BIG SKY CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
Montana State earned a big home victory over rival Montana in an exciting day of Big Sky Conference men’s basketball action.
North Dakota remains atop the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball standings with two games left to play but Eastern Washington is just a game behind after Saturday’s games. The Big Sky tournament seeding scenarios got a little clearer with EWU clinching a first-round bye and Portland State was eliminated from bye contention.
EWU senior Jake Wiley shoots through contact
Eastern Washington 89, Idaho State 77 – EWU (20-9, 12-4 BSC) clinched a first-round bye for the Big Sky tournament with a home win over Idaho State (5-23, 3-13 BSC). Jacob Wiley had a monster performance with 38 points and 15 rebounds in his final game in Cheney, Wash. Felix Von Hofe, Eastern’s all-time winningest NCAA Division I player with 79 victories in four seasons; was honored with Wiley and Julian Harrell as part of the senior day ceremony on Saturday.
Geno Luzcando picked up a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards for the Bengals. Brandon Boyd led ISU with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Idaho 83, Weber State 78 (OT) – The Vandals (15-12, 10-6 BSC) closed out the home portion of their season with an overtime win over Weber State (16-11, 11-5 BSC). Trevon Allen led the Vandals with 25 points while Arkadiy Mkrtychyan added 13 points.
Weber State fell to third in the conference standings with the loss. Jeremy Senglin scored a game-high 31 points with five 3-pointers and set a new single-season WSU record and moved into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with 109 treys this season.
North Dakota 84, Northern Colorado 81 (OT) – The Fighting Hawks (18-8, 13-3 BSC) held on the first place in the league standings with an overtime win at Northern Colorado (9-18, 5-11 BSC). Cortez Seals led UND with 23 points off the bench on 8-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds. Conner Avants led the UND starters with 17 points and Geno Crandall added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Jordan Davis paced the Bears with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. DJ Miles added 19 points and Kai Edwards earned a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Portland State senior De’Sean Parsons
Portland State 84, Northern Arizona 72 – De’Sean Parsons and Calaen Robinson each scored 16 points to lead the Vikings to a win in the final game at the Stott Center. Parsons also led the Vikings with seven rebounds while Robinson dished four assists.
JoJo Anderson and Jordyn Martin paced the Lumberjacks with 13 points apiece. Anderson also led NAU with seven rebounds.
Sacramento State 86, Southern Utah 76 — Sacramento State (11-16, 8-8 BSC) evened its Big Sky record with a home win over Southern Utah (5-24, 3-13 BSC). Nick Horsby led the Hornets with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Justin Strings added 18 points.
James McGee’s 22 points led SUU while Jacob Calloway added 18.
Release written by Jason Ashcraft of the Big Sky Conference.
