Rillie Carries Bears in Big Sky Title Game

Wednesday, March 12

Boise, Idaho

9:30 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

25-9,15-3Big Sky

Montana

25-9,15-3Big Sky

Montana

Northern Colo.

3/13/2025 12:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

UNC Suffers Hard-Fought Setback

By: Michael High, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications

BOISE, Idaho – Jaron Rillie dropped a season-high 24 points for Northern Colorado in a 91-83 setback against Montana (25-9) in the Big Sky Conference Championship game at Idaho Central Arena Wednesday.

The Bears (25-9) must wait until Sunday to find out where they will continue their campaign in the National Invitational Tournament.

Rillie hit 10-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-6 beyond the arc, with four rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 40 minutes of action.

The Bears went cold in the last five minutes in a battle of the two best offenses in the Big Sky Conference, allowing Montana to pull away.

After trailing by as many as 14 early in the second half, UNC cut the deficit to two at 71-69, with 5:01 remaining on a driving layup by Langston Reynolds. The Bears next bucket occurred with 29 ticks left, slicing the deficit to 88-81 on a triple by Zach Bloch.

The teams traded runs in the opening 20 minutes, tallying two ties and five lead changes. Trailing 16-10, UNC rattled off a 14-2 spurt and opened its largest advantage of the first half at 24-18, with 11:18 left.

The Grizzlies responded with a 30-15 spurt and held a 48-39 advantage at the intermission.

Reynolds tallied 18 points, two rebounds, two assists and a rejection.

Brock Wisne added 15 points, three rebounds and two steals. He sank 5-of-6 free-throw attempts.

Isaiah Hawthorne netted 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and a block. He drained all eight attempts at the free-throw line.

The Bears converted 30 of their 51 (58.8%) attempts from the floor, including 6-of-14 (42.9%) from deep. Montana hit 30-of-46 (65.2%) from the field, including 7-of-11 (63.6%) from 3-point range.