Maroon and Silver scrimmage starts hoops season

Tuesday, October 27

Missoula, Mont.

5:00 PM

Montana

Maroon-Silver scrimmage

Photo by: Todd Goodrich

10/26/2015 10:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: gogriz.com

QUICK NOTES

The defending Big Sky champion Montana Grizzlies basketball squad knocks the lid off the 2015-16 season on Tuesday in the annual Maroon and Silver scrimmage, the first chance for fans to see this year's team in action.

The scrimmage is set to tip off at 5 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena, with the Lady Griz tipping off shortly after the men. Both scrimmages are free and open to the public, and parking is free as well.

The Adams Center Box Office will remain open until the start of the Lady Griz scrimmage so fans can secure their men's and women's season tickets and four-game mini-packs.

The Griz are coming off a 20-13 (14-4 BSC) season when coach Travis DeCuire became only the second coach in Montana history to bag a 20-win season in his first year at the helm.

The Grizzlies were picked to finish eighth by the conference coaches in the 2014-15 season, but finished the year as regular-season Big Sky champions and earned a trip to the NIT to face Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

Montana returns four starters from last season's Cinderella squad, with a host of returning lettermen, returning redshirts, transfers and prep newcomers to bolster DeCuire's depth chart.

Preseason All-Big Sky forward Martin Breunig enters his final season in Maroon and Silver after averaging 16.7 points as a junior. Australian workhorse forward Fabijan Krslovic returns as well to add depth in the paint.

Starting shooting guard Brandon Gfeller and last year's leader in steals, Mario Dunn, return to lead the Grizzlies' backcourt.

Also returning is shooting forward Jack Lopez and guard Riley Bradshaw, both of whom will be in the mix for starting minutes.

Coming off their redshirt seasons are big men Gavin DeJong (6-6, 215) and Bryden Boehning (6-10, 230), who will add depth to the Grizzlies' forward pack and ability to play big, adding to the team's versatility.

The only starter lost from the 2014-15 Big Sky championship team was first team all-conference guard Jordan Gregory, who averaged 17 points last season.

Newcomers expected to see playing time include transfer guard Walter Wright, who averaged 21.4 points at Snow College and is one player DeCuire is hopeful can fill the 17-point void left by Gregory's graduation.

True freshman guard Michael Oguine (pronounced Oh-GUEE-nay) from Chaminade Prep in California is expected to be a major contributor, with the ability to shoot and the athleticism to attack the basket as well.

The Griz are back in action again on Tuesday, Nov. 3, hosting the Whitworth University Pirates in an exhibition game, with tip-off at 7 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. The Pirates, a Division III team from Spokane, Wash., are picked No. 3 in the nation in the d3hoops.com preseason rankings and return four starters from last year's 25-4 team that fell to the Griz 94-79 in an exhibition game.