Griz continue winning, defeat Vikings 81-76
2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior guard Anthony Johnson scored a team-high 22 points to lead The University of Montana Grizzlies to a hard-fought 81-76 Big Sky Conference victory Friday evening over the Portland State Vikings in PSU???s Stott Center.
The Grizzlies improve to 9-4 in the Big Sky and 18-7 overall, and they have now won eighth game of their last nine contests. The Vikings go to 5-6 and 10-14.
Just as in last week???s home wins over league-leading Weber State (75-61) and Idaho State (91-68), the Grizzlies took the initial lead of the game on a jump shot by junior center Brian Qvale and led the entire game.
It wasn???t an easy win for the Griz, though, as the Vikings battled back from a 15-point second half deficit.
The Grizzlies took a 15-point lead (57-42) when senior guard Ryan Staudacher nailed a three-pointer with 13:23 left in the contest. The Vikings cut the Griz advantage to just three points at 70-67 with 4:08 left on a three-point shot by junior guard Melvin Jones.
The Grizzlies held off the PSU surge by making 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch.
Johnson was once again clutch for Montana, scoring 17 points in the second half, and going 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. It was Johnson???s 13th game this season of scoring 20 or more points and the 25th in his career.
Also in double figures for the Grizzlies was Staudacher who tied his season high with 18 points, while freshman guard Will Cherry added 13, and Qvale chipped in 11.
Staudacher made 6-of-8 shots, including 3-of-5 treys. He now has made 196 career three-pointers, which ties him with David Bell for third on UM???s all-time list, and has the 11th most (tie) in the conference history.
Qvale, who fouled out with 30 seconds left, had a team-best 6 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Qvale remains third in Montana history and moved up to ninth in Big Sky annals with 135 career blocked shots. Cherry had team-highs of 5 assists and 3 steals.
PSU senior center Jamie Jones had game-highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Montana was 26-of-53 (49.1%) from the floor, made 4-of-10 treys, and was 25-of-34 (73.5%) from the line. PSU made 26-of-54 (48.1%) shots, 6-of-18 three-pointers, and 18-of-28 (64.3%) free throws. The Grizzlies, who led 37-27 at halftime, out-rebounded the Vikings 36-28.
The 18th win of the season is a season-high for fourth-year Griz Head Coach Wayne Tinkle, who won 17 games in both 2007 and 2009.
Montana is at Eastern Washington this Sunday, Feb. 14th, for a 2:05 p.m. (Mtn.) game which will be shown on Altitude TV. The host Eagles defeated Montana State 74-69 in Cheney this evening.
