Montana falls in closing seconds for 3rd time

Saturday, January 2

Missoula, Mont.

5 PM

Montana

3-6,0-3Big Sky

Northern Colorado

5-3,2-1Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino

1/2/2021 9:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Audio Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA, Mont. – For the third time in three Big Sky Conference games, Montana lost in heartbreaking fashion, losing in the final second to Northern Colorado, 64-62, on Saturday night.

Once down 13, Montana worked its way back to take the lead in the second half, and led by five, 57-52, with under 3 minutes to play. The Bears, though, closed the game on a 12-5 run over the final 2 minutes, 20 seconds, including a game-winning layup on the final possession.

Montana is now 0-3 to begin Big Sky Conference play for the first time since 1997, and just the second time in the past 50 seasons. The three losses have come by a combined four points.

Dec. 3 at Southern Utah – Montana led for 31:35, by as many as eight points. The Grizzlies tied the game with a 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play, before losing at the free-throw line with 2.6 seconds remaining.
Dec. 5 at Southern Utah – Montana led for 20:37, by as many as 13 points. The Grizzlies tied the game with a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds to play, before losing at the free-throw line with 1.3 seconds remaining.
Jan. 2 vs. Northern Colorado – Montana led for 7:47, by as many as five points. The Grizzlies tied the game with three free throws with 15.4 seconds to play, before losing on a layup with 1.0 seconds remaining.

Montana got off to a rough start, going scoreless for more than 5 minutes (0-for-5 with two turnovers) during a stretch in which Northern Colorado made six consecutive shots. That turned an 8-7 Griz advantage into a 22-9 Bears lead, which they would hold for the next 22 minutes.

The Grizzlies, though, steadily found their rhythm, and entered the intermission trailing by just three points (32-29), after holding Northern Colorado to one made shot over the half's final 6 minutes.

Neither team would lead by more than five points from that point forward.

The Grizzlies tied the game at 39-39 at the free-throw line, with 14:37 to play, before taking their first lead of the second half moments later, on a driving right-handed layup from junior Cameron Parker. That basket gave Montana a 43-42 advantage with 12:22 to play, its first lead since the score was 8-7 less than 6 minutes into the contest.

For the first time since the score was 8-7, Montana is on top! @CameronParker23 gives #GrizHoops the lead with 12 minutes to play! #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/CB5mOn5alM
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 3, 2021

The Bears hit a clutch 3-pointer on the next possession to regain the lead, but Montana's freshmen took over from there, scoring the Grizzlies' final 19 points. Brandon Whitney had eight of those points, including three consecutive Griz buckets to give Montana its largest lead of the night, 57-52, with 3:25 on the clock.

On its next two possessions, though, Montana traveled and missed a corner 3-pointer, while Northern Colorado made back-to-back shots to tie the game. After Josh Bannan answered with a mid-range jumper, Northern Colorado continued its surge with a 3-pointer to take a 60-59 advantage with 1:09 to play. The Bears then extended the lead with two made free throws, despite shooting just 7-of-17 from the line on the night.

Trailing by three points with 23 seconds to play, Montana got an answer from freshman Robby Beasley III, who was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. Playing in just his third collegiate game, Beasley was clutch, sinking all three free throws to tie the game at 62-62, and setting up the game's final possession with 15.4 seconds remaining.

Northern Colorado's Tre'Shon Smoots drove to the lane before awkwardly kicking to Bodie Hume while in mid-air. Hume caught the ball flat-footed underneath the basket and laid the ball in with 1.0 seconds to play to win the game.

