Big Sky Conference

Griz fall in Cheney, Big Sky streak snapped

on

The streak is over.

With a chance to tie the school record for consecutive wins and consecutive wins to start Big Sky Conference play, instead Montana began the first step of its sure to be trying final five-game stretch with a loss.

Eastern Washington shot 56.3 percent overall, including making half its shots after intermission and disrupted the Griz offense throughout in a complete 74-65 win at Reese Court on Thursday nigh tin Cheney, Washington. The loss is Montana’s first in 55 days. The last defeat was a 66-63 loss at Washington in UM’s final non-conference game in December.

“We had a really good shootaround today, and I thought we’d have some energy going into this game,” Montana fourth-year head coach Travis DeCuire said. “I just don’t think we played hard enough.”

“I felt like we’ve been playing with fire for three or four weeks now, and now that we’ve been burned, I think we have the chance to wake up and play with that effort we did in December.”

Eastern Washington guard Sir Washington (4) drives on Montana forward Fabijan Krslovic (20) /by EWU Athletics

EWU assumed the lead eight minutes into the game and never looked back, using crisp execution, poise and stout defense to hand Montana its first conference loss of the season. The win boosts the Eagles to 8-5 in Big Sky play, 13-13 overall and keeps EWU in contention for a top four seed and the bye that comes with it in next month’s Big Sky Tournament in Reno.

“It was a great win playing against the best team in the league,” EWU first-year head coach Shantay Legans said. “They are well-coached and kept coming back play-after-play. But our players did a great job of making big plays and we did a good job on the glass. (We accomplished) everything we went over defensively and offensively. We tried our best to keep them off the boards but it’s hard to do that.”

UM entered the game on a seven-game road winning streak and a win away from matching the 2012-13 Grizzlies for the best Big Sky start and the longest winning streak in Montana history. Instead, the Griz made just one 3-pointer after halftime — an Ahmaad Rorie triple with 24 seconds left to cut the deficit to eight points — in 10 attempts in the second half and just 6-of-22 from deep overall.

Eastern Washington star Bogdan Bliznyuk, a leading candidate for league MVP honors, made seven of his first eight shots and scored 15 points as EWU took a 35-32 lead into intermission. After halftime, the Grizzlies limited Bliznyuk to four points but he managed to dish out five of EWU’s 14 assists and grab six rebounds overall as the Eagles built a 30-27 advantage on the glass.

The hosts converted half of their 22 shot attempts after halftime, including hitting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Montana cut the EWU lead to 60-57 with 4:27 left, but jumpers from Bliznyuk and Mason Peatling stretched the advantage. Josh Davison hit a 3-pointer with 3:22 left moved the lead to 67-59.

Eastern Washington center Benas Griciunas 15)/by EWU Athletics

Davison, who finished with 12 points, hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to push the advantage to 71-61. Rorie, who finished with a team-high 18 points but also committed five of UM’s 15 turnovers, hit the 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to cut it under 10 but Montana ran out of time.

EWU center Benas Griciunas made all six of his shots and scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to join Bliznyuk and Davison in double figures for the Eagles.

“It shows our guys that we can play with all of these teams if you play with confidence,” Legans said. “We were at home tonight, but if we can take that on the road with us to a neutral site at the tournament we can have a good outcome. Our team played great defense today and we made 56 percent against the best defensive team we’ve played against all year. It’s a tribute to our team for being patient and taking great shots.”

“It’s a big one because they are in first place. You have to protect the home court and we have to try to sneak out a road win coming up. But we have to worry about Saturday first, and our team is excited about that and playing against probably one of the better guards in the league,” referring to Montana State’s Tyler Hall.

Sophomore Sayeed Pridgett came off the bench to score 15 points and grab five rebounds for the Griz, who fell to 20-6 overall. Senior Fabijan Krslovic made all four of his field goal attempts and 4-of-5 free throws to finish with 12 points.

Montana takes on Idaho in Moscow on Saturday night.

“You’ve got to move on,” DeCuire said. “We move on from wins and we have to move on from losses the same way. We told them what they need to hear in the locker room, and now it’s up to them to make those adjustments.”

This story will be updated shortly. Photos courtesy of Eastern Washington Athletics. All Rights Reserved. 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

Recommended for you