‘Tough first game for us’: Montana holds off Eastern Washington 92-81 in Big Sky opener
For a relatively inexperienced Eastern Washington team, a senior-heavy Montana squad was hardly an ideal opponent for its Big Sky men’s basketball opener on Thursday.
Montana was stronger inside, scrappier on defense and sharper down the stretch, and that combination led the Grizzlies to a 92-81 victory over the Eagles at Reese Court in Cheney.
“That’s a tough first game for us,” EWU head coach Dan Monson said. “We were right there most of the game and let it get away.”
Still, Monson saw plenty of good from his Eagles, who got a career-high 28 points from sophomore Mason Williams and another 19 from redshirt junior Nic McClain.
“We didn’t play very well,” Monson said, “and yet we were in it because we fought and competed, and if we can continue to do that and play better, I think we have a chance.”
Eastern (4-10, 0-1) led most of the first half. The teams traded the lead 19 times in a back-and-forth middle segment of the game before Montana (8-6, 1-0) pulled away.
Following a timeout with 3:27 left in the game, the Grizzlies extended a 74-71 lead to an 83-72 advantage with senior Te’Jon Sawyer’s four free throws, sophomore Money Williams’ driving basket and senior Austin Patterson’s corner 3-pointer.
Eastern never got closer than eight points after that.
“We’re just learning how to play with each other,” EWU’s Williams said. “First conference game, and we’ve got to take care of the ball. It starts with us point guards.”
Turnovers plagued the Eagles. Williams had three, senior Andrew Cook added four and McClain five, contributing to the team’s total of 15.
Of those 15, 14 were stolen by the Grizzlies, who had 21 fast-break points and 19 points off turnovers.
Montana also exploited its strength in the paint, where it outscored Eastern 42-34.
That’s where senior Joe Pridgen did most of his damage, making 9 of 12 shots and all three of his free throws, finishing with 21 points.
Money Williams also had his way with Eastern’s defense, making 10 of 20 shots, including 3 of 8 3-pointers to finish with 26 points. He also had seven assists – as a team, Montana had 23, more than all but one EWU opponent this season – and four steals.
As Eastern tried to climb back into the game late, Montana made almost all every free throw, finishing 22 of 24 at the line. Eastern made 15 of 17 free-throw attempts.
Despite the loss, Monson was pleased with a few aspects of how Eastern played. The Eagles grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, allowed Montana to have just three and finished with a 35-23 overall advantage on the glass.
He also liked the Eagles’ grit.
“I really challenged them to be tougher and to fight today, and I was proud they did that,” Monson said. “You’ve got to be able to take on a challenge, and they did that. (Montana) was just more experienced and better than us down the stretch. But if we keep fighting like that and keep playing that hard, we’ll get better. We have a high ceiling.”
Eastern hosts Montana State (5-9, 0-1), which lost to Idaho 69-64 on Thursday, at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reese Court.
EWU women lose
MJ Bruno scored 15 points and the Grizzlies’ bench added another 28 to lead the Grizzlies to a 78-70 victory over Eastern Washington in Missoula.
Montana (5-7, 1-0) made 13 of 31 3-point attempts and it used a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull ahead of Eastern.
Junior Ella Gallatin made 4 of 7 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Eagles (4-9, 0-1). She also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Eagles freshman Kourtney Grossman scored eight points and set a career high with 14 rebounds.
Eastern plays at Montana State on Saturday.