Griz comeback falls short at Sacramento State

Saturday, January 31

Sacramento, Calif.

8:00 PM (MT)

Montana

13-10,7-3Big Sky

Sacramento State

8-13,4-5Big Sky

Montana

Sacramento St.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

1/31/2026 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Montana trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half at Sacramento State on Saturday night as the host Hornets started the game red-hot from the field. The Grizzlies fought back, getting the ball back down two in the final minute.

But the comeback came up just short as the Hornets held on, making five free throws down the stretching and turning Montana over twice in the final 14 seconds to win 86-79.

"Probably some fatigue set in once we got back within a possession, but the bottom line and our Achilles heel, the thing that continues to cost us games is turnovers," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "It really led to their offensive field goal percentage because they scored so many points off of turnovers. When our defense set, we were able to get stops.

"They executed better than us in a game that was meaningful, and it looked like it was more meaningful to them than it was to us," DeCuire said.

Te'Jon Sawyer put together the best scoring performance of his career with 31 points on 13-of-16 (.813) shooting. Sawyer scored 18 after the break and just missed out on a double-double with a team-high 7 rebounds.

"We knew they couldn't guard the post and we got it in and he was a monster," DeCuire said. "He was ready to play. It was good to see him perform the way that he did."

Sawyer combined with Money Williams for 55 of Montana's 79 points. Williams had 24 points and 8 assists, making some clutch baskets down the stretch to help Montana climb back into it.

It was a stellar offensive night for Sawyer, but one of his biggest plays came on the defensive end in the final minute. Sawyer rose up for a block that gave Montana the ball back with 32 seconds trailing 81-79.

The ball found the hands of Williams and the Preseason Big Sky MVP drove into the lane. His layup through contact came up just short, and the Hornets were able to ice the game from there.

The Grizzlies outrebounded the Hornets 38-30 and outscored them 19-4 on second chance points. Montana shot 48 percent from the floor, but it was the three-point line for the Hornets that shifted the score in their favor as they went 11-of-24 (46%) from the arc.

The Grizzly defense has been the driving force behind the recent winning streak, but Sacramento State took advantage of the Big Sky's top defense in the first half.

Sawyer scored the first 7 Grizzly points of the night. It allowed the visitors to open up a 7-2 lead in the first four minutes. But momentum flipped quickly as the Hornets went on a 12-0 run and extended it to a 17-2 run to take a 19-9 lead.

Money Williams and Kenyon Aguino got involved on the offensive end and the Grizzlies were able to cut the lead back down to 24-18. The trio of Aguino, Sawyer, and Williams scored the first 23 Grizzly points of the night.

The offense did its best to keep pace down the stretch, but for every Grizzly bucket the Hornets seemed to find two. Sacramento State made seven straight field goals, three of which came from beyond the arc, to build a 49-32 halftime lead.

"We just weren't playing hard in the first half," DeCuire said. "We were selfish with the ball, dribbling into traffic, careless with cross-court passes, all the things we discussed before the game."

Montana came out of the break fired up and scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to get back within single digits inside of two minutes. The Hornet offense continued to hum and kept them ahead by double figures for the first 12 minutes of the second half.

A big change in the second half came behind the play of Connor Dick. The Missoula native changed the energy on the defensive end, picking up two steals and three rebounds in 13 minutes of action.

As Montana started to get stops, it allowed them to slowly chip away at the lead. They went on a 10-2 run, capped by a three pointer from Tyler Thompson that made it 74-70. The Hornets were abler to pull back ahead by nine before the Grizzlies reeled them back in.

Sawyer scored on back-to-back possessions, Thompson hit another three, and Williams scored at the rim to cut the lead to 81-79. The Hornets did enough down the stretch to hold on for the win.

"We caught them off guard with some traps and forced some turnovers to give ourselves a chance," DeCuire said. "At the 4-minute media I said, 'You're going to win the game if you don't turn it over.' We just couldn't afford any more turnovers and then in the last few minutes we turned it over twice."

Aguino scored 11 points, getting 7 of them at the free throw line as he was aggressive in the low post early. Thompson had seven points, but the other six Grizzlies that played combined for just four points.

Prophet Johnson scored 26 points and had 7 rebounds to lead the Hornets.

Montana falls to 7-3 in Big Sky play and 13-10 overall with the loss. They will return home to play Eastern Washington on Thursday and Idaho on Saturday. They remain tied for second place in the Big Sky Conference with eight games remaining.

"We still have a chance," DeCuire said. "The issue for us is that we have to give teams with not as great record that aren't at the top of the standings the same level of respect that we are giving the teams at the top of the standings. We're going to need to put some together, but right now we still have some growing up to do."