Montana Holds Off Ewu
A master at stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, Shane Belnap is no Robin Hood.
The Montana point guard robbed destitute Eastern Washington seven times Thursday night, setting a career high for steals as the Grizzlies defeated the last-place Eagles 76-69 before 1,484 in Reese Court to stay in the Big Sky Conference’s most exclusive tax bracket.
At 20-6 overall and 10-3 in the conference, Montana can win the Big Sky outright with a win over Idaho on Saturday coupled with an EWU (3-22, 0-13) victory over co-leader Montana State (18-8, 10-3). If Montana and MSU tie for the regular-season title, the championship - along with top seeding into the Big Sky tournament - will be determined by a coin flip.
Montana nearly let Thursday night’s game slip away, squandering an 11-point lead and falling behind 46-45 on a dunk by EWU forward Mike Sims with 14 minutes left. Neither team took control over the next 5 minutes, although 3-pointers from Shawn Samuelson and Kirk Walker helped the Grizzlies lead 60-58 with 8:46 left.
That’s when Belnap asserted himself, keying a 12-6 Montana run with four steals and a particularly long 3-pointer. “I figure the farther I step back, the less they guard me,” explained Belnap, who had 10 points and five assists while breaking his personal steals record of six, set last season against EWU.
“I have to do my part,” Belnap added,. “I can’t necessarily lead the team in rebounds. One thing I’m good at is getting hands on balls, and I sensed we needed a little jump start there.”
Belnap, Brandon Dade and Eric Bowie combined for 13 assists - one more than EWU’s total as the Grizzlies set up center Nate Covill for easy baskets. Covill made 7 of 7 field goals and 5 of 9 free throws for 19 points, a career high. Samuelson added 14 points and Dade scored 10.
Guard D’mitri Rideout led four Eagles in double figures with 21 points and matched a career best with a game-high nine rebounds. Point guard Travis King had 11 points and four assists, while Sims and Curtis Porter each scored 10 points.
“We had nice balance tonight,” EWU coach Steve Aggers said. “We had four guys in double figures, matched them in turnovers, outrebounded them by two. Close ballgames just come down to a few little mental errors. That’s kind of the story of our season. We’re right there, with a one-point lead, and we have three straight turnovers.”
Montana’s front line of Covill, Samuelson and Brent Smith had its way in the first half, making 10 of 12 field goals.
“They’re really a good power team,” Aggers said. “They have an excellent front line, and they do a great job of getting the ball to those front-line players.”
Compounding EWU’s first-half troubles was the absence of backup center Melvin Lewis. According to Aggers, the 6-8, 295-pound Lewis was benched for the first 20 minutes after violating unspecified team rules.
Montana 76, E. Washington 69
Montana (20-6) - Dade 3-6 4-6 10, Samuelson 5-5 3-4 14, Covill 7-7 5-9 19, Bowie 1-6 0-0 2, Belnap 3-7 1-2 10, Walker 1-1 2-2 5, Seidensticker 0-1 0-0 0, Spoja 0-3 4-4 4, Dick 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 5-8 2-4 12. Totals 25-46 21-31 76.
E. Washington (3-22) - Sims 5-8 0-0 10, Porter 4-7 1-1 10, Dean 2-5 0-0 4, Rideout 10-22 0-1 21, King 4-10 2-4 11, Lewis 0-0 0-3 0, Carter 1-2 0-0 2, Egan 3-6 0-0 7, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Groves 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 30-63 5-11 69.
Halftime-Montana 40, E. Washington 31. 3-Point goals- Montana 5-11 (Dade 0-1, Samuelson 1-1, Belnap 3-6, Walker 1-1, Seidensticker 0-1, Spoja 0-1), E. Washington 4-13 (Porter 1-2, Rideout 1-4, King 1-3, Carter 0-1, Egan 1-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Montana 29 (Bowie 7), E. Washington 31 (Rideout 9). Assists-Montana 19 (Belnap 5), E. Washington 12 (King 4). Total fouls-Montana 9, E. Washington 20. A-1,484.
, DataTimes