By DAVE GUFFEY for GoGriz.com
The University of Montana Grizzlies had five players score in double figure and they made several crucial free throws late in the game, to register a 69-58 win over the University of Idaho Vandals Wednesday evening in UM’s Dahlberg Arena.
It was a back-and-forth contest, with six ties and four lead changes, but when junior forward
Mike Weisner nailed a three-point shot with 5:10 left to play, Montana took a 55-52 lead, and the home-standing Griz led the rest of the way.
The Vandals (4-6) had knotted the contest up for the sixth and final time at 52-52 on a driving lay-up by senior guard Glen Dean. But, Weisner canned his trey after Dean had tied things up, and the Griz (2-4) were almost perfect from the charity stripe after that to hold off any comeback bid.
Montana, which had entered the game shooting just 61.4% from the line, converted 10-of-12 (83.3%) free throws in the final six-plus minutes of the game to preserve the victory.
Idaho stayed within range late in the game, but when junior guard Jordan Gregory made both of his charity shots he gave Montana a 67-56 lead with 2:03 left to play, and the Griz led by double-digits the rest of the way.
The Grizzlies out-scored the Vandals 12 to 3 in the final four minutes of the first half, and went on to take a 34-26 halftime lead. Idaho battled back in the second stanza though, but never got a bigger lead than two points (at 45-43), when junior guard Connor Hill scored on a lay-up with 9:25 left in the game.
True freshman guard Mario Dunn was instrumental in the win for UM, as he made 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the final 6:08 of the game en route to scoring a career-high 11 points.
Double-digit scorers for the Griz were senior guard-forward Kareem Jamar (16 points), Gregory (12), Weisner (11), Dunn (11), and junior guard Keron DeShields (10).
Jamar had another outstanding all-around game with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with his 16 points, and he also had 6 assists. It was Jamar’s second double-double this season and the ninth in his career.
Hill led all scorers with 24 points, while junior forward Bira Beck added 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Grizzlies ended up at 75.0% from the line, making 18-of-24 free throws, while the Vandals made just 7-of-18 (38.9%) charity shots. UI had a 39-34 rebounding edge.
The Griz host Saint Martin’s this Sunday, Dec. 15, in a 7:00 p.m. game in Dahlberg Arena. The Grizzlies and Vandals square off again this season on Dec. 28 at Idaho.
IDAHO (4-6): Hill, Connor 9-17 2-5 24; Seck, Bira 4-7 3-5 11; Madison, Stephen 3-8 1-2 9; Scott, Mike 2-5 0-0 5; Dean, Glen 2-8 1-3 5; Callandret, Perrion 1-5 0-1 2; Mpawe, Paulin 1-4 0-2 2; Kammerer, Joe 0-4 0-0 0; Egbert, Ty 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 7-18 58.
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA (2-4): JAMAR, Kareem 6-14 3-6 16; GREGORY, Jordan 3-7 4-4 12; DUNN, Mario 2-4 7-8 11; WEISNER, Mike 4-5 0-0 11; DESHIELDS, Keron 3-6 1-2 10; MARTIN, Andy 2-4 2-2 6; HUTCHISON, Eric 1-4 1-2 3; GFELLER, Brandon 0-2 0-0 0; LOPEZ, Jack
0-1 0-0 0; KEMP, Chris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 18-24 69.
Idaho……………………. 26 32 – 58
Montana……………….. 34 35 – 69
3-point goals–Idaho 7-16 (Hill, Connor 4-10; Madison, Stephen 2-3; Scott, Mike 1-2; Dean, Glen 0-1), University of Montana 9-18 (DESHIELDS, Keron 3-3; WEISNER, Mike 3-3; GREGORY, Jordan 2-4; JAMAR, Kareem 1-4; GFELLER, Brandon 0-2; LOPEZ, Jack 0-1; DUNN, Mario 0-1).
Fouled out–Idaho-Seck, Bira; Madison, Stephen, University of Montana-None.
Rebounds–Idaho 39 (Seck, Bira 13), University of Montana 34 (JAMAR, Kareem 10). Assists–Idaho 7 (Madison, Stephen 2), University of Montana 13 (JAMAR, Kareem 6).
Total fouls–Idaho 21, University of Montana 21. Technical fouls–Idaho-Dean, Glen, University
of Montana-DESHIELDS, Keron.
Attendance: 2,882
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