Montana
Duquesne
Griz drop first round CBI game to Duquesne 87-76
3/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2011
Box Score
The University of Montana Grizzlies could not overcome a 22-point first half deficit and fell to the Duquesne University Dukes 76-87 in first round action of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen at Dahlberg Arena Wednesday night.
The Grizzlies (21-11, 12-4 Big Sky) scored on their first possession on a jumper by senior center Brian Qvale, but his bucket was answered buy a three-pointer by junior guard B. J. Moneiro on the first possession of the Dukes. Duquesne (19-12, 11-4 Atlantic 10) then got their first of 14 steals which lead to a Dunk by senior forward Damian Saunders with 18:58 remaining giving the dukes a 5-2 lead.
The Grizzlies then went on a 10-3 run culminating in a layup by Art Steward with 16:16 remaining in the half giving the Grizzlies a 12-8 lead.
The wheels then fell off for Montana as the Dukes went on a 22-2 run over the next 7:14 which gave Duquesne a 30-14 lead on free throws by freshman guard T.J. McConnell with 9:02 remaining.
The Grizzlies and Dukes then traded buckets but Duquesne pushed their lead to 22 (25-47) with 2:05 left in the first frame.
The Grizzlies ended the half with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 14. The Dukes held a 35-49 lead heading into the break.
Qvale had two blocks in the first half which gave him 94 on the season and helped him Surpass Idaho State's Slim Millien for the single season Big Sky Conference block record. Millien had 93 blocks in the 2005-06 season for the Bengals. Qvale ended the game with three rejections which extended his record to 95.
The Grizzlies and Dukes exchanged buckets in the early in the second half but every big Montana shot or run was met by an equally big shot or run by the Dukes.
Montana was able to cut the Duquesne lead to six (57-63) on a jumper by junior guard Jordan Wood with 9:14 remaining but that is as close as the Grizzlies would get as the comeback bid ran out of gas.
The Dukes spread out the playing time and 10 players saw double-digit minutes on the court. They were able to wear out the Grizzlies whose short bench was made shorter with injury of freshman guard Vaughn Autry in the second half.
The Dukes outscored the Griz 14-9 the rest of the way and finished off the 87-76 win.
Freshman guard Kareem Jamar scored a career high 22 points to lead all scorers. Wood also had a career high 14 points and Qvale added 15.
Duquesne had five players in double-figures lead by sophomore guard Sean Johnson who scored 17 points off of the bench. McConnell scored 15, Monteiro and senior guard Bill Clark had scored 13 each for the Dukes and Saunders added 11.
