Moore, Sawyer lead Montana to gritty road win in Ogden

Thursday, January 16

Ogden, Utah

7:00 PM

Montana

11-7,4-1Big Sky

Weber State

7-11,1-3Big Sky

Montana

Weber St.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Moore, Sawyer lead Montana to gritty road win in Ogden

1/16/2025 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Malik Moore finished his 18-point night with the game-winning three to lead Montana to a 63-59 win at Weber State on Thursday night. The three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining put Montana up by two and a defensive stop on the other end helped Montana improve to 4-1 in Big Sky play.

Moore had the final go-ahead basket, but Te'Jon Sawyer put the finishing touches on the game at the free throw line and twice gave Montana the lead in the final 90 seconds in a back-and-forth finish.

🚨 𝑮𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑹 🚨@mooremalikk | #GOGRIZ pic.twitter.com/8bhufJcBde
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 17, 2025

Sawyer had a poster slam with 54 seconds remaining that put Montana ahead 58-57. Weber State answered with a score to retake the lead with 42 seconds left, setting Moore up for his heroics.

SAWYER!!! The big man with the poster to give Montana the lead in the final minute! 🍿@tejxn__ | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/gN42ICyhA4
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 17, 2025

The duo led Montana all night long. They combined for 35 of Montana's 64 points on the night, including the final 11 points down the stretch. Moore scored or assisted the final three made field goals of the night for the Griz.

"We put the ball in his hands late," DeCuire said. "He had it in a couple of ball screens, he made some plays and got it into the paint on a play that led to Te'Jon's dunk, and then we ran some curl screens for him and he got some drop offs. When you get assists like that, it's like making shots. The biggest thing for me down the stretch was to try to keep it in his hands as much as possible."

Montana is now 3-0 on the road in Big Sky play. It's the first undefeated start through three road games since the 2017-18 team opened up with seven straight road wins. That squad began league play at 13-0 overall, and won both the regular season and tournament titles in the Big Sky.

Montana relied on the two offensively, but also were able to win the game with a great defensive performance. The 59 points allowed are the fewest by a D-1 opponent this season. Montana's 63 points are the fewest in a win for the Grizzlies since 2022.

"This is one of those, I've given this speech about four or five times in my time here, the way my dad raised me as a basketball player you can score two points and outperform your opponent, you just can't let him score," DeCuire said. "This is one of those nights where the offense wasn't clicking, we had to perform on the defensive side of the ball, and down the stretch we got the stops we needed."

Weber State took the lead early as both teams came out cold. Montana missed its first five shots of the game, which allowed the Wildcats to build a 13-5 lead early. The hosts led for a majority of the first half before a triple from Brandon Whitney gave the Griz their first lead at 23-20.

It looked like Montana may runaway from a Weber State team that was playing without top scorer Blaise Threatt. Money Williams scored out of the final media timeout of the half to cap off a 12-2 Grizzly run and give them a 29-22 lead.

The Wildcats answered the run with one of their own, scoring the final 10 points of the half in under three minutes to go into the break with a 32-29 lead. It was the third time in the last four games that Montana were held under 30 points in the opening half.

Montana struggled shooting the ball in the first half, going just 9-of-27 (.333) and being outrebounded 21-14 as a result. They increased the field goal percentage as the half went along, but still faced a deficit at the half.

"They were hurting us early. It's hard to outrebound somebody when you're shooting 25 percent because you're missing, you're not going to get those balls, so you have to make shots," DeCuire said. "We found a way, we just fought. I told the guys the people who rebound are going to play. Austin got a few rebounds early and we trusted him down the stretch."

Sawyer gave Montana a 37-36 lead with 15 minutes to play, and from that point on the teams traded the lead back and forth. Weber State took its largest lead of the second half at 53-47 with just over six minutes to play.

But hustle plays won it down the stretch for Montana. Joe Pridgen struggled in the first half, scoring just two points. He had six points and six rebounds in the second half for the Griz, who were +14 in his 14 minutes in the final period.

He started the rally with an up-and-under lay-up to make it a one possession game. He then had an offensive rebound and putback to once again get the Griz within three points at 55-52.

Moore flew through the air for a sweet reverse lay-in to make it a one-point game and Sawyer gave Montana the lead at the free throw line with 78 seconds to play.

Unreal acrobatic finish by Malik! You're going to want to get to ESPN+ for this finish!@mooremalikk | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/yrr1xrcWII
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 17, 2025

Sawyer had 17 points and seven rebounds, and also had both of Montana's blocks on the night in a complete performance.

"The offensive stuff is easy to highlight and he performed there," DeCuire said. "I'm happy for him. But defensively after Saturday we challenged some guys, him specifically in guarding the post and making it hard on guys, and for Vucinic to only get off five shots, he did a phenomenal job keeping him out and not giving him enough touches to generate offense."

Moore's game-winner late improved Montana to 4-1 this season in games decided by four-or-fewer points. It also completed just the second comeback win from a halftime deficit for the Grizzlies.

Montana outrebounded Weber State 20-9 in the second half and forced the Wildcats into five turnovers, including the steal on the possession following Moore's three that sealed the win.

Whitney poked the ball loose, Pridgen dove for it, and Sawyer scrambled to clean the play up and was fouled.

"It tells you that those guys want to win. It doesn't mean you win every night, but you're willing to sacrifice your body to win. We've had some teams that didn't get on the floor like that, and never won these types of games," DeCuire said. "It says a lot when you have post players going on the floor and picking up loose balls down the stretch, it says a lot about your commitment to winning."

Pridgen led Montana with 10 rebounds, reaching double figures in the category for the fifth time this season. He missed out on a double-double by two points, but did shoot over 50 percent from the floor for the 14^th straight game.

Sawyer had 17 points, his second-highest total this season, and was one of his season high in rebounding as well with seven boards. Moore scored in double figures for the eighth time in 12 appearances.

The Grizzlies will head to Pocatello on Saturday to play Idaho State, looking to improve to 4-0 on the road in league play and 5-1 overall. Northern Colorado won a close game over Portland State on Thursday night to remain undefeated and in first place in the league standings.

Idaho State beat Montana State on Thursday to improve to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky play.

"This is going to be a tough one on Saturday," DeCuire said. "Idaho State is a really good team, better than their record, so if we can find a way to clean up the offense and defend a little better than we did tonight, we've got a chance."