MIZZOULA, Mont. The South Dakota State Jackrabbits mounted a rally in the second half, but they couldnt overcome a sloppy first half as the Montana Grizzlies earned a 71-67 win as part of a Big Sky-Summit Challenge Game at Dahlberg Arena on Wednesday night.
The Jackrabbits came into Wednesdays game shorthanded without seniors Oscar Cluff and Isaac Lindsey, but the ability to come back and have a chance to win the game at the end put a positive spin on the loss.
I was extremely proud of our guys effort. Theres no doubt about that, SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said. I thought our resilience after a tough first half and how our young guys were able to continue to fight and not give in was pretty special. Thats what were looking for and we want to continue to build this thing. We made a lot of mistakes, but our effort, our energy and our connectivity certainly grew tonight.
The Jacks had some slippery handles to open the game as they committed 12 of their 15 turnovers in the first half. SDSU hung around as Kalen Garrys layup closed Montanas lead to 14-10 with 11:45 in the first half but a 7-0 run punctuated by Austin Pattersons 3-pointer gave the Grizzlies a 21-10 lead with 9:23 until halftime.
The lead swelled to 25-12 on Amari Jedkins’s steal of Stoney Hadnot and dunk on the opposite end with seven minutes left until halftime but Owen Larsons jumper at the buzzer sent the Jacks into the second half down 38-27.
SDSU increased its physicality to turn the tables fueled by redshirt freshmen William Whorton and Damon Wilkinson. Whorton and Wilkinson both finished with career highs in points and rebounds to turn the tide in the second half. Whorton finished with eight points and six rebounds while Wilkinson pulled down seven rebounds while tying for the team lead with Matthew Mors, scoring 14 points including a jumper that capped a 7-2 run that cut Montanas lead down to 45-41 with 14:38 left in the second half.
We put him in a much better spot in the second half and he was able to come through for us in a big, big way, Henderson said of Wilkinsons performance. We just really established the paint with Damon and Willie in there and when you do that, usually things are a little better for you.
Henderson also credited the presence of Cluff in practice for helping Wharton and Wilkinson to be ready when called upon.
These guys battle Oscar every day and they get reps against one of the better big men in the country, Henderson said. They grow every day and I was proud of how they were able to come into this game in a tough environment against a team that has a lot of older guys in there and produce the way they did.
SDSU continued to chop away at Montanas lead until Joe Saylers layup with 10:06 remaining tied the game at 53-53. A 6-0 run by Montana extended the lead back to 59-53 but the Jacks never went away, using a Wilkinson jumper to bring the deficit down to 59-57 with 6:11 left to play.
The Grizzlies tried to put the Jacks away again with a 10-3 run that concluded with a Money Williams free throw with 2:49 to play but SDSU once again fought back with a 7-0 run capped by a Larson jumper to make it a 69-67 game with 33 seconds remaining.
A turnover by Patterson gave SDSU the ball back on the following possession and Garry got a look at a potential go-ahead 3-pointer that went halfway down before rimming out and into the hands of Montanas Joe Pridgen.
After sinking two free throws, the Grizzlies had effectively put SDSU away despite a strong finish to the game.
Thats in our DNA. Our guys dont have any quit in them and I know that, Henderson said. We got that great steal and we didnt panic. We continued to move the ball in the locker room andI trust everybody on our team to shoot that shot including Kalen. We want him to shoot that every time and you just cant control those things all the time. You just worry about the things you can control. That was our effort and taking things one possession at a time. Our guys ability to play that way late especially when we were down nine [points] with all those young guys out there was pretty special.
Mors finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for SDSU. Sayler had 11 points. Stoney Hadnot had eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Larson had six points, three assists and two rebounds.
Malik Moore led Montana with 16 points while Pridgen scored 11 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Patterson had 13 points off the bench for Montana while Brandon Whitney also scored 12 points. Williams had nine points and four assists.
SDSU shot 40.6 percent from the floor including 4-for-23 (17.4%) on 3-pointers. The Jacks made 11-of-12 (91.7%) free throws and outrebounded the Grizzlies 41-33.
Montana shot 44.8 percent for the game including 8-for-26 (30.8%) on 3-pointers. The Grizzlies also made 11-of-16 (68.8%) free throws and committed 11 turnovers.
After falling to 7-3, the Jacks will return home to face Eastern Washington in their second game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings. Saturdays game will tip off at 6 p.m.
Leave a Reply