Montana basketball had a bad taste in its mouth after the opening week of games on the road. The team didn’t need long within the friendly confines of Dahlberg Arena to get back on the winning side.
In the second game of the Zootown Classic, the host Grizzlies (1-2, 0-0 BSC) jumped out to an 11-0 lead out of the gates and held onto a double-digit lead for the final 35 minutes in a 78-59 victory over St. Thomas Thursday night.
The Grizzly defense bounced back to the level that it was expected to play at coming into the year. They held a St. Thomas team that had scored 83-plus points in its last two games to just 59, limiting them to just 34 percent shooting from the field.
“To be honest, we challenged everybody individually, don’t be a guy that requires help,” head coach Travis DeCuire said of his defense’s response. “There were a lot of times that they got into the paint but they came to stops and couldn’t get a shot off that they wanted.”
Indeed, the Tommies were forced into tough shots all night long. They managed just 26 percent from beyond the arc, and Montana made sure that there were no second chances. The Grizzlies dominated on the boards, winning that battle 42-31 and allowing just nine second-chance points.
The start set the tone for the entire night. Brandon Whitney battled for a rebound after his own miss and was able to clean it up for the first points. Lonnell Martin Jr. followed it up with a triple, then Whitney hit a three of his own. Aanen Moody dropped one in and just like that the Grizzlies had an 11-0 Montana lead within the first 3:30 of the game.
Moody hit another triple at the 14:57 mark of the opening half, extending the Grizzly lead to 12. It was the last time all night the deficit was in the single digits.
Josh Bannan absolutely took over the game later on in the first half. He went on a 6-0 run by himself, hitting pull-up jumpers and putting his head down to get to the rim. He scored eight straight Grizzly points down the stretch and hauled in a rebound at the last second of the first half that gave him a double-double in just 20 minutes of game time.
He had 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists at intermission. He backed it up in the second half, closing out the game with 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. The rebound and assist totals were new career highs for the junior from Melbourne, while he missed his career-high point total by just three. And he did it all while shooting 70 percent from the floor with perfect marks from three and the free throw line.
“To be honest it felt like a triple-double performance the way he passed the ball out of the post. We hit a couple of cold spells that without it could have happened for him tonight,” DeCuire said. “I think he played right. When you play right, you’re going to be in all the right places.”
The Grizzlies entered the halftime break leading by 15 after Josh Vazquez knocked down consecutive threes late in the period. The 43-point half on offense was great, but it was the defense that stood out to DeCuire and Bannan. They held the Tommies to 27 percent shooting in the first half, turning them over four times while winning the battle on the glass.
Montana had the dubious honor of allowing the highest opponents field goal percentage in the country coming into Thursday. The first two opponents made contested shot after contested shot, but Montana knew it could improve defensively. It led to some locker room talks this week. The Grizzlies certainly delivered with their performance tonight.
For Bannan, despite all of the impressive numbers on the offensive end, it was the defense that stood out the most.
“I think last week left a sour taste in our mouth. I had some conversations with the coaches that I wasn’t good enough on the defensive side of the ball,” Bannan said. “I took accountability for that, had some tough conversations and then looked at ourselves and knew we had to come better. We were looking forward to the home opener, it’s always amazing to play at home, but I think the guys just came out, shared the ball, played hard together and we’re aiming to continue building off of that.”
The Grizzlies improved to 19-3 in their last 22 home openers with the victory. They won’t have long to celebrate, as they return to the floor on Friday night against Merrimack. The Warriors lost to Troy in the opening game of the Zootown Classic.
