Balanced Montana State Clubs Eastern

Kwesi Coleman led six players in double figures with 20 points as Montana State downed Eastern Washington 95-69 at Bozeman, Mont., in the Big Sky Conference men’s finale for both teams.

Montana State has won its last four games to finish the season with a 20-7 mark, its first 20-win season since 1986-87.

The Bobcats finish the Big Sky season with an 8-6 record, which puts them in third place going into the league tournament. The tournament begins Thursday at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Montana State held a 29-28 lead with 3:20 remaining before Coleman scored five points in a 14-4 run that gave MSU a 43-32 halftime advantage.

Eastern Washington (2-12, 6-20) trailed 62-50 with 10:43 remaining, when MSU ran away for good. Coleman scored nine points and Eric Talley added seven in a 20-6 run that gave the Bobcats an 82-57 lead with just more than 5 minutes remaining.

Also in double figures for Montana State were Quadre Lollis with 17 points, Adam Leachman with 16, Talley and Nico Harrison with 11 and Dwayne Michaels with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Melvin Lewis led Eastern Washington with 16 points, Curtis Porter had 15 and Luke Egan added 13.

Two Montana State players set school records. Michaels had three blocks for a school-record total of 51, while Scott Hatler had eight assists to bring his career total to 424.

Montana St. 95, EWU 69

EASTERN WASHINGTON (6-20)

Porter 4-11 7-10 15, Groves 1-3 2-4 4, M. Lewis 7-18 2-2 16, Rideout 2-10 1-2 6, Thompson 3-4 0-0 7, Egan 5-8 1-2 13, Crider 3-7 0-0 6, Dean 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-62 13-20 69.

MONTANA ST. (20-7)

Harrison 4-4 3-4 11, Leachman 6-12 2-3 16, Michaels 4-9 2-2 10, Hatler 0-2 2-2 2, Talley 4-9 3-3 11, Lollis 8-11 1-2 17, Elliott 4-4 0-0 8, Coleman 4-9 8-10 20, Garrison 0-0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-62 21-26 95.

Halftime-Montana St. 43, E. Washington 32. 3-point goals-E. Washington 4-7 (Egan 2-3, Rideout 1-2, Thompson 1-1, Crider 0-1), Montana St. 6-17 (Coleman 4-8, Leachman 2-3, Sullivan 0-1, Talley 0-2, Hatler 0-2, Lollis 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-E. Washington 34 (Lewis 10), Montana St. 35 (Michaels 12). Assists- E. Washington 9 (Thompson 4), Montana St. 26 (Hatler 8). Total fouls-E. Washington 22, Montana St. 17. Technicals-Elliott. A-6,197.

Montana 80, Idaho 64

Shawn Samuelson and Matt Kempfert scored 19 points each in Missoula to lead the Grizzlies to victory over the Vandals for a share of the Big Sky championship.

However, the Grizzlies (11-3 Big Sky, 20-7) lost their bid to host the Big Sky Tournament when Weber State, also 11-3, beat Northern Arizona 85-67.

Montana will have a first-round bye as the second seed in the tournament.

Idaho, the No. 6 seed, will take on Montana State, the No. 3 seed, in the first round.

Montana trailed 21-10 early in the first half, but went on a 20-3 run to close out the half with a 30-24 advantage.

Idaho (6-8, 12-14) tied the game at 32-all with 17:38 to play on a layup by Nate Gardner.

The Grizzlies regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Chris Spoja with 17:20 remaining and never trailed again.

Spoja added 13 points for Montana while Nate Covill had 11.

“It’s hard to stop these guys,” said Idaho coach Joe Cravens. “They are big and strong. They hurt us with second shots.”

Ben Johnson led Idaho with 16 points. Mark Leslie added 12 points and Gardner added 10.

“I’ve got no problem with our effort,” Cravens said. “I never like to get beat. We showed up to play, competed.

“I’m anxious to play again,” he said. “I’m not going to guarantee a win, but I’ll guarantee you we will play a hard, competitive game. I was proud of our effort tonight, I couldn’t say that about the Montana State game.”

