Montana
Lewis-Clark State
Griz defeat Warriors 64-52 in exhibition game
11/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2011
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The University of Montana Grizzly basketball team made its 2011-12 debut Thursday night, defeating the visiting Lewis-Clark State Warriors 64-52 in an exhibition game in UM's Dahlberg Arena.
The Griz had an 18-point lead several times throughout the contest, the last one coming with 6:05 left to play on a three-point play by junior forward Mathias Ward.
After taking a 10-point (33-23) halftime lead, Montana outs-scored L-C State 12-4 in the opening minutes of the second half, and went ahead 45-27 on a free throw by7-foot senior forward Derek Selvig with 14:10 remaining in the game. Unfortunately Selvig was injured less than a minute later and left the game with 13:48 left to play and never returned.
The Grizzlies maintained a double-digit lead for several minutes after Selvig's exit, but the Warriors made cut it to a single-digit contest with 2:15 left on a pair of free throws by senior guard Jeray Key.
Montana then got a key three-point shot by Ward, his second of the game, to give UM a 62-50 advantage with 1:47 to go. Ward added two free throws with 56 seconds remaining for UM's final points.
Selvig had game-high of 15 points and a team-leading 6 rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Kareem Jamar added 13 points and 5 boards, while Ward was the Grizzlies' other double-figure scorer with 11 points. Ward was 3-of-3 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line.
The Warriors were led by junior forward Nick Fromm and junior guard Donte Archie, each with 13 points, while junior forward BJ Bolte had a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench.
"Credit LC State for coming in here and playing the way they did," said a concerned Griz head coach Wayne Tinkle. "I've disliked these games since I was an assistant coach. It's their Super Bowl and its our first time out. They've been practicing a month-and-a-half longer than we have. But that's no excuse for the lack of focus that we showed in a lot of stretches.
"We got after them in the locker room (after the game) that this in unacceptable," Tinkle said. "Our main goal was to be a better team at the end of the night than we were when we started the game, and we failed that test."
Montana opens its regular season next Friday, Nov. 11, at Colorado State.
