GREELEY, Colo. — Montana sizzled from the field Thursday night on the way to an 86-78 victory over Northern Colorado in Big Sky Conference men's basketball at Bank of Colorado Arena.
With the win, the Grizzlies (16-8, 9-2 Big Sky) pulled into a tie with UNC (17-7, 9-2) for first-place in the league standings. It was Montana's fifth consecutive win, and gave the team a regular-season split versus the Bears with each squad winning on the other's home floor.
Money Williams scored 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting with three 3-pointers to pace the Griz, who shot 62% as a team (31 of 50) and hit 10 of 16 from the arc. Williams also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Five players scored in double figures for Montana. Te'Jon Sawyer had 15 points (with seven rebounds), while Kai Johnson had 14 and both Joe Pridgen and Malik Moore added 13.
The Grizzlies took their largest lead at 65-44 with 12:23 remaining on a layup by Pridgen. Northern Colorado closed the game on a 34-21 run, but a Williams layup with 1:41 left helped keep the Bears at bay.
Isaiah Hawthorne led UNC with 17 points. Though the Bears made 13 of 27 3-point shots, they couldn't match Montana's shooting prowess and made 47.5% from the floor.
Montana returns to the floor on Saturday with a game at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz.
