BOISE, Idaho (March 12, 2022) - The 2022 Big Sky Men’s Basketball Tournament came to an end Saturday night as Montana State defeated Northern Colorado 87-66 to earn their first bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament since 1996.
The win made the Bobcats the winners of both the Regular Season and the Championship Tournament titles for the 2021-22 season. This is the first time they have accomplished that task since the 1995-96 season.
Xavier Bishop led the Bobcats offensively with 19 points, his third double-digit performance of the tournament. Amin Adamu, Nick Gazelas, and Tyler Patterson also scored in double-digits as the Bobcats shot over 50 percent from the floor for the third-straight game.
The Bears also had four players in double-figures on Saturday as Kountz, the league’s leading scorer, dropped in 20 points. Dalton Knecht scored 14, Kur Jongkuch scored 12, and Bodie Hume put up 10 points.
Bishop was named the MVP of the tournament as he and Adamu were both named to the All-Tournament Team along with Kountz, Khalid Thomas from Portland State, Dillon Jones from Weber State, and Bryce Fowler from Sacramento State.
With the Montana State women’s basketball team having won the tournament title on the women’s side just one day earlier, this marks the first time since the 2012-13 season that both programs from the same institution will be representing the Big Sky in the NCAA Championship Tournament. This will be just the seventh time that a conference institution has accomplished this feat in Big Sky history.
Both programs will find out who their opponents will be in the NCAA Championship Tournament on Selection Sunday (March 13). The men’s Division I bracket will be announced at 4:00 p.m. Mountain time on CBS while the women’s Division I bracket will be announced at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN.
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2022 Big Sky Men’s Basketball All-Tournament Team
Xavier Bishop, Montana State (MVP)
Khalid Thomas, Portland State
Daylen Kountz, Northern Colorado
Dillon Jones, Weber State
Bryce Fowler, Sacramento State
Amin Adamu, Montana State