By AUSTIN SMITH
The Grizzlies walked away with yet another victory Saturday evening, a 78-58 blowout over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux that further solidified Montana’s place in the Big Sky Conference record books.
North Dakota drew first blood, but the basket was quickly eclipsed by 13-2 Montana run that featured a resounding dunk from Spencer Coleman. This would be the only lead change of the night, and a harbinger of the rout that was to come.
The Sioux battled back for a few short minutes thanks to the efforts of junior guard Troy Huff (23 total points, five rebounds), but a momentum shift heralded by Kareem Jamar’s three point play ultimately pushed the score up 40-21 at the half.
Four Griz players scored in double digits en route to their record-setting 25th consecutive conference win: Will Cherry (16 total points), Kareem Jamar (14), Eric Hutchison (12) and Spencer Coleman (11). Besides putting on a shooting clinic, Montana played lock-down defense from start to finish, forcing 22 North Dakota steals and converting them for 30 of their 78 points.
Cherry, Jamar and Coleman combined for 18 of the Grizzlies’ 24 defensive rebounds and shared seven steals, four of which added to Cherry’s ever-increasing University of Montana career steal record.
With a playoff berth clinched and a conference record in tow, the Griz will hit the road for a five-game gauntlet that starts with a Valentine’s Day matchup at Weber State and ends at Southern Utah on March 4th. Montana will then have two games at home before they look to earn a spot in the Big Dance by battling through the Big Sky Conference Tournament starting March 14th.