BOISE, Idaho — A berth in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals was in no way guaranteed for Montana. In March, nothing is.
To that end, the Grizzlies — who’d been playing their best basketball toward the end of the regular season and have dreams of a long-awaited trip back to the Big Dance — found themselves locked in a battle with Northern Arizona late Sunday at Idaho Central Arena.
It was unsightly at times, but the No. 2-seeded Griz did what they needed to do to break away for a 74-65 quarterfinal win over No. 7 Northern Arizona to keep their hopes intact.
Photos: Montana Grizzlies hold off Northern Arizona in Big Sky Conference tournament
"We need to be able to win games without playing great offense," Montana coach Travis DeCuire said. "Earlier in the year we weren't capable of that. But this team is showing a lot of scrap down the stretch here in the last month and a half, and tonight it was no different."
UM trailed for much of the first half but was able to forge a lead in the final 10 minutes. A basket inside by Money Williams with 8:11 left put the Griz ahead 50-45, and two foul shots from Malik Moore extended the advantage to seven points with 7:43 left.
Griz postgame: Griz postgame: Coach Travis DeCuire, players analyze quarterfinal win at Big Sky tourney
A Joe Pridgen layup with 6:24 left put Montana ahead 54-46. Then Austin Patterson hit a 3 and scored off a steal on one quick sequence as the lead grew to 10 points, 61-51.
At that point UM’s momentum couldn’t be curtailed.
Montana got all it wanted from NAU in their two regular-season matchups. The Grizzlies won 81-76 on Jan. 9 in Missoula and again 83-80 on Feb. 8 in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Grizzlies were able to take the rubber match, also.
Brandon Whitney was the Grizzlies’ most efficient player, scoring 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Whitney’s three-point play with 1:47 left put Montana ahead 70-54 and punctuated the win. Whitney scored 20 of his points in the second half, making 6 of 7 shots after intermission.
"I didn't have the greatest first half, but I knew I couldn't get in my head about that," Whitney said. "I had to go, whatever it was, just compete and play hard whether it was on the defensive side or the offensive side. In the second half I was able to get to the rim and got shots to fall."
Also for Montana, Williams had 16 points. Pridgen and Te’Jon Sawyer scored nine points apiece, and Sawyer pulled down eight rebounds.
The Lumberjacks’ Trent McLaughlin poured in 34 points, but the team didn’t have much else in terms of scoring output. Montana shot 54.5% to Northern Arizona's 38.7%.
NAU was knocked out of the tournament with an 18-15 record, though coach Shane Burcar said the team has been invited to two postseason tournaments.
"It hurts that we weren't able to get the job done," McLaughlin said during an emotional NAU press conference. "We're going to have to live with that."
Montana, now 23-9, will play in a semifinal game against either Portland State or Idaho on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are in search of their first Big Sky tourney title since going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
