Montana
Eastern Washington
Grizzlies defeat Eagles, 66-47, in Big Sky Conference game
1/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2011
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Senior center Brian Qvale registered a double-double to lead The University of Montana Grizzlies to a 66-47 Big Sky Conference victory over the visiting Eastern Washington Eagles Thursday evening in UM's Dahlberg Arena.
The game stayed close for the first seven minutes or so of the opening half, but with Montana leading 9-8 at the 13:29 mark of the first stanza, they out-scored the Eagles 15 to 1 to break the contest wide open and took a 24-9 lead with 8:17 left until intermission. The Grizzlies led 33-22 at halftime.
EWU (4-12/1-3) managed to reduce the UM (12-5/4-1) lead to single digits, 33-24, with 17:44 left on a steal and a lay-up by sophomore guard Jeffrey Forbes. But Griz junior forward Derek Selvig connected on a jumper on his team's next possession, giving Montana a double-figure advantage (35-24), and the home team led by at least 10 or more points the rest of the way.
Montana's largest lead of 25 points came when junior forward Jordan Wood nailed a three-pointer with 8:00 left to play, making the score 60-35 Griz. EWU never got closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Qvale scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and also blocked 5 shots. Griz sophomore guard Will Cherry scored a game-high 15 points, while junior forward Art Steward added 11 points. Selvig finished with 7 points and 8 rebounds.
Qvale now has 208 career blocks, which moves him up to second in Big Sky history, as he passes former Idaho State star center Steve Hayes, who had 207 rejections from 1974-77. Qvale needs just five more blocks to pass former Griz standout center Daren Engellant, who set league and UM records with 212 blocked shots from 1988-92.
Dean led EWU and was the only Eagle in double figures with 12 points, while junior forward Laron Griffin pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
One of the biggest keys in the win by Montana was the Grizzlies' shooting in the second half. The Griz made made 14-of-28 (50%) shots in the final 20 minutes, while the Eagles just went 7-of-29 for 24.1%).
Montana hosts the Portland State Vikings Saturday, Jan. 15th in a Big Sky contest which tips off at 7:05 p.m. tip-off in Dahlberg Arena. The Vikings lost 74-65 at Montana State Thursday evening.
BOX SCORE:
EASTERN WASHINGTON (4-12, 1-3) DEAN, Glen 4-8 3-4 12; WINFORD, Kevin 2-7 3-3 8; FORBES, Jeffrey 3-6 0-0 7; JOHNSON, Tremayne 1-9 3-4 5; EDERAINE, Cliff 2-6 1-4 5; ALLEN, Geoffrey 1-4 2-2 4; GRIFFIN, Laron 2-7 0-0 4; COLIMON, Cliff 1-6 0-0 2; HYSLOP, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0; BROWN, Rocky 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-54 12-17 47.
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA (12-5, 4-1) Cherry, Will 5-14 3-3 15; Qvale, Brian 5-12 3-4 13; Steward, Art 5-7 1-5 11; Selvig, Derek 2-7 3-4 7; Wood, Jordan 2-3 0-0 6; Autry, Vaughn 2-5 1-1 6; Ward, Mathias 2-2 0-1 4; Stockton, Shawn 2-6 0-0 4; Hutchison, Eric 0-0 0-0 0; Adams, Chase 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 11-18 66.
Eastern Washington............ 22 25 - 47 University of Montana......... 33 33 - 66
3-point goals--Eastern Washington 3-13 (WINFORD, Kevin 1-2; FORBES, Jeffrey 1-3; DEAN, Glen 1-3; COLIMON, Cliff 0-3; JOHNSON, Tremayne 0-2), University of Montana 5-18 (Cherry, Will 2-5; Wood, Jordan 2-3; Autry, Vaughn 1-4; Selvig, Derek 0-2; Stockton, Shawn 0-2; Adams, Chase 0-1; Steward, Art 0-1).
Fouled out--Eastern Washington-None, University of Montana-None.
Rebounds--Eastern Washington 38 (GRIFFIN, Laron 10), University of Montana 38 (Qvale, Brian 12).
Assists--Eastern Washington 2 (DEAN, Glen 2), University of Montana 14 (Stockton, Shawn 4).
Total fouls--Eastern Washington 17, University of Montana 17.
Technical fouls--Eastern Washington-None, University of Montana-None.
A-3,609
