Montana
Great Falls
Montana dominates Great Falls, 85-50
12/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2010
All 12 players who suited up scored, as The University of Montana Grizzlies defeated the visiting University of Great Falls Argonauts 85-50 Thursday evening in a non-conference game in UM's Dahlberg Arena.
The visitors, an N.A.I.A. team, who counted the game as an exhibition, took an early 4-3 lead on a lay-up by freshman guard Marcel Towns. Junior guard Jordan Wood nailed a three-pointer on Montana's next possession to take a 6-4 advantage at the 17:22 mark, and the Griz led the rest of the way.
The closest the Argos (4-6) would get was seven points, when senior guard Norman Towns connected on a three-pointer, making it 20-13 Griz with 10:20 to go in the first half. Griz junior forward Art Steward countered with a trey of his own at the 10:01 mark to give UM a double-digit (23-13) advantage, and the home team led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.
Montana's biggest lead of the first half was by 22 points on two occasions, the second coming on a jumper by junior forward Derek Selvig which made it 41-19 with 2:10 left until halftime. The Griz led 43-24 at intermission.
The second half was even more dominant by Montana, as it out-scored Great Falls 16 to 3 in the first seven minutes of the second half, and took an insurmountable 32-point lead at 59-27 on a steal and lay-up by sophomore guard Will Cherry with 12:56 left in the contest.
Senior center Brian Qvale scored a game-high 16 points, while sophomore forward Mathias Ward scored a career-high 14 points in just 12 minutes of action. UM freshman forward Kareem Jamar was also in double figures with 11 points and tied his career-best with a game-high 9 rebounds. Selvig and Wood chipped in 8 points apiece.
Cherry, who entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in steals at 3.3 a game, just missed the school record with 9 thefts. UM's record is 10 steals by Delvon Anderson against Simon Fraser in 1991. Cherry is now averaging 4.0 steals a game.
Montana's only senior, Qvale, who began the game ranked 22nd in the country in blocks with 2.3 a game, had 5 rejections versus Great Falls, and is now averaging 3.0 per game.
The leading scorer for the Argos was senior guard Lukas Hambsch with 11 points. UGF starting Mark Celaya, a 6-3 senior, did not play due to an injury. He is the team's leading scorer at 13.9 points a game.
Montana made 28-of-55 shots (50.9%); was 6-of-20 (30.0%) from three-point range; and made 23-of-29 (79.3%) free throws. The taller Grizzlies out-rebounded the Argos 40-25.
Great Falls was 16-of-48 (33.3%) from the field, made 5-of-14 (35.7%) treys, and 13-of-17 (76.5%) charity shots.
The Griz are at the University of San Francisco on Sunday, Dec. 12th in a 2:00 p.m. (Mtn.) game. The Argos are off until Dec. 20th, when they host Concordia.
