MOSCOW, Idaho — The Montana men's basketball team survived a thriller on Saturday afternoon as the Grizzlies topped the Idaho Vandals 73-71.
The Grizzlies picked up a pair of stops in the final seconds to seal the win and sweep their opening week of Big Sky Conference play. Montana improved to 9-6 overall and 2-0 in Big Sky play.
A layup from Money Williams made it 73-68 Montana with 1:34 to play. A three-point play from Kristian Gonzalez got the Vandals within two, but the Grizzlies never relinquished the lead down the stretch.
Williams and Malik Moore led the way for Montana with 18 points each while Joe Pridgen added 13 and 10 rebounds and Kai Johnson scored 10. Montana shot the ball at a 53.8% clip and went 7 for 18 from deep while holding Idaho to 42.2% shooting and 8 for 27 from 3.
Moore added four assists and Williams grabbed three steals.
Gonzalez led Idaho with 19 points in the game. Billings Skyview grad Julius Mims added six points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Vandals as well.
Montana returns to Missoula next week for its first conference home games as UM welcomes Northern Arizona to town on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday.
