Thursday, March 14
Boise, Idaho
12:00 PM
Montana
24-8
79
vs
73
Sacramento State
15-16
1
2
F
Sacramento State
28
45
73
Montana
41
38
79
Photo by: David Staggs
Hot start leads to victory, Griz advance to semis
3/14/2019 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOISE, Idaho – Montana struck early and often in the first half before holding on late to defeat Sacramento State, 79-73, Thursday afternoon at CenturyLink Arena. The Grizzlies will now face Weber State on Friday evening with a trip to the championship game on the line.
After Sacramento State scored twice in the first 100 seconds, Montana scored the next 11 points to take the lead for good. Michael Oguine scored seven of those points and finished the day with a game-high 19 on 8-of-13 shooting, in addition to four steals.
The Grizzlies continued to apply the pressure, leading by as many as 21 points and doubling up the Hornets late in the first half, 41-20, after getting six points from Oguine and a triple from Donaven Dorsey during a 9-0 run.
The Grizzlies shot 53 percent from the floor and had assists on 21 of their 31 made baskets, including seven from Kendal Manuel.
Just as impressive as the offense, though, was the defense. Montana held Weber State without a made field goal for more than 4 minutes on three separate occasions in the first half – and four times overall.
The Hornets had two big runs in them, however, cutting the score to 13 at the half and getting within single digits twice in the second half. The Hornets would get as close as four points in the final minute, but Montana always remained in control, hitting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
In addition to Oguine, three other Grizzlies scored in double figures, including 14 second-half points from Ahmaad Rorie. Freshman Mack Anderson served valuable minutes down low, recording five rebounds and scoring six first-half points.
"You feel a lot better knowing when you have guys that have been here before. It's been a long season, and we've had adversity, but our grit and the vision that it creates paid off for us in this one today. Marcus Graves showed up, a senior competitor, but we had four players in double figures with 21 assists." – head coach Travis DeCuire on the win overall
"We're scrappy, that's a big part of it. Sacramento State, they run their offense pretty well. They like to run a lot of guys off a lot of screens. That takes a lot of energy to fight through those the whole game. Now we have to adjust because the team we play tomorrow is going to do something very different. I think our team is very good at making adjustments. We're going to be confident going into it." – senior Michael Oguine on making adjustments for Friday
"Being my last one, it's just about leaving everything out on the floor. We don't want to have any regrets. Getting to a good start was a key for me. Playing with passion and energy, when you do that you usually like the results." – senior Michael Oguine on the motivation behind his increased intensity
Looking Ahead
Montana will now turn its focus to its semifinal matchup with Weber State, which beat Portland State, 81-71, on Thursday afternoon. The Grizzlies have won seven consecutive semifinal matchups and are looking for their eight title-game appearance in the past 10 seasons.
Gallery: (3/14/2019) MBB: vs. Sacramento State (3.14.19)
After Sacramento State scored twice in the first 100 seconds, Montana scored the next 11 points to take the lead for good. Michael Oguine scored seven of those points and finished the day with a game-high 19 on 8-of-13 shooting, in addition to four steals.
The Grizzlies continued to apply the pressure, leading by as many as 21 points and doubling up the Hornets late in the first half, 41-20, after getting six points from Oguine and a triple from Donaven Dorsey during a 9-0 run.
The Grizzlies shot 53 percent from the floor and had assists on 21 of their 31 made baskets, including seven from Kendal Manuel.
Just as impressive as the offense, though, was the defense. Montana held Weber State without a made field goal for more than 4 minutes on three separate occasions in the first half – and four times overall.
The Hornets had two big runs in them, however, cutting the score to 13 at the half and getting within single digits twice in the second half. The Hornets would get as close as four points in the final minute, but Montana always remained in control, hitting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
In addition to Oguine, three other Grizzlies scored in double figures, including 14 second-half points from Ahmaad Rorie. Freshman Mack Anderson served valuable minutes down low, recording five rebounds and scoring six first-half points.
Game NotablesWe took care of business today. Back at it tomorrow!
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) March 15, 2019
📰 https://t.co/9TTTegNyLQ #GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyInBoise pic.twitter.com/s7uYhJv2nL
- Montana improved to 24-8 on the season, tied for the sixth-most wins in a single season. Over the past two seasons, Montana has won 50 games, tied for the most ever in a two-year stretch in school history (along with 1991-92 and 2012-13).
