Cherry's 30 lead Griz past UNC

GREELEY, CO - Junior guard Will Cherry scored a career-high 30 points and also had 8 steals to lead The University of Montana Grizzlies to a 75-68 victory over the host Northern Colorado Bears Thursday evening in a pivotal Big Sky Conference game in NC's Butler Hancock Sports Pavilion.

Montana won its seventh game in a row to improve to 11-1 in conference play and 18-6 overall. The Grizzlies have now won 13 of their last 14 games. The Bears, the defending league champions, fall to 4-8 in league and 7-16 overall.

The win kept the Grizzlies tied for first place with the Weber State Wildcats, who are also 11-1 (19-4 overall) in Big Sky games. The Wildcats won 67-49 at Northern Arizona this evening.

The Bears started off hot the second half, and took a 7-point (46-39) lead with 15:23 left on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Paul Garnica. The teams then traded the lead three more times after that, but when Cherry nailed a three-pointer with 8:01 left to play he have the Griz a 59-58 lead and Montana led the rest of the way. Montana out-scored Northern Colorado 14-2 after Cherry's three-pointer, and took to a 73-60 lead with 2:29 to go after a steal and dunk by Cherry.

Cherry's 30 points give him 1,065 points for his career, moving him up to 20th all time at Montana, as he passes guard Roger Fasting (21st with 1,047 points, 1988-92), and center Brian Qvale (2008-11) and guard Mike Warhank (1997-00), who are now tied for 22nd with 1,046 career points each. It was the eighth time this season Cherry has scored 20 or more points in a game, and the 14th in his career.

Also in double figures for the Grizzlies were sophomore guard Kareem Jamar and senior center-forward Derek Selvig with 12 points apiece. With his 8 steals Cherry just missed his career-high, which is 9 against Great Falls last season.

Cherry now has 201 in career steals, which moves him up to eighth in Big Sky history. He passes Nevada's Darryl Owens (1986-89) and Northern Arizona's Nate Payne, who were tied for eighth with 200, and Idaho State's Jim Rhode who was ranked 10th with 196 career steals from 1986-89.

"It wasn't a thing of beauty, and you have to give them credit because they made some great adjustments from the first time we played them," said Griz head coach Wayne Tinkle on his postgame radio interview on UM's flagship station, KGVO, 1290 AM of Missoula. "We hung in there and we got a boost from guys at the right time and got it done. Will Cherry, when he decides to take over, he's pretty darn impressive. It was a must win for us, and we gutted out another big win on the road.

"I was disappointed in our free throw shooting, and we had some silly fouls late in the game which made it closer than maybe it should have, but we learn from our mistakes and found a way to win when we didn't have everyone at their best," Tinkle said.

The Grizzlies shot the ball well in the early going, and jumped to a 25-13 lead at the 12:42 mark of the first half on a pair of free throws by junior forward Mathias Ward. The Bears went on a run of their own and too a 26-25 lead on two free throws by senior forward Mike Proctor with 6:13 left until intermission. The teams then traded the lead a couple of times, and the Griz led 36-35 at the break.

Montana was 17-of-56 (48.2%) from the field, made a season-high 10 (of 18) three-pointers (55.6%), but made just 11-of-20 (55.0%) free throws. The Griz had 13 steals in the win, and in two games against the Bears this season they have 28 steals.

NC made 24-of-41 shots for 58.5%, 6-of-11 treys, and was 14-of-20 from the line, but had 27 turnovers which led to 36 points by the Griz. (Montana had 11 turnovers). The Griz were out-rebounded 33 to 24 by the Bears, who are the top rebounding team in the league. NC had four players in double figures, led by Proctor's 18 points.

Montana plays its final league road game this Saturday, Feb. 11 against Sacramento State in the Hornets Nest, with tip-off at 8:05 p.m. (Mtn.). The host Hornets defeated Montana State 86-76 this evening and have now won four straight games.