Orediggers stun shorthanded Grizzlies

Wednesday, December 17

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

6-6,0-0Big Sky

Montana Tech

1-0

Montana Tech

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

12/17/2025 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana Tech Orediggers caught fire from three-point range on Wednesday night inside Dahlberg Arena and rode the hot shooting to an 82-75 win over Montana. The Orediggers went 14-of-29 from three for the upset win.

The Grizzlies were already without Courtney Anderson Jr. coming into the day and then had to play without starter Tyler Thompson due to an illness. The shorthanded Grizzlies only got 24 minutes from Money Williams, who left the game early after a hard collision.

It led to new rotations for head coach Travis DeCuire throughout the night. The Grizzlies shot just 23 percent from three in the game as the arc proved to be a difference maker on the night.

"They are a good team. They've won over 22 games four years in a row. They expect to win," DeCuire said. "Hats off to coach, he did a phenomenal job getting them ready. They showed us some wrinkles early that we hadn't seen in their last few games and they executed very well offensively. Once they got confidence, the hoop got big, and we had a hard time slowing them down."

Montana Tech entered the game averaging six made threes per game. The Grizzlies had been holding opponents under six makes from the arc on just 27 percent shooting, a number that ranks in the top 20 nationally.

The stats were flipped on their heads as the Orediggers outscored Montana by 27 from three-point range on the night.

Te'Jon Sawyer had a career night for the Grizzlies in the loss, setting new career highs in both points and rebounds. Sawyer had a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double in 36 minutes of action.

He came off the bench for the first time this season, but played nearly every minute after entering. It's the second career double-double for Sawyer and his first as a Grizzly.

Money Williams had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, scoring 15 of them in the second half.

The Grizzlies got off to a slow start and never really recovered. The Orediggers scored five points on their first two possessions to jump to an early lead. They built it up to 23-12 at the 11-minute mark.

Montana rallied toward the end of the half, going on a 7-0 run to take a 34-33 lead with three minutes to go after a spark from Connor Dick and Brooklyn Hicks off the bench.

The teams went into the break tied at 36-all and Montana came out of the break with an early run to jump ahead 44-41.

From there, the Orediggers seized control. They went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-47 lead that they would hold on to the rest of the way. Montana used an 8-0 run late to cut it to 72-71, but Montana Tech responded and knocked down their free throws late for the 82-75 win.

Coach DeCuire was forced to make last-minute adjustments in the absence of Thompson, who participated in the team's shootaround

Brooklyn Hicks joined Sawyer and Williams in double figure scoring with 13 points. He also added eight rebounds. The trio went 22-of-39 (.564) from the field while the rest of Montana's roster was just 4-of-18 (.222).

"We talk about opportunity all the time," DeCuire said. "You always have to stay ready for when guys are hurt or unavailable and you have to make the most of your opportunity and we didn't do that tonight. That's all of us, it's not an individual thing. Their guys were ready to go and their coaches did a phenomenal job. They outperformed us in every seat on the bench."

Montana will hit the road this weekend and close out the non-conference with their toughest challenge yet. The Griz face #11 Louisville on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. (MT) in the KFC Yum! Center.

"I hope that I see and feel more sense of urgency from top to bottom, from me all the way down," DeCuire said. "We have to have a more urgent basketball team. We were playing slow, they were playing fast, and until we were down we never really had tempo. We have to start games like that regardless of who we are playing."