Box Score
RENO, Nev. (March 9, 2017) – It was the battle you’d expect between two of the oldest rivals in the Big Sky Conference.
Victor Sanders scored five points in the final 90 seconds to give Idaho a hard-fought 81-77 win over Montana in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky men’s basketball tournament Thursday at the Reno Events Center.
The win pushed the fourth-seeded Vandals (18-12) into the semifinals where they will face top-seeded North Dakota on Friday at 5:35 p.m. PST. Montana, which had lost in the finals the past two seasons, ended its campaign at 16-16.
It was the 196th meeting between the historic rivals and the win gave the Vandals a 110-86 advantage in the series that dates back to 1915. Idaho fans will remember this one for a while.
Idaho rode the strong inside play of Arkadiy Mkrtychyan early in the game and Sanders’ heroics late. Each finished with 19 points, while Brayon Blake added 12 and Nate Sherwood and Pat Ingram chipped in 10 apiece.
Senior guard Walter Wright did his best to keep the Griz in the game, coming off the bench for 22 points. Ahmaad Rorie added 16 and Michael Oguine had 13.
Idaho came out of the gates on fire, making 14 of its first 18 shots from the field to take a 33-21 lead with 5:53 to play in the first half. Mkrtychyan had eight of the Vandals’ first 10 points on a series of nifty inside moves. Treys from Chad Sherwood, Blake and Sanders extended Idaho’s lead to 36-23 before Montana’s defensive intensity closed the gap to 41-34 at the break.
The Vandals were able to keep the Griz at bay until Jack Lopez and Rorie knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to knot the game at 61-61 with 8:22 to play.
Montana took its first lead since the opening half at 72-71 on a 15-foot jumper by Wright with 2:17 remaining. A pair of free throws by Wright had the Griz ahead 74-73 with 1:49 left.
Sanders put the Vandals back in front 75-74 with a tough jumper off the glass with 90 seconds to play, then extended the edge to 77-74 with an acrobatic shot along the baseline with 50 ticks remaining.
A pair of free throws by Fabijan Krslovic cut Idaho’s lead to 77-76 with 34.6 seconds to play. One free throw from Trevon Allen made it 78-76. Rorie made 1 of 2 at the line to again make it a one-point game, 78-77, with 15.4 seconds remaining. Sanders did likewise for a 79-77 Idaho lead with 13.6 seconds left.
Wright drove the lane but misfired in traffic and Bobby Moorehead’s frantic shot was off line, forcing the Griz to foul Allen with 2.9 seconds to play. His two free throws sealed the outcome.