. The Bobcats kept the lead, going up 61-55 on a jumper by Jeremiah Davis at the 8:20 mark.

The Cardinal, led by Okorie with nine points, went on a 14-2 run for a 69-63 lead with less than four minutes to go. Okorie had a 3-pointer to put Stanford up 63-61 and followed that with a three-point play to get the lead for good at 66-63.

With the lead at four as the clock dipped under two minutes, Rohosy made a layup. After King missed a 3-point attempt, Stanford ran the shot clock down before Rohosy slipped free for another layup.

Gealer hit the first two baskets of the game to give the Cardinal a 5-0 lead but it wasn't until the final two minutes of the first half the lead got to 10. Still, the Bobcats got the last five points and went into the break down 36-31.

Montana State plays at Boise State on Saturday.

Louisiana-Lafayette visits Stanford on Tuesday.

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