Montana
Idaho State
Montana defeats Idaho State 71-52
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2011
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University of Montana center Brian Qvale scored a game-high 21 points, and teammates Mathias Ward and Kareem Jamar combined for 24 points off the bench, as the host Grizzlies defeated the Idaho State Bengals 71-52 Wednesday evening in a Big Sky Conference game in UM's Dahlberg Arena.
The Griz improved to 19-7 overall and 11-3 in the Big Sky and remain atop the league standings with those 11 conference victories. Northern Colorado is right behind the Griz with a 10-3 league mark, while Weber State remains in the hunt with its sixth straight conference win, 80-58 over Portland State tonight, the Wildcats improving to 9-4 in the Big Sky.
ISU (8-17/4-9) came out of the blocks fast and jumped to an early 9-4 lead on a jumper by senior guard Broderick Gilchrest at the 15:36 mark of the opening half.
The Bengals tied the game up (17-17) for the fourth and final time with 5:26 left until halftime on a lay-up by junior guard Chase Grabau. The Grizzlies took the lead for good about a minute later (4:07 left until intermission), on a steal and a lay-up by Jamar, making it 19-17, UM. Montana then out-scored ISU by eight points (10-2) the rest of the half, and led 29-19 at intermission.
Montana opened the first five minutes of the second half on a scoring binge, out-scoring Idaho State 15 to 2, and took a substantial 21-point (42-21) on a conventional three-point play by Qvale with 15:08 left to play. The Griz led by 16 points or more the rest of the way.
Montana improved to 8-0 at home in Big Sky play, and 13-1 overall this season in Dahlberg Arena.
It was "Senior Night" for Qvale, who is UM's only senior. The product of Williston, N.D. made 7-of-10 shots from the field and was 7-of-11 from the line in his last regular-season home game. He also had one block which increases his Big Sky career record to 233 rejections.
Ward, a sophomore forward, scored 13 points, and made 5-of-7 shots. Jamar, a freshman guard-forward, was 4-of-6 from the field and scored 11 points, tied his career-high with 9 rebounds, and has a career-best 3 steals. Sophomore guard Will Cherry had a career-high 8 assists, with just one turnover in 29 minutes of action.
Gilchrest and junior guard Kenny McGowen led ISU with 13 points each, while junior forward Abner Moreira had a team-high 7 rebounds.
The Griz now go on the road to play the Long Beach State 49ers in a BracketBuster game this Saturday, Feb. 19. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, with tip-off at 9:05 p.m. (Mountain).
