Recap: @UNCO_MBB Falls in Instant Classic to Montana in Overtime

Friday, March 9

.Reno, Nev.

6:35 pm

University of Northern Colorado

22-12

Montana

25-7

OT 1

Northern Colorado

Montana

Photo by: Brooks Nuanez

3/9/2018 10:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

UNC held the lead for the majority of the game

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Reno, Nev.—You always hear the expression, 'Leave everything you have on the court' and that is what Northern Colorado did tonight against Montana, but the Bears drop a heartbreaker to the regular-season champions. UNC played their best basketball late in the season and gave the champs a run for their money in the defeat.

(3/10/2018) Men's Basketball Big Sky Tournament

How It Happened
The early going was much the same as the Weber State game, with a back and forth tilt until the Bears crept ahead 17-13 nearly eight minutes in. Jalen Sanders provided the spark early with eight points in the opening 12-plus minutes and the Bears led 22-18 with 7:28 to play.

Andre Spight got his game going to help Northern Colorado open its biggest lead at nine points with just over four minutes to go in the half. Montana answered and closed the half on an 8-2 run to tie it up at 37 at the break. Spight matched Sanders' first half high of eight points and Tanner Morgan hit all three of his shots to score six before the break. Montana's Ahmaad Rorie led all scorers with 11 going into the locker rooms.

UNC crept ahead with the first five points of the second half but the Griz fought back and it was a one-point game at the 16:28 mark before Spight hit an elusive four-point play to pen up a five-point Bears advantage. The contest then turned into a venerable "what you can do I can do better" game of horse. At one point in the second half, Montana hit 11 consecutive shots but Northern Colorado responded by hitting five of seven.

Montana took their first lead since the 16:35 mark of the opening half with 9:55 to go but UNC responded and the two squads traded the advantage for the next few minutes. The lead changed hands eight times and the squads tied three times from the 9:55 mark until there was 2:25 remaining.

We were tied at 74 when Jordan Davis uncorked a highlight reel dunk to give the Bears the two-point lead. Davis' second Sportcenter Top 10 of the Tournament sparked a 6-0 run to put the Bears up six with 1:06 remaining. Montana cut it to three and got the ball with 25 seconds on the clock. The Griz had not hit a triple the whole game until Bobby Moorehead fought for an offensive board, raced back to the arc and nailed the shot to tie the game. UNC had a shot for the win but a miss by Spight and a pair of missed free throws by Morgan after the offensive board left the fate of the season to overtime.

The Griz quickly scored four points in the extra period, and despite a furious effort by the Bears, would not trail again. UM was up four with 10 ticks left when Jordan Davis drained a three from the top of arc and UNC quickly fouled. Ahmaad Rorie hit one of two foul shots, leaving the door open for a last ditch effort by the Bears. Everyone in the gym, and world via PlutoTV, knew who was taking the shot, and despite defensive pressure Spight managed a solid look at the buzzer. The shot was long and the Griz escaped with a heartbreaking 91-89 decision.

Spight led all scorers with 22 followed by Davis with 18. Sanders continued his impressive freshman campaign by putting together another great performance with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Game Changer
UNC shut down recently crowned Big Sky Defensive player of the year, Michael Oguine, early but he finished hot with 19 points, four points over his season average. Oguine also had nine rebounds and held the ailing Spight, who battled fatigue and a bug for the entire Tournament, scoreless for the last 13:18 of the game including the extra session.

Key Stat
Montana grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to score 14 second-chance points, none more important than the rebound by Moorehead that led to Montana's lone 3 to tie the game with 25 seconds left.

What They Said
Head coach Jeff Linder

Overall thoughts on the game
"First and foremost I can't say how proud I am of the guys I have in our locker room. When we arrived two years ago to go from that situation to tonight where we compete play for play with the top seed tonight and have an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament, I cannot say enough about the guys we have in our locker room. They have built a foundation to compete and win in these settings like we did tonight for years to come."

Andre Spight

On what happened at the end of regulation
"They got some stops and we had an offensive foul called against us and a couple of turnovers that hurt us. The look at the end of the game I thought was going in, it was a good look, I just hit the back rim first."

About Jordan Davis' dunk
"JD is just a crazy athlete and that play gave us a spark. He does that all the time, people just do not see it like we do when he does it in practice and it's not on film like tonight."

What his time has UNC meant to him
"This two-year run has been amazing. Coach Linder is an amazing coach and changed my life. He's more than a coach to me he's taught me a lot on and off the court and these two years have been amazing. I am just sad it came to an end."

Notable Stats

The Bears are now 11-3 in games where four UNC players score in double digits as Spight, Davis, Sanders and Radebaugh all scored 10 points or more.
UNC shot 56% (33-59) for the game, which is its second-highest shooting percentage of the year.
Northern Colorado won the rebounding battle for the third-straight game, finishing with 39 caroms to Montana's 37.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado will now wait to hear if they will be playing in a postseason tournament. UNC is now 22-12, with the 22 wins being its most since their 25-win season in 2009-10.