Nembhard Vaults Weber State Into Ncaa Tournament, 84-62

Weber State guard Ruben Nembhard, with a leaping ability that belies his 6-foot-3 height, found the key to success against Montana on Saturday night while playing the big man’s game.

The payoffs were 24 points, the Big Sky Tournament championship and the Wildcats’ first trip to the NCAA playoffs in 12 years - courtesy of an 84-62 win over Montana.

“Basically we played aggressive against their guards,” said Nembhard, the tourney’s MVP. “I can post up against their guards and draw the foul.”

But it wasn’t at the foul line where Nembhard did his damage. He made only 3 of 6 free throws, but connected on 9 of 15 from the field - including two 3-pointers - in giving the Wildcats their 11th trip to the NCAA and fifth Big Sky Tournament crown.

“It was a spectacular day for Weber State basketball,” coach Ron Abegglen said. “We got into the floor and our defense was really good at times. Our guys really focused on both ends of the court.”

The last time Weber (20-8) made the NCAA’s 64-team cut was in 1983, losing a first-round game to Washington State.

Lewis Lofton added 20 points and Jimmy DeGraffenried had all 10 of his points in the second half as the Wildcats got their third straight 20-win season under Abegglen.

Matt Kempfert, playing with a strained knee, and Chris Spoja each had 13 points for Montana (21-8), which had shared the regular-season Big Sky title with Weber.

“If you want to post up in this league and get open, you have to muscle. I just couldn’t push off on it,” Kempfert said of the impact of his knee injury on his role as Montana center.

Kirk Walker added 11 points, and Shane Belnap 10 as the Grizzlies lost for the second time in three meetings with Weber this season. Their only win came Jan. 14 in Ogden - the Wildcats’ only home loss this season.

“It might just have been too much to ask for us to do it twice,” said Montana coach Blaine Taylor.

Trailing by six points at the half, Montana’s Spoja had cut the deficit to 34-30 with a corner jump shot at the 18:37 mark. However, the Grizzlies’ rally then ground to a halt.

Andy Smith’s tip-in 27 seconds later, followed by Nembhard’s three-point play and a spinning hook by Kirk Smith, re-established the Wildcats’ double-digit advantage.

DeGraffenried had his 10 points over a 3-minute span - including a pair of 3s - as Weber went up 69-52 with 6:07 left.

Montana could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and the Wildcats reached their largest advantage, 22 points, on the final bucket of the game - Justyn Tebb’s 10-footer with 10.9 seconds left.

The teams had fought to a deadlock 12 minutes into the game. Then Weber, on an 11-0 run begun by Nembhard’s 3-pointer and capped by Tebb’s 18-footer, took a 30-19 lead with 2:31 to intermission.

Weber State 84, Montana 62 MONTANA (21-8)

Spoja 3-11 5-6 13, Samuelson 3-9 1-2 7, Kempfert 5-9 3-3 13, Belnap 3-10 3-4 10, Lake 1-5 1-2 4, Walker 5-8 0-0 11, Dade 0-0 2-2 2, Camel 0-4 0-0 0, Covill 0-2 2-4 2. Totals 20-58 17-23 62.

WEBER STATE (20-8)

K.Smith 3-8 0-0 6, DeGraffenried 2-6 4-4 10, Lentfer 1-2 5-7 7, Nembhard 9-15 3-6 24, Lofton 6-13 7-8 20, Emery 0-0 1-2 1, Tebbs 3-5 0-0 6, Dawson 1-1 0-0 2, Neilsen 0-1 2-2 2, A.Smith 2-3 1-2 6. Totals 27-54 23-31 84.

Halftime-Weber State 34, Montana 28. 3-Point goals-Montana 5-23 (Spoja 2-8, Walker 1-4, Lake 1-4, Belnap 1-6, Samuelson 0-1), Weber State 7-15 (Nembhard 3-6, DeGraffenried 2-3, A.Smith 1-1, Lofton 1-4, Tebbs 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Montana 35 (Samuelson 11), Weber State 44 (K.Smith, A.Smith 9). Assists-Montana 10 (Spoja, Belnap, Lake 2), Weber State 16 (Nembhard 6). Total fouls-Montana 24, Weber State 17. Technicals-Weber State bench. A-7,189.