Gallery: (1-2-2021) MBB: vs. Northern Colorado (1.2.21)

Game Notables

Freshman Robby Beasley III led all Grizzlies with 12 points. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, including three clutch makes to tie the game with 15.4 seconds remaining.
- Beasley is a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line to start his career.
Joining Beasley in double figures was sophomore Kyle Owens (10 points) and freshman Brandon Whitney (10).
- Owens has been in double figures in all nine games this season. He was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line and also led Montana with five rebounds, two blocked shots and nine fouls drawn (including two charges).
- Whitney shot 5-of-7 from the floor and scored eight points during a 5-minute stretch late in the game, which gave the Griz a game-high 57-52 lead.
Nine different Grizzlies scored, but only Brandon Whitney (five) made more than two field goals.
Montana's trio of freshmen made the Grizzlies' final 19 points over the game's final 12 minutes.
Sophomore Derrick Carter-Hollinger had a productive game, scoring four points in the second half, in addition to four rebounds, two blocked shots and two charges drawn. He has seven blocked shots over the past three games.
Sophomore Eddy Egun scored five points on 2-of-2 shooting, also adding three rebounds and one steal in 9 minutes of action. Seconds after entering the game, he stole a pass and took it coast to coast for a three-point play.
Entering the night ranked 35^th nationally for free-throw shooting, the Grizzlies increased their percentage on Saturday with 21 makes on 22 attempts. Over the past two games, Montana is 40-of-43 from the line.
Montana was out-shot overall (.408 to .462), but bigger was the 3-point discrepancy. The Grizzlies were just 1-of-5 from deep, compared to 9-of-20 for Northern Colorado.

Montana forced Northern Colorado into 13 turnovers, leading to 15 Grizzly points.
Montana was limited to just five assists on 20 made baskets.
Montana and Northern Colorado rank first and second for Big Sky Conference wins since the start of the 2017-18 season.
Montana has now lost four consecutive games to Northern Colorado, including three in a row in Missoula. Over the past four seasons, the Grizzlies are 25-5 against Big Sky foes on their home court, with three of the losses coming to Northern Colorado.

It's the Brandon Whitney show in Missoula!

The freshman has Montana's last 3 baskets, and Montana's trio of freshmen have the Grizzlies' last 14 points! #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/s9gsjHri0t
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 3, 2021

Quoting DeCuire
(on primarily playing a rotation of freshmen and sophomores down the stretch)
"The biggest issue for us right now is we have a really young group, and close games are won with experience most of the time. I don't know that we've figured that out quite yet."

"Statistically, the way we've been playing, those guys should be on the floor down the stretch, based off of how we've been playing. It's hard when you turn to the bench for a more veteran lineup, and the guy you call upon is a sophomore. It's not an excuse, it's just where we're at right now."

(on Northern Colorado's hot start)
"They had some vets out there that knew the type of enthusiasm, energy and aggression that it takes to win in conference, and they brought it early. The other thing is a respect factor, and I don't know that we brought that."

(on overcoming a 13-point first-half deficit)
"We got into a hole and went to a defensive lineup because we weren't getting stops. Then we got a lot of stops and crawled back in, and then went to a lineup that could score for us during that stretch and gained some momentum. Mack (Anderson) and Eddy (Egun) coming in was big. Eddy's slowing down (Daylen) Kountz and Mack was containing the paint and controlling shots. And then we went to another rotation, and I thought (Cameron) Parker and (Robby) Beasley did a good job of getting us to places offensively and getting some shots for others."

(on the final defensive possession)
"That last possession is really what was going on the entire game. We had a really good defensive coverage that kept them out of the paint, kept them from going one-on-one. The guy's in the air, stuck with the ball with no one to pass to. He's either going to throw up a really bad shot or at the last minute someone comes open. He threw the ball to Bodie Hume, who had gone backdoor. We actually were there, but as a defender we had our back to the ball and didn't see it because we were covering the backdoor. It ends up being him scoring off a loose ball. The offensive rebounds and loose balls killed us."

(on Montana's attention to detail)
"We've got to get rebounds, we've got to get loose balls. Our attention to detail needs to be better. We need to mature quickly. I think this is a group capable of figuring it out. The question is how long does it take us?"

Looking Ahead
Montana will have a short turnaround, facing Northern Colorado in a rematch on Monday morning (9 a.m.). The game will be televised on SWX Montana and Pluto TV (channel 1056).

It's good to have you on the floor, Robby! The freshman continues to make plays on both sides of the ball!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/KOo4CFfBtM
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 3, 2021