By KARL SCHNEIDER – Photos By AUSTIN SMITH
If box scores were still kept with pen and paper, you might have needed two pens for Kareem Jamar’s stat line Saturday night.
Even though it was just an exhibition game, Jamar, a 6-foot-5 senior swingman, torched Simon Fraser University – based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – for 28 points, nine rebounds and four assists in Montana’s 102-49 win.
Jamar’s 28-point performance – in just 27 minutes – matched his career high that came last season against Davidson.
Senior Kareem Jamar scored 28 points in 27 minutes to match his career high. Photo by Austin Smith.
But it wasn’t all Jamar in Montana’s route.
Five players score in double digits for the Griz, who as a team shot better than 60 percent from the field, 63 percent from beyond the arc and 78 percent from the free-throw line.
The matchup against the Simon Fraser Clan proved to be one sided from the start with the Griz holding the Clan to single digits through more than 12 minutes of the game.
To end the second half, the Clan scored when guard Taylor Dunn split the defense and got to the rim for an easy layup with a few seconds left. But Jamar answered the bucket at the buzzer, hitting a three in the corner to leave the Simon Fraser players with a bad taste in their mouth heading into the locker room.
While the Griz dominated from start to finish – out rebounding the Clan 49-28 – junior forward Chris Kemp, a transfer from West Texas College, kept the crowd entertained with a highlight-reel dunk. Midway through the first half Kemp caught the ball in the post, faced up, took a hard dribble to the baseline coming up and under the basket for the flush.
The Griz have one more exhibition game at home against Lewis and Clark State Nov. 6 before officially starting their season Nov. 12 on the road against the University of Minnesota.
(Photos by Austin Smith. Click on images to enlarge.)