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Grizzlies Shoot Down Lumberjacks

Associated Press

Big Sky

Matt Kempfert scored 25 points and Jeremy Lake hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range Saturday night to lead Montana to a 76-62 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball victory over Northern Arizona in Missoula.

Northern Arizona (3-7, 6-14) took its last lead at 27-26 when Jermone Riley hit a free throw with 2:15 remaining in the first half.

Montana (6-3, 15-7) led 34-29 at halftime.

Lake scored eight of his 20 points in the first 3 minutes of the second half as Montana built as much as a 44-31 advantage with 17:20 remaining.

NAU closed within 54-50 with 8:57 to go, but the Grizzlies pulled away.

Shawn Samuelson had 17 rebounds as the Grizzlies outrebounded the Lumberjacks 42-18. Montana hit 28 of 35 free throws to the Lumberjacks’ 15 of 23.

NAU was led by Brad Snyder with 21 points, followed by John Rondeno with 18 and Riley with 11.

Montana 76, NAU 62

N. ARIZONA (6-14)

Deric 0-0 0-1 0, Snyder 7-12 4-5 21, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Rondeno 6-14 4-8 18, Riley 4-11 2-4 11, Wylie 0-0 0-0 0, Greer 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-7 4-4 6, Ten Berge 0-0 0-0 0, Bowden 2-6 0-1 4. Totals 21-51 15-23 62.

MONTANA (15-7)

Camel 4-7 1-2 9, Samuelson 1-4 7-8 9, Kempfert 7-9 11-13 25, Belnap 0-3 0-0 0, Lake 6-8 3-4 20, Walker 1-2 0-0 2, Dade 0-0 0-0 0, Spoja 2-7 3-4 8, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Covill 0-2 3-4 3. Totals 21-42 28-35 76.

Halftime-Montana 34, N. Arizona 29. 3-point goals-N. Arizona 5-19 (Snyder 3-6, Riley 1-4, Rondeno 1-5, Johnson 0-4), Montana 6-13 (Lake 5-7, Spoja 1-3, Walker 0-1, Belnap 0-2). Fouled out-Williams. Rebounds-N. Arizona 18 (Deric, Riley, Bowden 3), Montana 42 (Samuelson 17). Assists-N. Arizona 9 (Rondeno, Johnson 3), Montana 15 (Camel, Walker 4). Total fouls-N. Arizona 25, Montana 20. A-6,295.

Weber St. 79, Montana St. 75

In Bozeman, Mont., Jim DeGraffenried and Lewis Lofton combined for 45 points as the Wildcats (7-2, 14-7) beat the Bobcats (4-5, 16-6).

Weber State completed a road sweep of the two Montana teams over the weekend, its first since 1989.

The Wildcats put together an 8-0 run in the final 1:30, after falling behind 73-71.

Ruben Nembhard drove the lane for the tying bucket with 1:30 left, and Kirk Smith put the Wildcats up for good by hitting a 10-foot jumper with 47 seconds remaining.

Montana State turned the ball over on its next possession.

Lofton then went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 23 seconds to seal the win, despite a dunk by Montana State’s Nico Harrison with 4 seconds left.

It was Montana State’s first home loss in 11 outings this season.

DeGraffenried finished with 24 points, while Lofton had 21 and Nembhard added 15 for Northern Arizona.

Harrison led Montana State with 15 points.

Michaels had a school-record seven blocked shots to go with his eight rebounds.

WEBER ST.

K. Smith 4-10 0-0 8, DeGraffenried 9-11 2-2 24, Lentfer 1-5 0-0 2, Nembhard 6-15 2-2 15, Lofton 6-13 6-6 21, Emery 0-1 0-0 0, Tebbs 0-1 0-0 0, Nielsen 1-2 1-2 3, A. Smith 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 30-63 11-12 79.

MONTANA ST.

Harrison 6-9 2-4 15, Leachman 6-15 0-0 13, Michaels 6-13 0-0 12, Hatler 3-9 0-0 9, Talley 2-7 2-2 6, Lollis 4-5 1-1 9, Elliott 0-1 0-0 0, Coleman 4-11 0-0 11. Totals 31-70 5-7 75.

Halftime-Weber St. 43, Montana St. 38. 3-point goals- Weber St. 8-13 (DeGraffenried 4-5, Lofton 3-5, Nembhard 1-3), Montana St. 8-24 (Coleman 3-8, Hatler 3-8, Harrison 1-2, Leachman 1-4, Talley 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Weber St. 39 (K. Smith 9), Montana St. 32 (Leachman, Michaels 8). Assists-Weber St. 16 (Lofton 6), Montana St. 21 (Hatler 7). Total fouls-Weber St. 9, Montana St. 14. A-7,587.