Griz drop heartbreaker in Portland

Saturday, March 1

Portland, Ore.

3:00 PM (MT)

Montana

21-9,14-3Big Sky

Portland State

18-12,10-7Big Sky

OT 1

Montana

Portland St.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

3/1/2025 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's basketball team, behind a massive effort from Money Williams, came within minutes of clinching a share of the Big Sky Championship in Portland on Saturday afternoon.

The game ended in heartbreak as Montana fell in overtime to the Vikings. Portland State remained undefeated at home this year in Big Sky play with the 79-76 overtime win. Montana will have another shot to clinch a title on Monday night against Eastern Washington in Missoula.

"There's a lot of ways to go with this one. Obviously Money Williams got hot and we built a little bit of a lead, but the unfortunate part is we were still not playing very good. Defensive rebounding caught up with us once again, with Kai not being as productive it was hard for us to generate offense. We got to get back and get healthy."

Money Williams had 36 points for Montana, scoring 33 of them in the second half and overtime as he led Montana to a double-digit lead down the stretch. It's the most points in a Big Sky game since Michael Oguine scored 39 in 2018, also against PSU.

Williams scored the last 15 points in regulation for Montana, leading the Grizzlies to a 63-53 lead with 4:45 to play.

"That's what you need when you're playing for a championship is to have a guy do that, and you should win," DeCuire said. "Unfortunately we just didn't finish it on the defensive side."

The Vikings outscored them 10-0 the rest of the way in regulation to force overtime. Portland State scored first in overtime, and Montana was able to battle back to tie it up at 70 after a three pointer from Austin Patterson.

The Grizzlies 10-game winning streak came to an end as Portland State outscored them 9-6 the rest of the way.

Montana outshot Portland State from the floor, but struggled from three-point range for the second straight game as they shot just 20 percent from the arc.

"We just struggled to get good shots. The way they defend, guys have to be able to put the ball on the floor and create, and we're limited with how many guys can do that which is why we've made some of the changes that we've made," DeCuire said. "We've been a lot more productive with certain lineups, but with Kai banged up and Malik not at 100 percent it's hard to get to some of those lineups."

The game was a physical defensive battle as the two teams combined for just 53 first half points. There were major momentum swings in either direction. Portland State led 10-4 early on in the game, but Montana answered with a 10-0 run to give the Vikings their first deficit at home in four weeks.

It tilted back and forth, and Kai Johnson gave the Grizzlies a 23-18 lead with five minutes left. PSU answered with back-to-back threes to retake the lead, but the Grizzlies went ahead on a Te'Jon Sawyer layup with 44 seconds left in the half.

Portland State scored the first nine points of the second half, and had a 13-3 extended run to go ahead 39-30. Williams started to take over when Montana needed an answer, getting a three-point play to shift the momentum back in Montana's favor.

The Grizzlies silenced a rowdy Viking Pavilion over the next 10 minutes as Williams had 22 of the next 33 points for Montana, including a stretch of 15 straight. Williams did it in every way, getting to the rim, knocking down mid-range jumpers, and also connecting on a pair of threes.

Williams gave Montana two 11-point leads in the final six minutes of the game, and his free throws with 4:45 made it 63-53 Montana. The rest of the way it was all PSU as they rallied to move to 8-0 at home in Big Sky play.

Montana will host Eastern Washington on Monday night at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN2 with a chance to clinch a Big Sky Championship with a win.

"We've got to get ready for Eastern Washington. Quick turnaround, we will be excited to play at home with a chance to finish this thing off at our place."