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Sprinkle Tosses In 30, Msu Wins Big Sky Title

Associated Press

Big Sky Conference tournament MVP Danny Sprinkle scored a career-high 30 points Saturday night to lead Montana State to an 81-70 victory over Weber State for the league championship.

Montana State (21-8) earned the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Weber State (20-10) led 41-37 on a dunk by Andy Smith with 16:22 remaining.

Sprinkle, a freshman guard, hit eight of MSU’s 11 points over the next 4 minutes to give the Bobcats a 48-45 lead with 12:11 remaining.

Ryan Cuff’s 3-pointer tied the score at 48-all with 11:43 left, but then MSU began pulling away.

Adam Leachman and Mike Elliott scored MSU’s next eight points, putting the Bobcats up 56-50 with 9:13 remaining.

Jimmy DeGraffenried hit a 3-pointer with 8:52 left and then Quadre Lollis scored nine of his 16 points over the next 4 minutes to give MSU a 68-61 advantage with 4:21 remaining.

A free throw by Leachman with 3:02 left gave MSU a 74-64 lead and WSU could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Cuff scored 12 of his 26 points in the first 10 minutes, giving WSU a 16-14 lead midway through the first half.

DeGraffenried hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give WSU a 33-32 halftime edge. He finished with 17 points.

Montana St. 81, Weber ST. 70

Weber State (20-10) - Tebbs 2-6 0-0 4, DeGraffenried 6-12 3-4 17, Smith 5-6 1-2 11, Emery 0-4 2-2 2, Cuff 9-15 5-6 26, Fisher 2-4 0-0 6, Ketcham 0-0 0-0 0, Baskerville 0-1 0-0 0, Hicks 1-6 0-0 2, Nielsen 0-0 0-0 0, McIntyre 1-1 0-0 2, Haws 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 11-14 70.

Montana State (21-8) - Harrison 2-7 4-7 8, Leachman 3-7 3-7 10, Lollis 5-6 6-8 16, Hatler 2-8 1-2 7, Sprinkle 11-13 1-2 30, Elliott 2-7 0-0 4, Fay 0-3 0-1 0, Holmstadt 2-5 2-2 6, Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Harry 0-0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 17-29 81.

Halftime-Weber St. 33, Montana St. 32. 3-point goals- WSU 7-21 (Cuff 3-8, Fisher 2-4, DeGrafenried 2-4, Baskerville 0-1, Hicks 0-1, Emery 0-1, Tebbs 0-2), MSU 10-25 (Sprinkle 7-9, Hatler 2-7, Leachman 1-2, Harrison 0-1, Sullivan 0-1, Elliott 0-2, Fay 0-3). Fouled out-Leachman. Rebounds-WSU 28 (Smith 8), MSU 40 (Lollis 12). Assists-WSU 9 (Cuff 3), MSU 20 (Hatler 7). Total fouls-WSU 20, MSU 14. A-7,187.

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