Ok, let’s ask the question: Was Andrew Strait’s last-second shot blocked? Or was it Titan goaltending?
The answer: It shouldn’t have mattered because -- a mere 39 and 31 seconds earlier -- Griz guards Cameron Rundles and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor each missed front-ends of one-and-one free throws. If either Montana guard had made even one of the (potential) four, the win would most like have belonged to the Griz.
Rundles stepped to the line with a four-point, 62-58 Montana lead over the homestanding Cal State Fullerton Titans. Two makes could have pushed the margin to six points at the 39 second mark. Nine seconds later Elgin-Taylor missed another front-end with the Griz up by two, 62-20. Had he made both, the Montana lead would have been four.
The 79-76 Montana loss was the second overtime setback on their 3-game California road swing against top quality opponents. But, other than the satisfaction that any of us would surely get seeing the Grizzlies notch a win or two on this brutal swing, I still find myself very encouraged at the quality of Montana’s play heading into conference play the first week in January.
Let’s give solid credit to both Rundles and Elgin-Taylor, who had superb floor games and had previously made many good plays.
PHOTOS: Ceylon Elgin-Taylor played a stellar game at point guard against the Titans with 14 points, four assists
and only one turnover. Below -- Jordan Hasquet scored 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and had 8 rebounds and two assists. Andrew Strait had 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and pulled down 10 rebounds. All photos were taken during the first game between the teams in Missoula (Nov. 30).
It’s important to note that Montana had possession of the ball on the final regulation-play shot in two out of three of their games, played against teams that are now a combined 21-7 on this young season. Most teams in those venues would love to have that opportunity.
In his post-game comments, Montana Coach Wayne Tinkle said as much. With both of Montana’s overtime losses it’s probably better for Tinkle and his players to analyze why comfortable second-half Montana leads over both the Tigers and the Titans evaporated in the final minutes.
With 11 minutes to play, Montana’s Rundles hit a trey to give the Grizzlies an 11-point 54-43 lead over the Titans. It’s at precisely this juncture in road games that good teams with experienced players will seal up important victories. In at least four games this year the Grizzlies haven’t been able to put their opponents away.
A winning team will learn to put those games comfortably away. The young Grizzlies are not there yet. But that’s another reason why Tinkle scheduled games against formidable opponents. This road swing will be a valuable lesson for a steadily maturing young squad as they head into Big Sky Conference play.
There’s an irony in this stumble: The Grizzlies close literally every practice with a drill that places a player at the free-throw line in a “must-make” situation.
So, am I slamming Montana’s two guards for the misses? Nah.
Any coach, fan or player should hope for their team to be in that position with the game on the line. That they missed merely means Montana players will mentally replay that game over the course of their holiday break heading into conference play. I’m pretty certain both Rundles and Elgin-Taylor love the challenge and would step up again if given the chance.
But what about an obvious official’ blown call? Yeah. You expect players to make mistakes. But game-changing calls or no-calls are particularly grating. If I heard the guarded post-game comments by Tinkle and Grizzly play-by-play announcer Mick Holien, Strait’s layup -- taken off of a penetration dribble and dish from Rundles -- was “probably” slapped off of the backboard by a Titan defender, which would likely have made it a goaltending, two points for Strait, and a win for the Griz.
But the nature of college basketball makes that situation moot. A referee’s no-call can’t really be analyzed. And you can bet that Cal Fullerton coach Bob Burton -- who may have admitted a bad no-call to Montana coach Wayne Tinkle -- wasn’t about to overrule the refs.
Will the Griz get better because of these losses? They didn’t need the losses, but they’re obviously getting better. Had they held the Titans to 64 points in regulation two weeks earlier they would have had an easy home win.
But, had Montana beaten both the Tigers and the Titans, it would be solid proof that Montana will challenge for the Big Sky Crown. We can’t quite say that at this point. But we can say that the Griz are playing championship caliber basketball for steadily increasing durations of play. That’s encouraging.
At this point we get to hope that college basketball is a game where the bad calls will even out for a team over the course of a year or two. I think that’s why we all love the game. You purchase your ticket not knowing the outcome knowing that you get to celebrate some and bemoan the others.
Otherwise you wouldn’t go.
I know I’ll always be back for more.
