FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Montana men's basketball team won its sixth consecutive game Saturday, holding off Northern Arizona for an 83-80 road victory.
A 3-pointer by Kai Johnson with 14:35 remaining put the Grizzlies ahead 55-45, but the Lumberjacks chipped away at the lead and eventually took a three-point advantage at 65-62 with 8:02 left after a jump shot by Diego Campisano.
The game was tied 75-75 with 2:16 remaining but Montana eventually went up by five points following a layup by Joe Pridgen and a three-point play by Malik Moore on a fast-break. The Griz then iced the game from the foul line.
The win gives the Grizzlies a 17-8 overall record and a 9-2 mark in the Big Sky, keeping them in a first-place tie atop the league standings with Northern Colorado.
Johnson led Montana with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Montana eclipsed 60% shooting as a team for the second straight game. Money Williams added 15 points while Moore had 14.
Of note, Brandon Whitney scored four points to reach 1,500 for his career, tying him with Wayne Tinkle for 10th place on UM's all-time list. Whitney is the 11th player in school history to hit the 1,500-point mark.
The win also gave UM coach Travis DeCuire the 218th of his career, three shy of George Dahlberg's school record of 221.
Montana now gets set to face Idaho State at home next week on Thursday and Weber State at home on Saturday.
