Montana claims 24th Big Sky Championship

Monday, March 3

Missoula, Mont.

9:00 PM

Montana

22-9,15-3Big Sky

Eastern Washington

10-21,6-12Big Sky

Eastern Wash.

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

3/4/2025 12:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Championships are never supposed to be easy. Monday night certainly proved that for the Montana men's basketball team, but after a slow start the Grizzlies roared back to claim a share of the 2025 Big Sky Conference Regular Season Championship with an 83-72 win over Eastern Washington.

The victory came in front of a massive crowd inside Dahlberg Arena and on the national stage of an ESPN2 broadcast. The Grizzlies will hang their 13^th regular season banner inside Dahlberg Arena to go along with 11 Big Sky Tournament titles.

It's the fourth regular season title in 11 seasons for head coach Travis DeCuire. It's the first title for Montana since 2019, and it is the 7^th regular season title this century, the most in the Big Sky Conference.

"I think a lot of people think this is based on building teams and building talent, but it's not. It's based on culture," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "It's having five guys on the floor, playing together in sync with one mission. It's having guys on the bench ready for their opportunity and when it doesn't come, they still play a role."

There was more history on the line on an already exciting night. When Montana needed him most, Brandon Whitney delivered with an assist to Malik Moore. The play broke a 70-all tie and put Montana ahead for good in the championship chase, and it also moved Whitney past Coach DeCuire for the most assists in program history.

"Brandon Whitney. If anyone was going to break that record, I'm glad it was him. I love to share some history with him," DeCuire said. "He sticks it out for five years, he had opportunities, he could have done what a lot of guys do. He stuck it out with us knowing his role doesn't increase, and we were able to bring this team together because of him as our base, as our cement, allowing me to coach him and do what I do."

Montana trailed 19-5 out of the gates against a desperately hot shooting Eastern Washington team. The Eagles opened the game making their first nine shots to take a big lead, leaving Montana with a huge uphill battle.

They rallied behind a huge first half from Money Williams and others to get back in it. Down the stretch, Te'Jon Sawyer and Brandon Whitney carried Montana to the title.

Williams led Montana with 23 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assist. Te'Jon Sawyer added 19 points on a perfect shooting night, delivering the exclamation point with a huge slam inside of the final minute.

Brandon Whitney had 13 points and three assists to move past DeCuire in the all-time assists rankings. Joe Pridgen had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Malik Moore added 12 big points for Montana.

The whole team came together to lead the Grizzlies to the regular season title.

"Te'Jon Sawyer could have shut it down with the knee injury and decided to ride it out with this group. Malik Moore came out of a redshirt to play with this group. Money Williams fighting through adversity. We have multiple other guys that have had losses in family. I'm proud of these guys."

Montana shares the regular season championship with Northern Colorado. They will be the No. 2 seed at the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise next week. Montana will play the winner of Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 9.