Grizzlies turn back Vandals to collect Big Sky win

From staff reports

Idaho went shot for shot against host Montana on Thursday, but the Vandals couldn’t get a stop when they needed it.

Montana ended each of its possessions with points in the final 2 minutes of the game, and the Grizzlies picked up a 73-70 win when Julius Mims’ last-second shot misfired for the Vandals in a Big Sky men’s basketball matchup at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

Jaxon Nap made a layup, and Brandon Whitney added a three-point play on consecutive possessions for Montana (15-7, 6-3 Big Sky) to produce a 70-68 edge with 59 seconds remaining. D’angelo Minnis’ layup for the Vandals knotted the score at 70 with 49 seconds left, but Idaho (7-14, 1-7) didn’t score again.

Nap made a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to restore the Grizzlies’ lead. Following Mims’ miss, Montana’s Josh Vasquez added a free throw.

Quinn Denker scored 20 points for the Vandals.

Women

Montana 79, Idaho 68: The Grizzlies pulled away in a dominant first half to create a lead big enough to withstand host Idaho’s late rally in a Big Sky win at ICCU Arena in Moscow.

Montana made 15 of 27 field goals (55.5%) in the first two quarters, including 9 of 14 (64.2%) from distance to build a 45-21 lead at halftime.

Idaho’s Kennedy Johnson led all scorers with 26 points. Her jump shot with 3:21 left pulled the Vandals (10-10, 3-5) within 67-61, but Idaho was unable to draw closer than six the rest of the way.

Carmen Gfeller and Mack Konig led the Grizzlies (15-5, 7-2) with 24 and 18 points, respectively.