Maroon wins annual scrimmage thanks to three-point barrage
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
First year coach Travis DeCuire knows one thing for sure-- this Montana team can shoot. The maroon team won the annual scrimmage by a final score of 62-37 thanks to a 78% three-point mark in the second half.
Sophomore Brandon Gfeller led all Grizzly scorers with 20 points, 18 of which came from behind the arc. Gfeller and coach Decuire both agreed that confidence is key concerning the young guard's shot.
"He's playing with a lot of confidence right now," Decuire said. "He knows he's got the green light to let it fly. He works hard to get good shots and his teammates are looking for him."
While Decuire loved the shooting night from his team, he was worrisome about the performance from his defense and on the boards.
"The good is we made shots, the bad is those shots weren't contested, and the ugly is we haven't figured out how to rebound," he said. "We're improving in those areas. Defensively, we gave up a lot of uncontested shots tonight."
A couple of seniors followed Gfeller in the scoring category with Jordan Gregory and Mike Weisner adding 16 and 15, respectively. Decuire has seen good progressions in Weisner as both a player and a leader.
"He's done a fantastic job," he said. "He's been very vocal and he's saying all the right things. I think he's more of a player right now as opposed to just a three-point shooter."
Decuire liked seeing Gregory, an aggressive guard, get to the rim.
"He's in attack mode right now," he said. "He spent a lot of time this summer working on attack moves and getting to the rim and finishing."
With three's raining down, the inside game became a bit of a non-factor. Decuire said he would have loved to see more play in the paint, but you have to stick with what's hot.
The main inside presence for the Griz comes from Martin Breunig, a German-born player who transferred to Montana from Washington. Breunig led the team with five rebounds but was limited to just two points on three shots.
"We turned it over a couple times trying to get it to him," Decuire said. "We definitely would have liked to see him get off double-digit shots."
The teams played two 15-minute halves, with players trading teams mid-game. The two halves differed greatly in speed and gameplay.
The first half saw a slower tempo, with the maroon team playing both Breunig and senior Chris Kemp at the same time.
"When you have Martin and Chris in the game you're probably not going to play as fast," Decuire said. "You're probably going to try and pound it, which is what I was looking to do."
The second half was a different story, as the two sides raced up and down the court in an offensive showcase. Decuire is looking to play some small ball this year, and with that comes an up-speed tempo.
"Basically what you're going to see is a versatile approach in terms of who's on the floor," he said. "We will play long stretches where we're playing a little faster because that's who we are."
The Grizzlies followed up the scrimmage with an eight-minute situational game. The maroon team started the situation off facing a seven-point deficit, which they quickly erased.
The two sides battled defensively down the stretch, with neither team able to gain a significant lead. A Jermaine Edmonds step-back jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining won it for the silver team.
Mario Dunn was the fourth-leading scorer for the Griz with 9, followed by Riley Bradshaw and Jack Lopez with 7. Jermaine Edmonds and Fabijan Krslovic scored 6 each.
Dunn and Bradshaw each finished with 5 assists.
The Grizzlies will have another exhibition match on Nov. 3 when they play host to Whitworth University.
