By DAVE GUFFEY for GoGriz.com
The two-time defending Big Sky Conference Champion, University of Montana Grizzly basketball team hosts Lewis-Clark State College in an exhibition game, Wednesday, Nov. 6, with tip-off slated for 7:05 p.m. in Adams Center’s Dahlberg Arena. Admission is $5 per person .
Eighth-year head coach Wayne Tinkle’s 2013-14 squad returns three starters and eight lettermen from its record-setting team of a year ago, which compiled an overall record of 25-7, and was 19-1 in the conference en route to the league’s regular-season championship.
UM’s three returning starters are 6-5 senior guard-forward Kareem Jamar, 6-9 senior center Eric Hutchison, and 6-2 junior guard Jordan Gregory
Lettermen back include 6-2 junior guard Keron DeShields, 6-5 sophomore forward Nick Emerson, 7-0 sophomore center Andy Martin, 6-7 junior forward Mike Weisner, and 6-0 sophomore guard Morgan Young.
The Griz added Chris Kemp, a 6-7, 238-pound forward from the JC ranks (West Texas College), who will be a major contributor this season. Several true freshman are also expected to be factors this season. Those high school additions are 6-0 point guard Mario Dunn; 6-4 guard Brandon Gfeller; and 6-5 guard-forward Jack Lopez.
This is Montana’s second and final exhibition game of the season. On Oct. 26, the Griz had 10 players break into the scoring column, and were led by Jamar’s 28 points in a 102-49 victory over Simon Fraser University in an exhibition game.
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“It’s still awfully early, but our guys are progressing nicely,” said Tinkle, who has 141 career wins. “Tomorrow’s opponent, L-C State is going to be much more disciplined than what we saw last week. They will not have played a game the night before like Simon Fraser did at Gonzaga. We know we will see a fresh group out there and it’s going to be a challenge.
“They (Lewis-Clark State) have a lot of depth and can really shoot it,” Tinkle said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how our guys respond, know that we’re just a week away from our (regular-season) opener.
In the win over Simon Fraser, Jamar, the Big Sky MVP last season, made 8-of-10 shots from the field, 2-of-3 three-pointers, and 10-of-12 free throws in 27 minutes of action. Also in double figures for the Griz were Gregory and Gfeller, with 16 points each. Dunn added 11 points, and Weisner chipped in 10.
Weisner was a very efficient 3-of-4 from the field, while Gregory made 6-of-8 shots from the floor. Gfeller was 6-of-7 from the floor and made 2-of-3 treys, and played just 18 minutes. Dunn was 3-5 in field goal tries and 4-of-4 from the line, playing 23 minutes. Jamar had a game-high 9 rebounds, while Kemp pulled down 6 boards.
The Grizzlies open their regular season on the road next week, playing at Minnesota on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Two days later UM is at South Dakota State on Thursday, Nov. 14.
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