Griz play Eagles Saturday with championship at stake
2/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THE GAME(S): The University of Montana Grizzlies (20-8/12-3) conclude their regular-season in an Altitude TV game this week, playing the Eastern Washington Eagles (8-19/5-9) in a crucial Big Sky game on Saturday, Feb. 26. The game tips off at 6:05 (Mountain Time) in EWU's Reese Court (5,000/press row: 509-359-6331).
RADIO: UM's flagship station is KGVO Radio (1290 AM). The "Voice of the Grizzlies" Mick Holien calls the play-by-play for his 18th season in a row, and Greg Sundberg serves as color commentator.
ON THE WEB: www.gogriz.com. Live stats & streaming: www.gogriz.com (Gametracker).
WHAT IF?: If Montana wins at EWU, it would more-than-likely give the Griz the regular-season title and a host role for the Big Sky's postseason tournament. UM and Northern Colorado (10-3 in league) split this year; both have losses to the same teams; and UM currently has a higher RPI (113 to 121) than the Bears, which is the third criteria for the tie-breaker.
Montana 85, at Portland State 84: Guard Will Cherry scored a team-high 24 points and made two critical free throws in the closing seconds to lead UM. Cherry was fouled with eight seconds remaining and nailed both free throws to give the Griz an 85-81 advantage. Griz center Brian Qvale added 16 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Forward Mathias Ward was stellar off the bench, tying his career-high with 14 points.
FIRST MEETING EARLIER THIS SEASON (GRIZ vs. EWU EAGLES, Jan. 13th): At Montana 66, Eastern Washington 47: Center Brian Qvale had a double-double to lead the Griz. EWU cut the UM lead to single digits (33-24) with 17:44 left, but Griz forward Derek Selvig hit a jumper on UM's next possession, giving it a double-figure advantage (35-24), and the Griz led by at least 10 points or more the rest of the way. The Griz led 33-22 at the half. Qvale scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots. Cherry scored a game-high 15 points. Dean Glenn led EWU with 12 points and was the Eagles' only double-figure scorer.
GRIZ 21ST IN MID-MAJOR POLL: Montana was ranked 21st (from 16th) in the most recent (Feb. 21) CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. George Mason (23-5) moved into the top spot in the poll with 31 first place votes. (Top 25 poll on add 6-6-6 of this release).
QVALE ON NUMEROUS LISTS: Qvale is now the all-time leading shot blocker in Big Sky history with 233 rejections. He has 81 blocked shots this season, a Griz record, and the second most in Big Sky single-season history. He is now ninth in school history with 687 career rebounds. He needs just 8 more points to become the 26th player in school history to score 1,000 or more career points. (Please see add 3-3-3 for all of Qvale rankings).
CHERRY, QVALE AMONG D-1 LEADERS: Cherry is now ranked 10th in the nation in steals at 2.6 a game, while Qvale is ranked fourth in field goal percentage (63.1%) and 13th in blocked shots (3.0 a game). (Griz in the top 100 in NCAA rankings on add 5-5-5).
GRIZ STARTERS/6th Men (20-8/12-3 BSC) PPG RPG MISC.
F-1-Art Steward, 6-4, 210, Jr., JC 8.6 3.4 13 points at LBSU
F-24-Derek Selvig, 7-0, 230, Jr., 2V 10.6 5.4 42.7 3PT%
C-41-Brian Qvale, 6-11, 260, Sr., 3V 15.1 8.8 63.1 FG%/84 blks.
G-5-Will Cherry, 6-1, 177, So., 1V 14.6 3.5 24 pts./10 assists at PSU
G-22-Shawn Stockton, 6-1, 195, Jr., 2V 3.2 1.7 7 pts./4 asists vs. Vikes
6-32-Kareem Jamar, G-F, 6-5, 210, Fr., HS 7.1 5.0 24/20 last 3 games
6-40-Mathias Ward, F, 6-7, 236, So., 1V 4.8 2.0 Avg. 11.3 ppg last 3 games
Head Coach: Wayne Tinkle (90-61/51-28 Big Sky, 5th season at UM)
EAGLE STARTERS/6TH MAN (8-19/5-9) PPG RPG MISC.
F-15-Laron Griffin, 6-8, 220, Jr., 1V 8.0 6.9 6th in Sky in Rebs. pg
F-42-Cliff Enderaine, 6-7, 205, Jr., JC 7.9 7.5 3rd in Sky in Rebs. pg
G-1-Glen Dean, 5-10, 170, So., 1V 14.1 2.8 79.1 FT%
G-22-Jeffrey Forbes, 5-10, 170, So., 1V 9.9 2.7 90.0 FT%
G-23-Kevin Winford, 5-11, 170, So. 10.7 1.2 84.9 FT%
6-20-Tremayne Johnson, F, 6-7, 200, Jr., JC 10.0 5.0 EWU 3rd leading scorer
6-11-Cliff Colimon, G, 6-0, 170, Jr., JC 9.3 2.0 Has 12 starts
Head Coach: Kirk Earlywine (40-77/22-40 Big Sky, 4th year at EWU)
GRIZ-EAGLES SERIES: Montana leads 58-37.
