Montana, Weber State To Battle For Ncaa Bid

Big Sky men

Matt Kempfert scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as Montana rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Montana State 83-73 Friday night and win a berth in the Big Sky Conference Tournament men’s basketball championship game against Weber State tonight.

While Kempfert worked inside for his points, Jeremy Lake matched his 16-point total on 5-of-6 3-point shooting. Shane Belnap also had 16 for Montana (21-7), including two 3s.

The win earned the second-seeded Grizzlies the right to challenge Weber State for the tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid.

Nico Harrison led third-seeded Montana State (21-8) with 16 points, while Adam Leachman added 11 for the Bobcats, who lost all three of their games with the arch-rival Grizzlies this season.

Trailing by 13 points early in the second half, Montana rode two 3-pointers by Lake and another from Belnap on a 17-3 tear. The Grizzlies regained the lead 58-55 on Kempfert’s back-to-back inside buckets.

Montana 83, Montana St. 73

MONTANA ST. (21-8)

Hatler 3-6 0-0 8, Harrison 6-11 4-5 16, Talley 4-9 1-2 9, Leachman 5-10 1-3 11, Michaels 2-8 1-1 5, Coleman 3-12 2-2 9, Elliott 3-6 0-0 6, Lollis 4-7 1-2 9, Garrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 10-15 73.

MONTANA (21-7)

Belnap 4-7 6-6 16, Blake 5-8 1-2 16, Spoja 5-11 4-5 15, Samuelson 2-9 6-6 10, Kempfert 7-12 2-3 16, Covill 2-4 3-3 7, Camel 1-6 0-0 2, Dade 0-4 1-2 1, Walker 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 23-27 83.

Halftime-Montana St. 46, Montana 39. 3-Point goals- Montana St. 3-16 (Hatler 2-5, Coleman 1-4, Harrison 0-1, Elliott 0-2, Talley 0-2, Leachman 0-2), Montana 8-13 (Blake 5-6, Belnap 2-2, Spoja 1-2, Kempfert 0-1, Samuelson 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Montana St. 39 (Lollis 13), Montana 44 (Kempfert 14). Assists-Montana St. 15 (Hatler 5), Montana 14 (Walker, Spoja 3). Total fouls-Montana St. 21, Montana 15.

Weber St. 71, Idaho St. 65

Ruben Nembhard scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half as the top-seeded Wildcats held off a late rally by the Bengals.

Nembhard got 12 of his points at the foul line, five in the final 4 minutes.

Weber, which was regular-season co-champ with Montana, also got 16 points from Jimmy DeGraffenried and 12 points and 14 rebounds from Kirk Smith.

Idaho St. (18-10)

Watkins 5-6 4-4 16, Lee 5-12 0-0 11, Morgan 4-8 6-12 14, Potter 5-12 4-6 14, Green 1-4 0-0 2, Maxwell 0-1 0-0 0, Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Preston 1-1 0-0 3, Harwell 0-0 0-0 0, Cotton 1-3 0-0 3, Lands 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-50 14-22 65.

Weber St. (19-8)

K. Smith 3-12 6-6 12, Nembhard 5-19 12-14 23, DeGraffenried 5-15 5-6 16, Lofton 3-7 2-2 9, Lentfer 3-6 2-6 8, A. Smith 0-1 1-2 1, Emery 0-4 0-0 0, Tebbs 1-2 0-0 2, Nielsen 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-66 28-36 71.

Halftime-Weber St. 27, Idaho St. 25. 3-Point goals-Idhao St. 5-14 (Watkins 2-2, Preston 1-1, Cotton 1-3, Lee 1-5, Potter 0-1, Lands 0-2), Weber St. 3-22 (Lofton 1-2, Nembhard 1-8, DeGraffenried 1-9, Emery 0-3). Fouled out-Morgan. Rebounds-Idaho St. 34 (Potter 14), Weber State 46 (K. Smith 14). Assists-Idaho State 13 (Cotton 3, Watkins 3), Weber St. 9 (Nembhard 4). Total fouls- Idaho St. 23, Weber St. 19. Technicals-Idaho St. coach Williams. A-7,157.