Griz rally late for 70-67 win in Sacramento

Saturday, January 27

Sacramento, Calif.

7 PM (MT)

Montana

14-7,5-3Big Sky

Sacramento State

6-15,2-6Big Sky

Montana

Sacramento St.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

1/27/2024 10:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana found itself in a unique situation on Saturday, playing in a tight game down the stretch in Sacramento. For a team that hadn't played in a game decided by less than six points all year, the Grizzlies looked more than comfortable in the tight spot, closing the game on a 10-0 run to defeat Sacramento State 70-67.

They had clutch buckets down the stretch, none bigger than a Dischon Thomas triple that gave Montana its first lead in the final 10 minutes, but it was the defense that allowed the comeback to take place. The Griz held Sacramento State without a field goal in the final 4:34 of the game.

The Grizzlies (14-7, 5-3 Big Sky) trailed 67-60 with under four minutes to play, and things looked to be trending towards a winless road trip. Then Thomas made a basket down low, the Griz got a stop on the other end, and Aanen Moody passed up a transition triple, instead dishing it to Brandon Whitney for a lay-in.

It made it a one possession game before Moody hit a fadeaway shot of a curl screen to bring the deficit to just one. Thomas hit the clutch triple to give Montana its first lead since 53-52, and they would deny any Hornet attempts for a comeback on the other end to seal the win.

"We had a couple of emotional timeouts there and it was, show me what's in your heart, show me what's in your gut," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "To be down and try to find a way to win, we hadn't shown that. We hadn't proven that we could do that, so this was another opportunity for that. The guys found ways."

The offense was good all night as the Grizzlies shot better than 50 percent for the seventh time in the last nine games. Montana had 15 assists to just eight turnovers, and connected on eight threes with a nearly 50 percent success rate.

But it was the size of Sacramento State that was giving Montana troubles for much of the game. The Hornets would outrebound the Grizzlies 34-22. It was a season-low in rebounds for the Griz, and the largest deficit since Nov. 24 at Houston.

The rebounds allowed Sacramento State to outscore Montana 10-2 in second chance points. The Grizzlies were able to adjust to the size as the game went along, and they didn't give up an offensive rebound in the final 11 minutes.

It helped them stage the largest second-half comeback of the season.

"We made them miss quite a few times but we couldn't get the ball," DeCuire said. "There were offensive rebounds that were leading to baskets. When we finally made an adjustment to be a little over-aggressive on the dribble hand-offs and ball screens with a few traps here and there, the posts just covered each other so we always had someone at the rim."

The Grizzlies opened the game with the lead early, but an 8-0 run by Sacramento State made it 22-18 in favor of the hosts and they would hold that lead for much of the game. Whitney did a lot of the scoring early for the Grizzlies, making his first six field goal attempts to carry the Grizzly offense.

Moody had back-to-back threes to help stabilize the Grizzlies after they trailed by a game-high eight points, and Blake Jones buried a corner three in the final minutes to make it a one-possession game at the break.

The teams battled early in the second half, and Josh Vazquez had a hot start to the half. He had six early points and gave Montana a 53-52 lead with his third triple of the night.

Then foul trouble on Montana's part helped Sacramento State start to pull away. They went ahead 59-56 after Montana's eighth foul of the half by making a pair of free throws that improved them to 18-of-20 to start.

The duo of Whitney and Vazquez had 30 of Montana's 56 points on 83 percent shooting. The rest of the Grizzly roster had just 26 points on 36 percent shooting.

A dozen points on the night for @JoshVazquez3 who puts us back ahead with his third triple of the night! pic.twitter.com/fnLtrwANOk
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 28, 2024

The rest of the team stepped up down the stretch on both ends of the floor to help the duo out. Jaxon Nap came off the bench for a second-half jumper and a nice stretch of high-intensity defense. Moody made the shots when he needed to down the stretch as well.

"Jaxon Nap was good off the bench defensively. Came in and did some things, had a big rebound down the stretch, and you never know who," DeCuire said. "If you're not concerned about being a hero, everybody has an opportunity to help you win, and that's what happened tonight."

Austin Patterson gave Sacramento State a 64-58 lead with 6:45 to play, but the Grizzlies would hold the Hornets to just one made field goal the rest of the way.

The final run came from a collective team effort. Thomas started and ended the run. His first bucket came in the paint to make it 67-62. The Grizzlies got a stop on the other end and in transition the ball found its way to Moody, who pulled up for what appeared to be a transition three.

Then at the last second, Moody dished it off to Whitney for a wide-open lay-in. It was the good-to-great mindset that DeCuire often preaches in shot selection in its purest form.

"It was huge, and that's the thing. No one would have been mad at Moody if he shot that three," DeCuire said. "It's wide open, it's a big moment, and he typically makes those, but you've got to take that 100 percenter when you get it. The willingness to share and the willingness to give up your body on the defensive side is the biggest thing that helped us win that game."

Good to GREAT! Moody with the nice find for the @Bwhit_10 lay-in and it's down to a one-possession game! pic.twitter.com/i5rs3SzCkk
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 28, 2024

The Grizzlies continued to battle on the defensive end, stacking up stops to give them chances to get back into the game. They drew up the perfect baseline out of bounds play to get Moody curling off a screen, and the veteran knocked down a jumper that cut the lead to just one point with 1:17 left on the clock.

Then, in the final minute, it was Thomas stepping up and knocking down a contested three that gave Montana its first lead in 10 minutes of action.

"The play was for Whitney to get to the paint. We were slipping some ball screens, we had Vazquez go up to set it, they switched it and it was a little crowded so Whitney didn't go," DeCuire said. "Dischon was kind of open so he threw it there thinking he would shoot it and he didn't. Then his man backs up and he shoots it in his face. Big players make big plays in big moments."

Nap would haul in a contested rebound on the other end and make one of two at the free throw line, and the Grizzlies picked up one final stop at the buzzer to seal the 70-67 win.

They had played an overtime game against Northern Colorado at home, but outside of that Montana had been in just two games decided by single digit points. It's a situation that they were unfamiliar with, backed against the wall and looking like a two-game skid was incoming.

They found the answers inside The Nest on Saturday.

"We're growing up. I think Thursday showed that there were some things that we needed to work on, and as much as I would have liked to have been up at halftime and pulled away down the stretch, we probably needed to be behind but actually win it," DeCuire said. "We grew up a little bit today, and I always talk about tough-skin. There are some chinks in the armor that you need, and this is one of them."

Final stop, and the comeback is complete ✅

Griz end the game on a 10-0 run for a road win! pic.twitter.com/VX6tvZ2eEo
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 28, 2024

Whitney led Montana with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He also dished out six assists without committing a single turnover. Vazquez had 15 points, Thomas had 13, and Moody rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12.

The Grizzlies are now 7-0 in Saturday games and also improved to 3-0 in the alternate gray uniforms. More important than those two statistics, they improved to 2-5 on the year when trailing at the half and are now 14-1 when scoring at least 70 points.

The road win will hopefully spark some momentum for the Grizzlies as they return home next week for games against Idaho and Eastern Washington. The Eagles enter the week undefeated and atop the Big Sky standings. Saturday's game will also be the N7 Game for the Grizzlies as they honor Native American culture in Montana and wear special turquoise uniforms.