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CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Walter Wright scored 19 points, Michael Oguine hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points and Montana closed the game on a 7-0 run to beat Eastern Washington 65-59 on Saturday.
Ahmaad Rorie scored 12 for Montana (8-9, 3-1 Big Sky).
A jumper by Sir Washington gave EWU (10-6, 2-1) a 59-58 lead with a minute left. Wright made two free throws eight seconds later and after a missed 3-pointer on the other end, two foul shots by Rorie made it 62-59 with 23 seconds to go. The Eagles missed another 3 and Oguine hit two free throws to give Montana a five-point lead before Rorie made 1 of 2 to cap the scoring.
The game featured seven ties and 17 lead changes, including three and seven, respectively, in the final five minutes.
Bogdan Bliznyuk had 23 points and six assists for EWU, but missed all seven of his 3-point shots. Jacob Wiley added 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
MONTANA (8-9)
Lopez 0-4 2-2 2, Krslovic 2-6 0-2 4, Gfeller 1-1 1-3 3, Oguine 5-6 3-4 17, Rorie 3-10 5-6 12, Samuelson 2-4 0-1 4, Pridgett 2-4 0-0 4, Moorehead 0-2 0-0 0, Wright 7-15 5-6 19. Totals 22-52 16-24 65.
E. WASHINGTON (10-6)
Wiley 3-10 4-4 10, Von Hofe 1-7 0-0 3, Peatling 1-2 0-0 3, Vulikic 1-5 0-0 2, Bliznyuk 9-23 3-4 21, Hunt 3-3 0-0 8, Benzel 0-1 0-0 0, Washington 3-4 0-0 7, Gibson 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 23-57 7-8 59.
Halftime—E. Washington 25-23. 3-Point Goals—Montana 5-18 (Oguine 4-5, Rorie 1-4, Moorehead 0-2, Wright 0-3, Lopez 0-4), E. Washington 6-19 (Hunt 2-2, Washington 1-1, Gibson 1-1, Peatling 1-1, Von Hofe 1-5, Benzel 0-1, Vulikic 0-1, Bliznyuk 0-7). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Montana 34 (Oguine, Krslovic 6), E. Washington 33 (Wiley 14). Assists—Montana 9 (Wright 3), E. Washington 9 (Bliznyuk 6). Total Fouls—Montana 14, E. Washington 21. A—2,107 (6,000).
Women
Eastern Washington 60, Montana 46
MISSOULA — Montana (3-12 overall, 0-4 Big Sky) lost its sixth consecutive game, shooting 34.5 percent and turning the ball over 20 times at Dahlberg Arena.
The Lady Griz have been outscored by 101 points in the first quarter this season, and Saturday added to that discrepancy. Eastern Washington jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 16-4, and led 24-12 at the first break after shooting 52.6 percent in the game’s first 10 minutes.
Fifth-year senior EWU guard Tisha Phillips led both teams with 20 points. She went 9 for 12 and led the close-range scoring.
Gabi Harrington led Montana with 12 points off the bench on a day when the reserves outscored the starters, two of whom failed to produce a single point, 35-11. The players off the bench shot 53.8 percent, with Jace Henderson going 3 for 3, Rachel Staudacher 3 for 4.
Montana will play at Big Sky Conference leader Northern Colorado (12-3, 4-0 BSC) on Thursday.
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UM Sports Information
Montana State 80, Idaho 64
BOZEMAN — Montana State (10-4, 3-1) rolled past Idaho (6-8, 1-2) with help of its underclassmen in front of 1,667 fans in Worthington Arena.
Senior Peyton Ferris, coming off a season-high 30 points against Eastern Washington, scored a game-high 22 points for the Bobcats, despite playing less than half the game due to early foul trouble. Senior Riley Nordgaard, who also found herself in foul trouble, finished with just eight points but managed to grab a season-high 13 rebounds.
With the duo of Ferris and Nordgaard limited, sophomore Annika Lai did impressive job scoring a career-high 15 points, doubling her average of 7.4 points per game. Lai finished the game connecting on seven-of-13 from the field and played a starter-caliber 29 minutes.
Freshman Madeline Smith also had an impressive showing, scoring 13 points on six-of-eight shooting. Smith has stepped in as a key reserve lately, posting her fourth straight double digit scoring game.
MSU will play at North Dakota on Thursday night in Grand Forks.
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MSU Sports Information