Power forward Jordan Hasquet scored 22 points on a variety of power moves in the low blocks while off-guard Ryan Staudacher nailed 6-of-7 shots from three-point range to lead the Montana Grizzlies to an 83-63 victory over the North Dakota Sioux at Dahlberg Arena Tuesday.
Hasquet credited Montana’s win to its defensive effort, particularly in light of the struggles the team had in a three point loss to Santa Clara on Sunday.
“Overall our focus was mainly defense,” said Hasquet. “But we were a lot more focused this game, this time around.
“We really wanted to come out,” said Hasquet. “Because... a few games we’ve had here we haven’t come out with the intensity we need and we were battling back and by the time it gets to that point in the second half we’re already down too much. We needed to come out and set the tone early and get the early lead.”
PHOTO: Montana's Kyle Sharp (#40) and Ceylon Elgin Taylor grab
a reound over North Dakota's Daniel Harkins in Montana's 83-63 win over
the Sioux Tuesday. Sharp had eight rebounds in the game.
Hasquet credited reserve post Kyle Sharp for providing an instant kick start on the defensive end early in the game.
“Sharp really set the tone there,” said Hasquet.
Sharp grabbed seven of his team-leading eight rebounds (tied wih Griz starting post Brian Qvale) that led a stifling Montana defensive effort that limited the Sioux to 36.7 percent shooting during the first.
“His effort and hustle off the bench really set the tone,” said Montana coach Wayne Tinkle. “He was climbing all over the glass, he was defending hard. He just did a super job and that’s what we expect from Kyle.
“I talked to Coach Tinks before the game,” said Sharp. “He just basically conveyed to me that he wants me to come out hard off the bench and give energy. I knew right away that we needed to come out and get some boards. That’s kind of how I got my game going, with those offensive rebounds,” he said.
Sharp sandwiched two rebounds around his sixth and seventh points to give Montana a 39-28 lead at the two-minute mark of the first half.
Shortly thereafter the Griz surged to a 14-point 45-31 lead on a trey by reserve guard Anthony Johnson with 33 seconds
remaining and another trey by Hasquet with four seconds remaining.
Montana was successful pounding the ball into the low blocks where Hasquet and post Qvale made several quick conversions.
PHOTOS: (Top) JC transfer guard Anthony Johnson drives the baseline for two of this 14 points. Junior wing Jack McGillis (#44) snares a rebound during first half action. McGillis had five rebounds and seven points in 21 minutes of action.
North Dakota responded with a combination of a three-quarter court zone defense and then fell back into a standard half-court zone. That’s when Staudacher stepped up.
“We really moved the ball well tonight,” said an obviously pleased Staudacher. “Of course, you know, I get excited any time I hear a team plays zone... You know, as a shooter I obviously would much rather play against a zone than man.”
Staudacher was also the recipient of several early offense open looks when the Sioux applied their zone pressure.
“That (press breaker) was a good little play that Coach Tinkle drew up,” said Staudacher. “They were trying to show a little token pressure and we made a couple of swing passes and got the ball to the sideline, so that worked out well.”
Staudacher, who leads the Big Sky Conference with a .583 shooting accuracy from long range, was even more deadly against North Dakota. Six of his seven conversions came from long range. He missed only once in eight tries for the game.
Though Johnson had an off-night shooting, he added 14 points for the Griz on a variety of his patented slashing drives and 5-of-7 shooting from the free throw stripe. Johnson -- who tied Griz point guard Ceylon Elgin Taylor with four assists -- also had two steals while turning the ball over just two times.
Guard Daniel Hawkins led North Dakota with 16 points while reserve Travis Bledsoe added 11.
Montana outrebounded the Sioux 40-33, collected five steals and turned in a stellar 16-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio in a game where each team took good care of the ball.
Sophomore post Qvale, a native of Williston, North Dakota, scored seven points to go with his eight rebounds, and collected two blocks.
JC transfer wing Vanny Bassy had perhaps his best game of the young season, collecting six rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes on court.
Twelve Montana players saw action, 11 played a minimum of 10 minutes, in a continued pattern of exceptional team depth.
Montana now faces Denver University Thursday in the debut game of the first Karl Tyler Chevrolet Grizzly Basketball Classic that also features a Montana match with Texas Arlington and a game between Texas Arlington and Denver.
