Montana uses late free throw to edge Eastern Washington 75-74

MISSOULA – Michael Oguine sank the second of two free throws in the closing seconds to give Montana a 75-74 victory against Eastern Washington on Saturday night.

Montana was up 68-61 with 4 minutes, 23 seconds to play when Eastern Washington closed on a 13-6 run sparked by a Jesse Hunt 3-pointer to tie the score 74-all with 53 seconds left. Oguine was fouled with 29 seconds remaining and missed his first free throw. He came through on the second, putting the Grizzlies (17-6, 10-2 Big Sky Conference) up by one and that lead held as time expired.

“We played spectacular at the end and we were a shot away from winning that ballgame,” Eastern coach Shantay Legans said in a team news release.

Jacob Davidson scored 23 points to lead the Eagles (8-15, 6-6). Hunt and Mason Peatling added 14 points apiece. Hunt led with 12 rebounds. Davidson had a shot to win the game at the buzzer but was unable to score.

“We had the best player on the floor with the ball in his hands,” Legans said. “He’s averaging about 25 points over the last seven games, and we just let Jacob try to make a play. It was a shot I’ve seen him make a thousand times. He makes it all the time and I had a lot of confidence in that in a one-point game. I thought we were playing great and we were clicking offensively at that time. We felt that putting the ball in Jacob’s hands was the best decision …”

Sayeed Pridgett scored 19 points for the Griz.