Montana
Northern Colorado
Grizzlies take share of conference lead with win over UNC
2/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2011
Photo Gallery 
The University of Montana Grizzlies( 18-7, 10-3) took control of their regular-season championship hopes Saturday night as they defeated the Big Sky Conference leading Northern Colorado Bears (14-10, 10-3) 55-42, to move into a tie with the Bears for first place in the league.
The Grizzlies big men combo of senior center Brian Qvale and junior forward Derek Selvig excelled. , Qvale had his eighth double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while and Selvig scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The pair scored the first 10 points of the game to get the Grizzlies off to a 21-4 run which culminated in a Qvale lay-up with 11:22 left in the first half. The Bears cut the lead to 11 points (31-20) with 2:13 remaining in the half on a fast break lay-up by junior forward Mike Proctor.
The Grizzlies were able to extend their lead to 35-22 after a Selvig three-pointer with 1:05 remaining, that score would hold until the half.
The second half was more of the same, as the Grizzlies started with an 8-2 run. The run began with a Qvale jumper (18:40) and was capped off emphatically by Selvig with a steal and fast break dunk with 16:24 remaining in the game. The run gave Montana a 19-point, 43-24 lead.
After the dunk the Grizzlies went scoreless for the next four minutes. The cold streak was finally broken by a lay-up by sophomore forward Mathias Ward with 12:39 left. Despite the scoreless streak the stiff Grizzly defense was able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game.
Head coach Wayne Tinkle noted the leadership that Selvig showed on the court tonight.
"We challenged him to be our leader down the stretch," Tinkle said. "He told the guys after the win Thursday night that we need to put in the work and show our Grizzly pride and get this win tonight."
The Grizzlies held the Bears to just 14-of-60 shooting (23.3%), including just 3-of-23 (13.0%) from three-point range.
Senior guard Devon Beitzel was the only Bear to score in double figures with 22 points.
Another high point for the Grizzlies came early in the first half when sophomore guard Will Cherry checked into the lineup at the 15:04 mark. The Grizzlies' leading scorer had not played since the Feb. 3rd loss to Weber State when he was injured in the second half. Cherry ended the game with four points in 31 minutes of playing time.
"You could tell (Cherry) was laboring out there a little bit," Tinkle said. "but when he came in he really got the crowd energized."
The Grizzlies host Idaho State next Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. in their last regular-season home game. The game will be "Senior Night" for the Grizzlies lone senior, Qvale.
The Bears next travel to New Mexico State for their BracketBuster game on Feb. 19.
