Montana
Northern Colorado
Cherry and Jamar lead Griz past Bears in BSC semis
3/15/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 15, 2013
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The University of Montana's two dynamic guards, Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar, combined for 40 points, as the Griz defeated the University of Northern Colorado Bears 70-56 Friday evening in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference's post-season tournament in front of a season-high crowd of 6,919 in UM's Dahlberg Arena.
The victory advances Montana (24-6) to the Big Sky tourney championship game, Saturday, March 16, at 7:05 p.m., for the second year in a row. Once again the No. 1- seeded Grizzlies will play the No. 2-seed Weber State Wildcats (26-5) for the tourney title which gives the winner an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Last year the Griz defeated the Wildcats 85-56 in the tourney championship game.
Saturday evening's Big Sky Tournament Championship game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
It's never easy to beat a team three times in a season, and although the Grizzlies led the entire game, the Bears stayed with-in striking range for a good portion of the second half.
NC (13-18) got within three points of the UM lead twice, the second one coming with 13:06 left to play when junior center Connor Osborne scored on a lay-up, making the score 41-38, Griz. But, UM out-scored the Bears 9-2 after that, and took a 50-40 lead on a three-pointer by Cherry.
The Bears cut the Griz lead to single digits for the last time with 3:35 left to play on a pair of free throws by junior forward Derrick Barden, which made the score 60-52, UM. But Jamar scored on a lay-up on the Grizzlies' next possession, giving UM a 62-52 cushion, and the home squad maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Montana, ranked 13th in the most recent Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, has now won 20 of its last 22 games. The Grizzlies' 24 victories this season ties them with the 2005-06 team for the third most in school history. The Griz have now won 29 home games in a row over Big Sky teams.
Seventh-year head coach Wayne Tinkle's team also tied a school record (with the teams from 1983-86) earlier in the season by registering its fourth straight 20-win season. Montana has won 92 games over the last four seasons - a school record.
The Bears struggled early, and the Grizzlies jumped to an early 15-2 lead on a lay-up by Cherry. NC whittled the UM lead to 24-21 with 4:14 to go until intermission on Barden lay-up. UM made a mini-run over the next few minutes, and took a 34-25 lead at halftime.
Cherry, a senior point guard and a (three-time) first team all-league pick, was also named the Big Sky's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season in 2013, scored 21 points. Jamar, who is a guard-forward, was also a first team (two-time) all-conference selection and named the league's MVP, added 19 points and 10 rebounds, to record his third double-double of the season. Cherry and Jamar were UM's only players in double figures.
NC, which has no senior starters, was led by Barden and Osborne, who scored 18 points apiece, and were the Bears' only double-figure scorers. Osborne pulled down a game-high 12 boards, but the Griz had a 39-35 edge in rebounds.
The Wildcats defeated the University of North Dakota 76-75 in the first semifinal game of the evening to earn a berth in the championship game. WSU, which had to overcome 12-point (UND led 56-44 with 15:44 left to play) deficit, was led by junior forward Davion Berry with 25 points. UND (16-16) was paced junior guard-forward Troy Huff's 22 points.
