There’s something about the Montana Grizzlies, New Year’s Eve and overtime. The Griz, however, would prefer to wake up to 2017 the same way they welcomed 2016.
That hope was extinguished with 0.6 seconds remaining in overtime in Weber State’s 84-81 win over Montana when Jeremy Senglin hit a well-defended step-back 3-pointer, hushing the 3,710 fans who showed up for the New Year’s Eve matinee that turned into a classic between the two Big Sky Conference rivals.
Tied at 81 with 17 seconds on the clock, Senglin put the ball between his legs a couple times, gave a hesitation move to UM sophomore Michael Oguine, stepped back and let fly with Oguine’s hand in his face, burying a shot that gave the Wildcats their first win in Missoula since 2009.
Weber State senior guard Jeremy Senglin became Weber State’s all-time leader in 3-point makes by drilling eight 3s in Bozeman on Thursday night/ by Brooks Nuanez
“It’s basically ‘Four Down’, we’ve four guys down and we let him have the ball and Jeremy is pretty good about finding a shot somewhere,” Weber State coach Randy Rahe said of Senglin, who finished with a game-high 29 points. “We basically wanted to get everybody out of the way and see if he can get one off. He’s made a lot of shots like that in his career.”
The game-winning shot was Senglin’s fifth of the night, 56th of his senior season and 267th of his career. Saturday, he moved past former Montana State standout Danny Sprinkle for third in Big Sky Conference history in made 3-pointers.
Senglin’s shot capped a back-and-forth affair between the Big Sky’s preeminent programs. Neither team experienced a lead of greater than six points, the score switched hands 11 times and was tied on 13 occasions. In the overtime period, Weber State hit 5 of its 7 shots, two of them coming from sophomore Cody John as he traded buckets with Montana guards sophomore Ahmaad Rorie and senior Walter Wright, the latter who tied the game at 81 with a slicing layup with 17 seconds left on the clock setting up Senglin’s heroics.
“I feel like I contested pretty well. He made a good shot and that’s tough,” said Oguine, who along with Rorie, hounded Senglin throughout the afternoon. “He’s a great player. I feel like I could have done a better job of taking that shot away so that one is going to hurt for awhile. But what can you do? Sometimes they make good shots.”
Weber State men’s basketball team celebrates the 2016 Big Sky Conference Tournament championship/by Brooks Nuanez
It was the latest in a series of down-to-the-wire games between Montana and Weber State. The two programs have met eight times in the Big Sky Conference championship, including four times since 2010. Saturday gave a strong indication that a ninth meeting could be in store for March in Reno.
Weber jumped out to an 8-2 lead before Montana put together a stretch that earned it a slim 14-12 advantage on Wright’s floater with 11 minutes left in the opening half.
That came just before Weber’s Jordan Dallas, a reserve post, picked up his third foul sending him to the bench for a seat next to sophomore center Zach Braxton. Fouls mounted against both teams in a first half that witnessed 27 infractions. Montana’s front line felt the brunt of the fouls as junior Fabijan Krslovic and senior Jack Lopez finished the half with two apiece and redshirt freshman Jared Samuelson was whistled for three.
Less than a minute into the second half, Krslovic was sent to the bench with two more fouls.
“We just tried to adjust with Bobby (Moorehead). Bobby came in and gave us great minutes with the four and the five,” said Wright, who scored a team-high 25 points off the bench. “We just tried to adjust to those big guys because they’re very physical. We tried to switch one through four and do as best as we could.”
Weber opened the second half with a quick 5-0 spurt to knot the game at 41 on Senglin’s layup with 17:28 remaining. Montana responded with a Brandon Gfeller 3-pointer and an Oguine layup to go back up five. Weber responded with a 13-2 run that included a couple threes from junior Dusty Baker and Senglin.
Montana senior Walter Wright, pictured here during last season’s Big Sky Tournament championship game in Reno, led the Griz with 25 points Saturday
As the game see-sawed back and forth, Montana put together its own run, getting a three from Rorie and five points from Wright to force the sixth tie of the game at 58 with under 10 to play.
“I think early in the half we weren’t patient and we took contested shots with 15 or 20 seconds on the shot clock,” said UM third-year head coach Travis DeCuire, who watched his team fall to 6-9 this season, 1-1 in Big Sky play with a trip to Idaho on Thursday upcoming. “Once the guys got patient and delved into the paint and kicked it a couple times, they were able to get to the rim whenever they wanted. That was something we needed to do early in the half.”
From there, neither team experienced a lead of greater than three points. Rorie put the Griz up 69-67 on a 12-footer with 3:25 to play. Again, Weber erased the lead and Senglin was given an opportunity to put the game out of reach with a three. With the Wildcats’ holding a one-point advantage, his attempt hit off the back rim and Wright raced up court, was fouled and hit one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.
“You’re at home, you had them where you want them and you let it get away,” DeCuire said. “You got them in overtime and you can’t get stops. You’re going to feel it till Thursday.”
NOTES: Montana finished with a season-low one turnover. The Griz also dished out 10 assists. … Rorie finished with 22 points, the fourth straight game he’s scored at least 20 points. … Oguine’s 11 rebounds set a career high. … The 41 points Montana scored in the first half were the most it’s managed in a half against Weber since Jan. 2013. … Krslovic and Samuelson fouled out in the second half. … John scored four of his eight points in the overtime session.
