Montana hoops team to face NAU Saturday Night
2/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THE GAME(S): The University of Montana Grizzlies (16-6/8-2) continue their Big Sky Conference schedule this Saturday, Feb. 5, playing the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (13-8/5-4) in NAU's Rolle Activity Center (950/press row: 928-523-6224) in a 6:35 (Mtn.) game.
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.
TV: There is no TV slated for the Griz-Lumberjack game. Streaming is available on BigSkyTV.org.
THE FIRST MEETING EARLIER THIS SEASON (DEC. 29TH): At Montana 83, Northern Arizona 80: Sophomore point guard Will Cherry scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Grizzlies in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams. NAU senior guard Cameron Jones scored 11 of his career-high 30 points in the first 5:10 of the game. NAU was also led by senior guard Eric Platt, who came off the bench and hit 6-of-9 from behind the arc including three treys in the first half. Despite early defensive miscues by the Grizzlies they had a 35-32 halftime lead. Griz senior center Brian Qvale scored eight points in the first 2:39 of the second half to give the Grizzlies a 45-36 lead. Qvale was on the bench early due to foul trouble, though, and then Cherry went to work, scoring 21 of his career-high 27 points in the second half. Behind Qvale and Cherry, the Griz built a 16-point (56-40) lead with 14:37 to play. NAU did not go quietly, as the Lumberjacks were 4-of-5 from three-point range in the second half and cut the Grizzly lead to just two (79-77) with 20 seconds to play. Cherry and junior guard Shawn Stockton hit two free throws each in the final 16 seconds to seal the win for Montana. Junior Derek Selvig scored 16 points, while fellow forwards Kareem Jamar and Art Steward had 11 points apiece. Platt finished with 19 points, while NAU sophomore guard Gabe Rogers scored 15 points. The victory was head coach Wayne Tinkle's 79th as skipper for Montana which moved him up to the sixth in school history in wins.
GRIZ 14TH IN MID-MAJOR POLL: Montana remained 14th in the most recent (Jan. 31) CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Cleveland State (20-3) is now first in the poll and received 27 first place votes. (Top 25 poll on add 6-6-6 of this release).
QVALE BIG SKY'S ALL-TIME CAREER BLOCKS LEADER: Qvale is now the all-time leader in Montana and Big Sky history with 221 career blocks. Qvale passed Daren Engellant who held the Montana and Big Sky records with 212 blocks (1988-92).
CHERRY, QVALE RANKED AMONG LEADERS: Cherry is ranked fourth in the nation in steals at 2.9 a game. Qvale is ninth in the country in blocked shots (3.1 a game) and eighth in field goal percentage (60.6%). (Griz in the NCAA rankings on add 5-5-5).
CHERRY INJURED: Cherry was forced to leave the Weber State game due to an injury and is not expected to play at NAU Saturday. His future playing status is yet to be determined.
GRIZ STARTERS/6TH MEN (16-6/8-2) PPG RPG MISC.
F-01-Art Steward, 6-4, 210, Jr., JC 9.1 3.9 Avgs. 11.2/4.7 in league
F-24-Derek Selvig, 7-0, 230, Jr., 2V 10.8 5.6 9/8/3/2 at WSU
C-41-Brian Qvale, 6-11, 260, Sr., 3V 14.4 8.9 Leads Sky in rebs./blks
G-12-Jordan Wood, 6-3, 200, Jr., JC 3.4 2.2 Has 15 starts
OR
G-32-Kareem Jamar, 6-5, 210, Fr., HS 6.6 4.6 Has 14 starts
G-22-Shawn Stockton, 6-1, 195,Jr., 2V 3.0 1.7 Started last 7 games
6-40-Mathias Ward, F, 6-7, 236, So., 1V 4.3 2.0 52.8 FG%
Head Coach: Wayne Tinkle (86-59/47-27 Big Sky, 5th season at UM)
NAU LUMBERJACKS (13-8/5-4) PPG RPG MISC.
F-34-Durrell Norman, 6-4, 197, JC 4.6 4.4 52.9 FG%
F-40-Shane Johannsen, 6-7, 235, Sr., 3V 10.0 6.4 Leads Sky at 75.9 FG%
G-10-Cameron Jones, 6-3, 190, Sr., 3V 19.5 4.6 Leads Sky in ppg
G-11-Gabe Rodgers, 6-2, 175, So., 1V 11.7 2.5 46.3% 3PT%
G-21-Stallion Salvidar, 6-0, 185, So., 1V 4.9 3.2 Leads Sky at 5.9 apg
6-30-Eric Platt, G, 6-5, 218, Sr., 1V 9.5 2.4 7/4 in MSU win
Head Coach: Mike Adras, 184-158/95-80 Big Sky, 12th season at NAU
GRIZ-JACKS SERIES: Montana leads 59-28 and has won six in a row.
