Montana, Northern Colorado advance to Big Sky men’s basketball final

GREELEY, Colo. – Will Cherry scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Kareem Jamar provided a spark off the bench with 10, helping Montana rally from an 11-point deficit for a 57-40 win over Weber State on Tuesday night in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals.

The Grizzlies (21-9) will face Northern Colorado in today’s championship game. Montana is seeking its second straight tournament crown.

Scott Bamforth led the way for Weber State (18-12) with 10 points.

This was a matchup of last season’s championship game, when Montana stormed back from a 22-point deficit to beat Weber State 66-65.

Northern Colorado 73, Northern Arizona 70: Devon Beitzel scored 25 points and Chris Kaba added 14, sparking a second-half charge that led the top-seeded Bears (20-10) past the Lumberjacks (19-12) in the other semifinal.

Cameron Jones had a chance to tie in the waning seconds, but his 3-pointer hit off the back rim and rolled out, winding up in the arms of Beitzel, the league’s MVP this season. Jones finished with 24 points for the Lumberjacks.