Freshman guard Will Cherry jump-started a listless Montana offense and senior point guard Anthony Johnson nailed a crucial pull-up jumper to propel the Grizzles to a 59-56 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs in Dahlberg arena Monday.
Montana (9-4) trailed the Paul George-led Bulldogs 45-35 with barely over 11 minutes when Montana coach Wayne Tinkle inserted his freshman sparkplug into the game and told him to drive into the seams of the airtight Fresno zone defense.
That he did, hitting two critical layups on slashing drives and nailing a trey from the right elbow while igniting the spark that rejuvenated Montana’s listless second half effort.
Until that point, George -- a sinewy and muscular power forward with NBA written all over him -- had nailed six 3-point shots from all angles while leading the Bulldogs (6-6) to a dominant ownership of the boards.
But, while George led all scorers and rebounders with 28 points and 10 boards, it was the effort of Montana wing-forward Jack McGillis, whose bulldog-tough defense held George under wraps while his team got a renewed offensive effort from several players.
“In the first half our offense wasn’t really attacking their defense, “ said Cherry. “But when I got in, the coaches told me to attack their zone, and get drop-offs and get assists, and that’s what I did,” said Cherry, who finished with 11 points, two assists and two steals.
Tinkle said,”We came out and made about three errors in a row to start the second half. But we made a quick change with Mike Taylor and then came quickly with Will,” said Tinkle.
I just thought we got stagnant against their zone and we needed guys to attack and he
did a super job of getting into the teeth of that zone,” said Tinkle.
Included in the run were gutsy efforts by reserve power forward Derek Selvig, junior post Brian Qvale, and backup off-guard Taylor, all of whom had crucial buckets in the Montana run that finally resulted in Montana’s first lead of the game at the 2:47 mark, when two free throws by Selvig gave the Griz their first lead.
Guard Ryan Staudacher had helped keep Montana in the game early with nine points on three treys, but it was three assists and a critical trey by Taylor (who ended with 6) and two key buckets by Selvig (6) that kept Montana’s rally fueled until the final minute.
By then the sparse Montana crowd of 2726 had gotten into the spirit of the rally, and -- after a Fresno timeout -- generated enough lung-power to distract the Bulldog players from hearing their frantic coaches warn them of a shot-clock violation at the 1:18 mark... a turnover which gave the Grizzlies a crucial extra possession with Montana up 57-54.
Fresno forward Sylvester Seay, who finished with 11 points, pulled the dogs within 57-56 with 41 seconds remaining.
Johnson took over from there. After a Montana timeout, Johnson led Montana’s passing game against Fresno’s zone, but when the Bulldogs switched to man-on defense with about 15 seconds left, Johnson drove into the key for one of his patented pull-up jumpers to give Montana it’s final margin at the 6-second mark.
Johnson downplayed his shot afterwards, but said the game came down to toughness. “’They knew everything we were running, we knew everything they were running, and so it was really a battle of the wills at the end,” said Johnson.
A half-court shot by Fresno was off the left and Montana had its victory.
Though the Bulldogs cleared the boards with a 32-23 mark, Selvig’s late board work kept Montana in the game. The Grizzlies turned-in one of their now patented defensive efforts, holding the Bulldogs to 38 percent from the field while shooting 47 percent and logging one of their best long-range games of the year with 10 treys in 22 shots.
Montana hosts the College of Great Falls Wednesday before getting geared up for the resumption of conference play... a Dec. 31 road trip to Idaho State.
Montana (9-4) trailed the Paul George-led Bulldogs 45-35 with barely over 11 minutes when Montana coach Wayne Tinkle inserted his freshman sparkplug into the game and told him to drive into the seams of the airtight Fresno zone defense.
That he did, hitting two critical layups on slashing drives and nailing a trey from the right elbow while igniting the spark that rejuvenated Montana’s listless second half effort.
Until that point, George -- a sinewy and muscular power forward with NBA written all over him -- had nailed six 3-point shots from all angles while leading the Bulldogs (6-6) to a dominant ownership of the boards.
“In the first half our offense wasn’t really attacking their defense, “ said Cherry. “But when I got in, the coaches told me to attack their zone, and get drop-offs and get assists, and that’s what I did,” said Cherry, who finished with 11 points, two assists and two steals.
Tinkle said,”We came out and made about three errors in a row to start the second half. But we made a quick change with Mike Taylor and then came quickly with Will,” said Tinkle.
I just thought we got stagnant against their zone and we needed guys to attack and he
Included in the run were gutsy efforts by reserve power forward Derek Selvig, junior post Brian Qvale, and backup off-guard Taylor, all of whom had crucial buckets in the Montana run that finally resulted in Montana’s first lead of the game at the 2:47 mark, when two free throws by Selvig gave the Griz their first lead.
Johnson led Montana with 11 points, while Qvale scored 10 on 4-for-6 shooting in the key.
PHOTOS: Freshman guard Will Cherry (top) scores two of his 11 points on a second half drive "into the teeth" of the Fresno State zone defense. (Middle) Montana senior guard Anthony Johnson has his lane blocked by Fresno defender Greg Smith. Johnson's jumper with six seconds remaining salted Montana's 59-56 win over the dogs. (Bottom) Montana wing Jack McGillis drives the lane in second half action. McGillis' defense against Fresno guard Paul George was instrumental in Montana's win.
Guard Ryan Staudacher had helped keep Montana in the game early with nine points on three treys, but it was three assists and a critical trey by Taylor (who ended with 6) and two key buckets by Selvig (6) that kept Montana’s rally fueled until the final minute.
By then the sparse Montana crowd of 2726 had gotten into the spirit of the rally, and -- after a Fresno timeout -- generated enough lung-power to distract the Bulldog players from hearing their frantic coaches warn them of a shot-clock violation at the 1:18 mark... a turnover which gave the Grizzlies a crucial extra possession with Montana up 57-54.
Fresno forward Sylvester Seay, who finished with 11 points, pulled the dogs within 57-56 with 41 seconds remaining.
Johnson took over from there. After a Montana timeout, Johnson led Montana’s passing game against Fresno’s zone, but when the Bulldogs switched to man-on defense with about 15 seconds left, Johnson drove into the key for one of his patented pull-up jumpers to give Montana it’s final margin at the 6-second mark.
Johnson downplayed his shot afterwards, but said the game came down to toughness. “’They knew everything we were running, we knew everything they were running, and so it was really a battle of the wills at the end,” said Johnson.
A half-court shot by Fresno was off the left and Montana had its victory.
Though the Bulldogs cleared the boards with a 32-23 mark, Selvig’s late board work kept Montana in the game. The Grizzlies turned-in one of their now patented defensive efforts, holding the Bulldogs to 38 percent from the field while shooting 47 percent and logging one of their best long-range games of the year with 10 treys in 22 shots.
Montana hosts the College of Great Falls Wednesday before getting geared up for the resumption of conference play... a Dec. 31 road trip to Idaho State.
