By DAVE GUFFEY / Photo Gallery by MEGHAN NOLT
Senior guard/forward Kareem Jamar scored a career-high 33 points as the University of Montana Grizzlies defeated the University of North Dakota 84-71 Thursday evening in a Big Sky Conference game in UM’s Dahlberg Arena.
The Grizzlies (2-2 BSC/7-7 overall) led UND (2-3/5-10) wire-to-wire, and had four players score in double figures.
Jamar was instrumental in the Grizzlies’ 10-point (34-24) lead at halftime, scoring 19 of his 33 points — making 4-of-5 shots from the floor and 8-of-10 free throw attempts.
UND did challenge Montana in the second half, cutting the Griz advantage to just three points at 43-40 with 14:03 left to play on two free throws by senior guard Troy Huff.
However, the Griz made a 13-point run after Huff’s two charity shots had trimmed their lead to three, taking a commanding 56-40 lead with 10:28 remaining when sophomore center Andy Martin made the first of two free throws.
The closet UND got after that was nine points (75-66) with 1:58 left on a lay-up by junior center Ryan Salmonson. But UM junior guard Keron DeShields canned two free throws with 1:23 left in the contest, and the Griz led by double digits the rest of the way.
DeShields and fellow junior guard Jordan Gregory scored 11 points each for Montana, while Martin added a career-high 10.
Jamar was 8-of-14 from the floor and had career-highs of 14 made free throws on 16 attempts. He also had 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Huff led UND with 24 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-7 from the stripe, and pulled down a game-high 7 rebounds.
For the first time this season the Griz out-rebounded an opponent, 29 to 24. The Grizzlies host Northern Colorado (4-1/10-4) Saturday, Jan. 18. UNC lost 70-55 at Montana State this evening. UND is at MSU (4-1/9-7) this Saturday.
NORTH DAKOTA (5-10, 2-3 BSC) HUFF, Troy 7-12 7-7 24; ANDERSON, Aaron 4-4 5-7 14; SCHULER, Josh 3-9 2-4 10; HOOKER, Quinton 3-4 1-3 8; SALMONSON, Ryan 3-4 0-0 6; TRAYLOR, Alonzo 2-3 1-3 5; STEFAN, Cole 0-2 2-2 2; BENTON, Shane 0-0 2-2 2; CALCATERRA, Chad
0-0 0-0 0; WEBB, Jamal 0-2 0-0 0; NASH, Jaron 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 22-41 20-30 71.
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA (7-7, 2-3 BSC): JAMAR, Kareem 8-14 14-16 33; DESHIELDS, Keron 3-7 5-6 11; GREGORY, Jordan 3-7 4-4 11; MARTIN, Andy 3-4 4-5 10; HUTCHISON, Eric 2-4 2-2 6; WEISNER, Mike 2-2 0-0 6; DUNN, Mario 2-3 2-6 6; LOPEZ, Jack 0-1 1-2 1; GFELLER,
Brandon 0-0 0-0 0; KEMP, Chris 0-1 0-0 0; BRADSHAW, Riley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 32-41 84.
North Dakota………………….. 24 47 – 71
University of Montana……… 34 50 – 84
3-point goals–North Dakota 7-16 (HUFF, Troy 3-4; SCHULER, Josh 2-7; HOOKER, Quinton 1-2; ANDERSON, Aaron 1-1; STEFAN, Cole 0-2), University of Montana 6-13 (JAMAR, Kareem 3-4; WEISNER, Mike 2-2; GREGORY, Jordan 1-4; LOPEZ, Jack 0-1; BRADSHAW, Riley 0-1; DESHIELDS, Keron 0-1).
Fouled out–North Dakota-None, University of Montana-None.
Rebounds–North Dakota 24 (HUFF, Troy 7), University of Montana 29 (HUTCHISON, Eric 5). Assists–North Dakota 12 (ANDERSON, Aaron 6), University of Montana 12 (JAMAR, Kareem 5).
Total fouls–North Dakota 31, University of Montana 22. Technical fouls–North Dakota-WEBB, Jamal, University of Montana-None.
Attendance: 3,475
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