Montana Loses Tough One to San Francisco

I don't know Wayne Tinkle, have never met the man. But based on hearing him speak and watching him on the sidelines, I have to imagine he is getting very frustrated with the inconsistency of the Grizzlies this season.

After beating Long Beach State, they collapsed at the end of the game in a 65-62 loss to San Francisco. The Grizzlies trailed by 6 at the half, but came out strong in the second half. They led 59-53 after an Art Steward layup with 4 minutes remaining, but the Dons went on a 12-3 run to end the game, stunning the home crowd.

San Francisco got some huge plays down the stretch, and there were three that really were the difference. First, with Montana up 62-59, San Fran sophomore PG Cody Doolin hit an open three with 1:40 to play. On the ensuing possession, with the shot clock winding down, Doolin simply beat Shawn Stockton off the dribble, hitting a shot in the lane to put the Dons up.

The last big play... after a timeout, the Grizzlies gave the ball to Will Cherry to take to the lane, and it looked like he was going to get an easy layup for the tie. Suddenly, the Dons big man Cole Dickserson came from the weak side for a huge block, and that was essentially the game.

Montana got a desparation three-point attempt from Derek Selvig as time expired, but it wasn't even close.

For Montana, senior Art Steward was the star, notching a double-double with 17 and 10. Other than him, the big guns struggled. Will Cherry had 5 points and 3 assists, Kareem Jamar had 12 points, and Derek Selvig had 6 points. Montana needs 40 points per game from these guys.

Montana will not have time to sit and sulk about this one, as they travel to Oregon State for a game on Sunday. They have the team capable of winning that game. However, they need to be more assertive offensively, and their stars need to make plays. If not, there will be a lot more nights like this one.

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The Hilltop Challenge Features Northern Arizona

Sun Belt Basketball has a fantastic writeup on The Hilltop Challenge, a November tournament that features Big Sky Member Northern Arizona.

THE SKINNY

Sun Belt Participant: Louisiana

Date/Time: Nov. 11-13

Location: War Memorial Gym (University of San Francisco)

The Field: Louisiana, North Dakota State, Northern Arizona, San Francisco

Check out the article for a look at NAU and the rest of the teams in the Tournament. NAU could have a chance to steal a couple of solid non-conference victories.

An Early Look at Montana's Schedule

I have looked at a few of the other schools, and now it is time to take a look at the schedule for the Montana Grizzlies, who look to be one of the top two teams in the Big Sky Conference once again.

They will start off the season with a bang, traveling to Fort Collins to take on Colorado State, an upstart program under Coach Tim Miles who will be looking to build on the momentum created last season. It should be an interesting matchup right out of the gate, as it will be a nice resume booster for whoever wins. It looks like a pretty even matchup to me, and one I hope to attend.

There are a couple other interesting non-conference road games. They will take on San Diego, who had an eventful offseason for all the wrong reasons. The Toreros struggled last season, but they had a young team and they have a solid coach in Bill Grier. Then the Grizzlies will travel to take on North Dakota, in a preview of what could be a solid rivalry for years to come, as UND joins the Big Sky.

The other remaining road games are Portland(who was in the middle of the pack in a solid WCC), Oregon State (which will look to be improved behind the play of Roberto Nelson, who will be eligible all year long), and a bracket buster game. Montana needs to go at least .500 in these games, and going at least 4-2 seems like a reasonable goal.

At home, the big game is against Nevada, which will be one of the best non-conference games of the Big Sky season. The Wolfpack have been down a bit, but they are projected to be near the top of the WAC with budding stud Deonte Burton. This would be a very nice resume booster for the Griz, and a game they surely have marked on their calendars. They will also take on Idaho out of the WAC, a team that finished 4th last season, so they are certainly no gimme.

They will get couple other solid home games against San Francisco (who finished behind only Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the WCC as one of the youngest teams in the country), and Long Beach State, a team that sees itself as a potential at-large possibility.

The other non-conference home games included games against usual suspects - low level teams that shouldn't provide a huge challenge. Games against Great Falls, Montana Tech, and Utah Valley are schedule fillers, ones that every Big Sky team needs to have on their schedule.

Add it all up, and I think it is a pretty impressive schedule for the Grizzlies. Other than Oregon State they don't play any BCS Conference teams, but they have a lot of games against solid mid-major opponents. It will be a nice test for Montana, and if they can win some of these games, it will go a long way to helping their seeding if they are able to make it to the Big Dance.