Montana
Weber State
Defensive-minded Griz defeat Wildcats in semifinal
3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The University of Montana Grizzlies out-scored the Weber State Wildcats by 27 points in the second half to register a convincing 57-40 victory over WSU in a semifinal game of the Big Sky Conference tournament Tuesday night in Northern Colorado's Butler-Hancock Pavilion.
Montana, the defending tournament champion, will face the No. 1 seed Bears in the championship game at 7:07 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9 on ESPN2. UNC downed No. 4 Northern Arizona, 73-70, in Tuesday's second semifinal.
The Grizzlies (21-9) trailed the Wildcats by 10 points (22-12) in the first half after scoring a season-low 12 points in the first 20 minutes, making only 3-of-23 (13%) shots.
It was a different story in the second half, though, as No. 2 seed Montana out-scored Weber State 45 to 18 and shot a blistering 61.5% (16-of-26) from the floor, while holding No. 3 seed WSU (18-12) made just 5-of-29 shots in the second half for 17.2%.
After taking an early 7-0 lead at the 14:39 mark of the opening half, the Grizzlies did not score another field goal the rest of the half. The Wildcats out-scored the Griz 22-5 after UM had taken that early seveno-point lead, and WSU led 22-12 at intermission.
Montana hung in tough, though, and took its first lead of the second half at 33-32, with 9:52 to go, on a driving lay-up by sophomore guard Will Cherry.
The teams then traded the lead a few times, as then, with the game tied for the fifth time at 40-all, Cherry nailed two free throws, scored on a lay-up, and then junior forward Derek Selvig canned a three-pointer, giving Montana a 46-40 advantage with 4:24 left to play, and the Griz led the rest of the way.
Montana did not slow down after taking that 46-40 lead either, and the Wildcats did not score again after that, the Grizzlies out-scoring WSU 11-0 in rest of the final four-plus minutes to take the decisive 17-point victory.
Senior center Brian Qvale had his 10th double-double of the season with a game-high (tie) 16 points and 17 rebounds, along with 2 blocks and 3 steals. He had 11 points and 11 boards in the second half. Qvale was just one rebound off his career-high 18 boards.
With his two blocks Qvale set a Big Sky tournament record with 19 rejections in six tourney games, breaking the record of 18 set by former Montana center Daren Engellant. Qvale's league career blocked shots mark is now at 241.
Cherry also tallied a game-high (tie) 16 points (14 of them coming in the second half), while freshman guard-forward Kareem Jamar added 10 points off the bench. Selvig ended up with 9 points and 8 rebounds. Junior guard Jordan Wood added 6 points and tied his career-high with 6 rebounds.
Jamar and Woods took over the responsibilities at the two guard position, as junior guard Shawn Stockton sprained his ankle in the first half, and did not return to the game, playing just 12 minutes.
WSU sophomore guard Scott Bamforth was WSU's only double-figure scorer with 10 points, but he made just 3-of-13 field goal tries, and the NCAA leader in three-point percentage (52.2%) was just 2-of-10 from three-point range.
Montana dominated the boards with a season-high 50 caroms, out-rebounding Weber State by 19, 50 to 31.
The Grizzlies had their second best defensive effort of the season in terms of scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, holding the Wildcats to 40 points and 21.4% (15-of-56) shooting from the field. (UM held Idaho to 33 points and 12.0% shooting on Nov. 22nd). Montana ended up at 38.3% (19-of-49) from the field for the game, and made 4-of-13 (30.8%) treys.