- Montana shot 52.5 percent from the floor, the 18th time this season the Grizzlies have made at least half of their shots.
- Montana had 21 assists on its 31 made shots. It marks the second game in a row in which Montana has recorded at least 20 assists.
- The Grizzlies turned the ball over just 10 times after averaging 17.5 turnovers in the previous two meetings vs. the Hornets. Sacramento State leads the Big Sky for turnovers forced and ranks in the top 50 nationally with a +2.5 turnover margin, but turned the ball over five more times than the Grizzlies on Thursday.
- Four players were in double figures, led by Michael Oguine's 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He passed Andrew Strait (2005-09) and is now sixth on Montana's all-time scoring list.
- Oguine, who ranks third in school history for career steals, recorded four swipes.
- Senior Ahmaad Rorie scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, shooting 6-of-10. He also had four assists and two steals.
- Freshman Mack Anderson, who was playing in his first tournament game, scored six points in the first half while logging valuable minutes with Pridgett and Donaven Dorsey on the bench. He finished with six points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
- Sayeed Pridgett scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting, despite seeing less playing time due to foul trouble. He played just 1 of the final 12 minutes of the first half, and 27 overall.
- Junior Kendal Manuel scored 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers that all came at big times. He also had a career-high seven assists.
- Senior Bobby Moorehead had a game-high nine rebounds, in addition to five points and three assists.
- The Grizzlies were 9-of-11 from the free-throw line (81.8 percent).
- Montana jumped out to an early lead, using an 11-0 run to force a Hornets timeout less than 4 minutes into the contest. During the run, Sacramento State was 0-for-8 shooting with two turnovers; Montana began the game making six of its first eight shots.
- Sacramento State went four stretches of more than 4 minutes without making a shot, including three spurts in the first half. During one point, the Hornets turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions.
- Montana scored nine consecutive points late in the first half to double up the Hornets, 41-20.
- Sacramento State closed the first half on an 8-0 run, and extended it to 16-2 to get within seven points, 43-36, less than 2 minutes into the second half.
- Montana responded immediately following, with a 10-0 run over a stretch of 2:15. The Hornets were 0-for-5 with a turnover, while four different Grizzlies scored.
- The runs continued, as Sacramento State scored the next 11 points, making three triples to get within six points with over 12 minutes to play. The Hornets would get as close as four, 77-73, but Montana made five of six free throws down the stretch to keep the Hornets at bay.
- After starting the game 0-for-6 from long range, Sacramento State finished with 11 triples, including 7-of-8 shooting in the second half.
- Second-team All-Big Sky selection Joshua Patton was held to three shots.
Quoting the GrizRorie to Oguine! Best one-two punch in the Big Sky? 🥊🤔 (also... AND ONEEEE 🗣🗣🗣)#GoGriz 🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/hBQRWmR4zy
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) March 14, 2019
"You feel a lot better knowing when you have guys that have been here before. It's been a long season, and we've had adversity, but our grit and the vision that it creates paid off for us in this one today. Marcus Graves showed up, a senior competitor, but we had four players in double figures with 21 assists." – head coach Travis DeCuire on the win overall
"We're scrappy, that's a big part of it. Sacramento State, they run their offense pretty well. They like to run a lot of guys off a lot of screens. That takes a lot of energy to fight through those the whole game. Now we have to adjust because the team we play tomorrow is going to do something very different. I think our team is very good at making adjustments. We're going to be confident going into it." – senior Michael Oguine on making adjustments for Friday
"Being my last one, it's just about leaving everything out on the floor. We don't want to have any regrets. Getting to a good start was a key for me. Playing with passion and energy, when you do that you usually like the results." – senior Michael Oguine on the motivation behind his increased intensity
Looking Ahead
Montana will now turn its focus to its semifinal matchup with Weber State, which beat Portland State, 81-71, on Thursday afternoon. The Grizzlies have won seven consecutive semifinal matchups and are looking for their eight title-game appearance in the past 10 seasons.
Rorie ➕ Pridgett = BUCKET
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) March 14, 2019
How bout that First Team All-Conference connection 😏😎#GoGriz 🏀🐻 pic.twitter.com/z6HgO2gZlf
Team Stats
SAC
UM
FG%
.455
.525
3FG%
.440
.381
FT%
.857
.818
RB
30
30
TO
15
10
STL
4
9
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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