THE MATCHUP
Montana played its second home game of the weekend after not having a game at Dahlberg Arena for 26 days leading into Thursday’s 81-62 win over Idaho. On Saturday, Montana hosted Eastern Washington, a squad UM beat 91-78 in Cheney, Washington earlier this season.
THE RESULT
Montana led by as many as 10 points (48-38) early in the second half but Eastern Washington hung around as Montana endured a scoring drought of six minutes, 22 seconds. Angelo Alegri’s 3-pointer with 4:28 left gave EWU a 52-50 lead, its first advantage since 5-2 early in the game.
Griz sophomore power forward Josh Bannon, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, converted a 3-point play to answer. Then, with 41 seconds left, UM junior forward Derrick Carter-Hollinger shook off an 0-for-6 shooting start by rattling home a corner 3-pointer to extend UM’s lead to 57-52.
Montana sophomore Robby Beasley III / by Pixie Herbert
Montana missed four of its eight free throw attempts in the final four minutes and Eastern used that to tie the game at 59 on a Steele Venters corner 3-pointer with 18 seconds left. To that point, Venters, EWU’s leading scorer entering the game (18.6 points per game), was 1-of-8 from the floor, including 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.
On the other end, the Griz wound the clock down to three seconds before junior point guard Cam Parker got in the lane and drew contact. He made the first free throw, then, after a timeout, tried to miss the second free throw but accidentally banked it in to give UM a 61-59 lead.
The final buzzer sounded before EWU could get off a final shot and Montana won for the 13th straight time at home, including the 11th home win in a row this season. Montana is now 8-2 in Big Sky Conference play, 15-6 overall. The loss drops Eastern to 5-5 in league, 11-10 overall.
THE STANDOUTS
Bannan, a 6-foot-9 slashing forward from Melbourne, Australia, continued his rise among the Big Sky’s best players. The sophomore finished 7-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free throw line on the way to a game-high 21 points to go with a team-best nine rebounds.
For the weekend, Bannan averaged 19.5 points and nine rebounds per contest. Bannan has eight double-doubles this season and missed the feat by a single rebound five more times. He is averaging 13.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this season.
Robbie Beasley III was effective in transition even though he didn’t shoot the ball great (5-of-14 from the field, 2-of-6 from deep) and he scored 12 points. Fellow sophomore guard Brandon Whitney shadowed Venters all night, holding the top returner on an EWU team that has 12 new players this season to five points and nine shot attempts. Whitney also joined Bannan and Beasley III in double figures with 10 points.
Venters and Ellis Magnuson, who hit a 3-pointer to cap a 14-2 run by the Eagles to take their first lead, are the only two players in first-year head coach David Riley’s rotation that played at Eastern Washington last year.
Linton Acliese III, a super senior power forward who transferred from Division II San Francisco State, score 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead EWU. Alegri, a 6-foot-7 graduate transfer from UNC Greensboro, scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Ethan Price, a 6-foot-9 center from the United Kingdom, had 10 points and five rebounds for Eastern.
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WHAT’S NEXT
Montana plays at Weber State on Thursday. The Grizzlies beat the Wildcats 74-72 in Missoula on January 1. Eastern Washington (11-10) also plays Weber, but plays them first; EWU plays in Ogden on Monday.
