Big Sky Conference

EWU heading back to Reno; UM, UI, UND all see seasons end

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Eastern Washington is taking the road back to Reno after Montana’s season ended in the Biggest Little City in the World on Wednesday night.

UM and EWU just competed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno. EWU lost in the quarterfinals to Idaho. Montana eliminated the Vandals but lost in the championship game to Weber State. Each received bids to the College Basketball Invitational.

Montana left Reno on Sunday and endured a 16-hour trip back to Missoula due to inclement weather and a bus from Salt Lake City. During the bus ride, UM accepted the CBI invite and agreed to return to Reno to play Nevada in the first round.

On Wednesday, the Griz built a 10-point halftime lead and led for all but five minutes of the action. But Nevada’s 52-point second half and Lindsay Drew’s solid playmaking down the stretch lifted the host Wolf Pack to a 79-75 win.

Montana senior power forward Martin Breunig scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds but fouled out with 32 seconds to play in the final game of his Montana career. UM’s season ends with a 21-12 record.

Wednesday in Cheney, Washington, EWU overcame a poor shooting night to advance in the CBI with a 79-72 win over Pepperdine. The win was the first in postseason history for the Eagles. Eastern advances to play Nevada in Reno on Monday evening.

“So happy to have such a fun night with the EWU family. Reese (Court) was great. Love you all. Great win over Pepperdine. #GoEags,” EWU head coach Jim Hayford tweeted after the game.

The North Dakota men’s basketball team saw its season end with an 89-86 overtime loss to UC Irvine in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The CIT game served as the first post-season game at UND in the school’s Division I era.

Idaho’s season ended in Seattle with a 68-63 loss to Seattle U. The Vandals finish 2016 at 21-13. No further details from this game were available.

With senior power forward Venky Jois basically negated, the Eagles shot a season-low 28 percent in the first half to fall behind 34-29. Although Jois, EWU’s all-time leading scorer, finished with just six points, EWU converted 46.8 percent of its second-half field goals, including 8-of-13 from beyond the arc to win going away.

Senior Austin McBroom drilled six 3-pointers and 7-of-17 shots overall in pouring in 24 points. He also dished out four assists. Sophomore Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace Eastern. Felix Von Hofe hit half of his eight 3-point tries and scored 14 points to go with nine rebounds as EWU owned a 45-39 advantage on the glass.

Lamond Murray Jr., the son of 11-year NBA player of the same name, led Pepperdine with 24 points and eight rebounds. Stacy Davis grabbed 14 rebounds and chipped in eight points for the Waves who hit 14-of-33 first half shots and 13-of-32 after halftime.

Sophomore Jack Lopez hit five of his seven first-half 3-point tries and his sixth 3-pointer right out of halftime gave Montana a 40-29 lead with 19 minutes to play. Lopez finished with 20 points, Walter Wright added 14 and Mario Dunn chipped in 10. But Nevada adjusted, got Breunig and sophomore forward Fabijan Krslovic in foul trouble and rallied all the way back.

D.J. Fenner hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points. Drew’s pull-up 17-foot jump sot gave Nevada its first lead and his assist for an Eric Cooper 3 gave Nevada its largest lead, 75-70. Drew finished with 16 points and six assists. Despite facing double teams all night, 6-foot-8 Nevada freshman Cameron Oliver finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Wolfpack.

Quinton Hooker had a good look and Geno Crandall had two more as UND tried to rally in the extra period against the Anteaters. Hooker scored 38 points in UND’s overtime loss to Weber State in the Big Sky semifinals but finished 3-of-10 for 15 points on Wednesday. Crandall poured in a career-high 22 points but he missed three shots in the final possession as UND tried to force one more extra frame. UND finishes the season 17-16 and return all five starters, including Hooker, a first-team All-Big Sky selection as a junior this winter.

In the first round of the Women’s College Basketball Invitational (WBI), Weber State earned its 22nd victory this season. Deeshyra Thomas led four Wildcats in double figures with 20 points as Weber converted 17-of-32 shots in the second half to build a 44-31 advantage after intermission. Emily Drake scored 15 points. Brittney Dunbar and Kailie Quinn each chipped in 14 points.

Weber awaits the winner of North Dakota and Grand Canyon. The quarterfinal game would be played on Saturday or Sunday.

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.

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