Big Sky Times

Montana ends regular season with big win at Idaho

Montana remained hot on the road Monday night with a 68-53 win over Idaho in Moscow. The Griz started slow, but closed the first half on a 7-0 run and then dominated the second, coming to life with 42 points offensively. It is the seventh win in the last eight games for Montana.

 

The duo of Josh Bannan and Aanen Moody had big nights yet again, but the stellar play of Brandon Whitney was the story of the game as he led Montana with 20 points. Montana also got another big night from Josh Vazquez off the bench, scoring 14 points for his third straight game in double figures.

 

The Grizzlies (16-13, 10-7 Big Sky) picked up the first double-digit win since Jan. 14 against Idaho State and swept the season series against the Vandals. It secured the 15th consecutive winning season for Montana, one of just 15 teams in the country with such a streak.

 

"It's a big deal. If I felt pressure when I was hired, it was that," DeCuire said of the history of success for Montana. "We all want to hang banners and you can't do that every year. You want to have a team that can compete for that, but the most important thing is you rack up winning seasons.

 

"You rack up success, and I've tried to define this program with some other things like graduation rates and GPA's and employment of student athletes and I think that's more important, but I am stuck with being the gatekeeper in this situation and fortunately we're able to go with it."

 

The win concludes the regular season for Montana. The postponed game against Portland State would not change any matchups at the conference tournament regardless of outcome, so it will be cancelled. Montana's next game will be on Monday at the Big Sky Tournament.

Original source can be found here.