Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Montana
Wildcats fall 66-51 to Montana in Big Sky showdown
2/29/2012 5:02:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MISSOULA, Mont. - It all came down to one game and Montana was able to get it done. The Grizzlies defeated Weber State 66-51 Tuesday night to claim the Big Sky Championship and the right to host the Big Sky Tournament next week.
Weber State finishes the regular season 23-5 and 14-2 in league play but it wasn't enough to beat the Grizzlies who won their 12th straight game and captured the regular season with a 15-1 record. The Grizzlies will host the conference tournament for the first time since 2000.
Weber State shot a season-low 30 percent from the field and scored a season-low 51 points on the night. They were also just 3-26 from three-point land, for a season-low 11 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 16-10 lead with 13:00 to play but then went very cold. The Grizzlies finished the half on a 24-8 run and WSU was just 2-16 from the field in that stretch.
WSU got as close as five points mid-way through the second half but could never get closer than that. The 'Cats shot just 27 percent from the field in the second half.
"We obviously had trouble making shots," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "I thought we got some good looks but just couldn't get them to go down. Montana did a great job defensively and their zone was effective against us."
Damian Lillard led Weber State with 19 points but was just 7-19 from the field, including 2-11 from three-point land. With three free throws made he did become Weber State's career leader in free throws made, now with 489, passing Jermaine Boyette.
"We just couldn't get the shots to fall tonight," Lillard said. "I thought we had some good looks, we just didn't make them and we couldn't make up for it and get enough stops on the defensive end. They put a lot of defensive pressure on us and we couldn't knock down the shots when we needed to."
Scott Bamforth and Kyle Tresnak each added nine points for the 'Cats. Darin Mahoney led WSU with nine rebounds.
Montana outrebounded the 'Cats 40-35 and shot 45 percent from the field. Will Cherry led the way with 23 points. Kareem Jamar added and Mathis Ward had 15.
Weber State also had a season-low four assists on the night.
"I'm really proud of our team and how they kept fighting all season long," Rahe said. "We just came up short tonight but we still have some basketball to play."
Weber State will now be the second seed in the Big Sky Tournament. The 'Cats will receive a bye into the semifinals and will play the highest remaining seed next Tuesday, March 6 in Missoula. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m. Montana will play the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals at 8:00 p.m. Both semifinal games will be televised live on Altitude. The championship game will be Wednesday, March 7 and will be televised on ESPN2.
Portland State will be the third seed and will host Montana State Saturday in one quarterfinal game. Eastern Washington will be the fourth seed and will host fifth seeded Idaho State Saturday in the other quarterfinal game.
