Montana men shut down Northern Arizona for road win

THE MATCHUP

After a nailbiting win over Portland State on Thursday, Montana finished its weekend with a road trip to Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks were coming off a high-scoring 89-84 loss to Montana State.

THE RESULT

In a defensive struggle, Montana opened up its first double-digit lead about 12 minutes into the game and more or less held that margin to the wire in a 58-48 win.

A 3-pointer by Northern Arizona’s Jalen Cone cut the Griz lead to six with just over three minutes to go, but two free throws by Josh Bannan and a 3-pointer by Robby Beasley quickly righted the ship for Montana.

The Griz held NAU to 35.3% shooting, including 5 of 23 from 3-point range.

THE STANDOUTS

Bannan, a sophomore forward, finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for Montana. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts but was 7 of 9 inside the arc.

Sophomore guard Brandon Whitney was right behind Bannan with 15 points. Like his Australian teammate, he struggled from 3-point range, going 0 for 3, but was 5 of 7 on 2-point attempts.

Cone, the only Lumberjack in double figures, finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for NAU.

QUOTABLE

“We’re playing well right now, and I think a lot of it is confidence. Not just confidence in themselves, but in their teammates. I think we’re doing a good job of allowing guys to be who they are and playing to our strengths.” – Montana head coach Travis Decuire

“They did a phenomenal job of executing the game plan. Coach Flo (Jay Flores) had the scout, and there were a couple things that were a little complicated with them (NAU). We did a few things we don’t typically do with the dribble handoff. To not be able to practice them the day before, it shows a phenomenal job of our guys paying close attention and playing with discipline.” – Montana head coach Travis Decuire

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WHAT’S NEXT

Montana (13-6, 6-2 Big Sky Conference) is back home on Thursday for a game against Idaho, which picked up its first Big Sky win of the season Saturday against Sacramento State.

Northern Arizona (6-11, 2-4) hosts the Hornets on Monday.