Montana outrebounded the Vandals 45-34, led by Samuelson with 14.

Harry Harrison grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for Idaho.

IDAHO (12-14)

Leslie 3-15 5-8 12, Harrison 1-5 3-7 5, Gardner 5-10 0-0 10, Johnson 6-11 3-4 16, Dirden 2-5 0-0 5, Baumann 0-2 0-0 0, Spike 2-5 0-0 4, Coates 2-2 0-0 5, Jones 3-7 1-4 7. Totals 24-62 12-23 64.

MONTANA (20-7)

Spoja 4-10 4-6 13, Samuelson 8-14 3-4 19, Kempfert 6-10 7-8 19, Belnap 2-7 4-5 8, Lake 1-2 5-6 8, Walker 0-2 0-0 0, Dade 0-4 0-0 0, Camel 1-3 0-2 2, Colvill 5-6 1-1 11. Totals 27-58 24-32 80.

Halftime-Montana 30, Idaho 24. 3-point goals-Idaho 4-18 (Coates 1-1, Dirden 1-2, Johnson 1-4, Leslie 1-10, Baumann 0-1), Montana 2-12 (Lake 1-2, Spoja 1-4, Samuelson 0-2, Belnap 0-2, Walker 0-1, Dade 0-1). Fouled out-Gardner, Dirden. Rebounds-Idaho 34 (Harrison 12), Montana 45 (Samuelson 14). Assists-Idaho 9 (Johnson 5), Montana 20 (Belnap 7). Total fouls-Idaho 25, Montana 18. A-7296.

Weber St. 85, N. Arizona 67

At Ogden, Utah, Ruben Nembhard scored 22 points and Lewis Lofton added 19 to lead the Wildcats (11-3, 18-8) to a victory over the Lumberjacks (4-10, 8-18) and a share of the Big Sky Conference championship.

The win for Weber also gave the Wildcats the right to host the conference tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

Weber shot 60 percent from the field, while NAU could only manage 39 percent.

John Grier led NAU with 20 points, while Tyrone Johnson added 15.

Weber’s Kirk Smith had a game-high 13 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 42-28 advantage on the boards. Smith also had 12 points.

The Wildcats raced to an early 12-0 lead, and were up 53-38 at the break as Nembhard and Lofton each had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

In the second half, Weber extended its lead to 75-50 with 8:25 remaining on a layup by Justyn Tebbs. However, NAU countered with a 15-2 run, highlighted by six points each from Grier and Johnson.

The Lumberjacks trailed 77-65 with 3:17 to play, but that was as close as they could come.

NORTHERN ARIZONA (8-18)

Rondeno 4-19 1-2 10, Grier 8-11 1-2 20, Johnson 6-13 0-0 15, Deric 0-4 0-0 0, Riley 2-8 0-1 4, Wiley 1-4 4-4 6, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Bowden 4-7 2-3 10, Tenberge 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 8-12 67.

WEBER STATE (18-8)

K. Smith 4-8 4-5 12, Nembhard 10-16 1-3 22, DeGraffenreid 3-6 0-0 8, Lofton 7-10 1-2 19, Lentfer 1-2 0-0 2, A. Smith 1-1 2-2 5, Nielsen 2-3 1-3 5, Dawson 0-0 0-0 0, Tebbs 3-5 3-3 9, Thomas 0-1 1-2 1, Emery 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 32-53 13-20 85.

Halftime-Weber St. 53, NAU 38. 3-Point goals-NAU 7-18 (Johnson 3-4, Grier 3-4, Rondeno 1-8, Riley 0-1, Wiley 0-1), Weber St. 8-16 (Lofton 4-7, DeGraffenreid 2-4, A. Smith 1-1, Nembhard 1-3, Tebbs 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-NAU 28 (Johnson, Rondeno 7), Weber St. 42 (K. Smith). Assists-NAU 13 (Rondeno, Grier 3), Weber St. 20 (Nembhard, Lofton 5). Total fouls-NAU 20, Weber St. 15. Technicals-NAU, Grier. A9,638.