Balanced Griz look strong in Maroon-Silver scrimmage

Tuesday, October 25

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Maroon-Silver scrimmage

Balanced Griz look strong in Maroon-Silver scrimmage

10/25/2016 10:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

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As you'd expect from an intrasquad preseason run, Montana's annual Maroon and Silver Scrimmage wasn't always the most error-free basketball, but one thing was evident to the nearly 600 fans in attendance: This year's Griz are going to play fast and are going to be fun to watch.

Ahmaad Rorie made his first public outing in a Grizzly uniform, leading all players with 14 points en-route to a come-from-behind 41-40 win for the Maroon over the Sliver at Dahlberg Arena on Tuesday.

The Silver team, led by sophomore Bobby Moorehead's 11 points, held the lead for the first two periods. The experience of the Maroon team eventually rose to the top though with Rorie scoring five of the Maroon's nine points in the final "overtime" period to put the Maroon up for good.

The scrimmage consisted of two 10-minute periods. After the clock had expired on the second half, the Montana staff decided to play an extra overtime period to get a few more minutes of work in for the Griz, who were eager to play in front of a crowd again.

"They were fired up," said third-year head coach Travis DeCuire of this year's squad. "They've been going after it for a while in a closed door setting.

"At the end of the day for us, this is about coming out here, playing in front of a crowd and getting the chance to get that excitement out of our system and now we can come back and watch some film and learn from it."

DeCuire knew turnovers would be a point of emphasis heading into the scrimmage, but there were still 17 total turnovers (nine from Silver, eight from Maroon), giving the scrimmage a high-speed feel as the Grizzlies pushed the pace up and down the court.

"We're playing aggressively. We've got guards trying to make plays and sometimes you're going to try to squeeze in areas that are tight," added DeCuire. "Once we settled down and got good shots both our teams did a good job of putting the ball in the basket."

In addition to Rorie's 14 points, preseason All-Big Sky guard Walter Wright netted nine points and three assists as one of the main drivers of the Maroon offense.

Fellow senior Mario Dunn provided the spark for the Silver team, putting in nine points while dishing out a team-high four assists.

The Silver team also got big nights from two fresh faces, as Jamar Akoh (who will miss the coming season due to NCAA transfer rules), put in seven points and a game-high nine rebounds, and true freshman Sayeed Pridgett added six more points in 14 minutes of action.

With Dunn and Moorehead of the Silver team able to counter the Wright/Rorie perimeter of the Maroon team, and Jack Lopez pulling down eight rebounds to Akoh's nine, the personnel for both teams seemed evenly balanced from the start of the game.

On the first possession of the game for the Silver team, Aaron Misipeka-Ward found Morehead slashing underneath and connected on the crisp pass for the easy lay-in. Minutes later, Rorie answered back for the Maroon on his first open shot, draining a fadeaway three.

The Silver team then built up a 14-5 lead when Moorehead connected on a three from the corner.

Fans got a flash of Rorie's defensive tenacity later in the first period when he picked Pridgett's pocket on an inbounds pass, made a two-step move and rose to the rim for the easy bucket as Maroon climbed back in the game.

Later in the half, Wright showed his elusiveness and scoring ability, threading the needle between two defenders in the backcourt, pushing toward the baseline and finishing with a reverse layup.

On his next possession, he showed why he had the third-most assists in the Big Sky last year, zipping a one-handed pass from behind the arc in double coverage down to a cutting Brandon Gfeller for another easy Maroon bucket.

"There were a couple of guys that were on fire tonight, and there were some guys that weren't. Bobby Moorehead goes in and makes shots, and we got production on the silver team on the perimeter," said DeCuire.

"Then once the maroon team settled down, Walter and Ahmaad started to contribute and create some offense. That's how we know we're going to have depth with multiple perimeter guys that can make plays and do some things."

The Griz return to action in a week's time when the Whitworth Pirates visit Dahlberg Arena on Nov. 2 for the only exhibition game of the year ahead of the season opener on Nov. 11 at Southern Cal.

Montana returns for its home opener against Wyoming three days later on Nov. 14.

Season tickets, mini-packs, and single game tickets are on sale now at the Adams Center Box Office, or at GrizTix.com.