Montana rallies past Eastern Washington 83-72 for share of 13th Big Sky regular-season title

MISSOULA, Mont. -- — Sophomore Money Williams came off the bench to score 23 points, rallying Montana to an 83-72 victory over Eastern Washington and earning the Grizzlies a share of their 13th Big Sky Conference regular-season title.

Montana (22-9, 15-3) shares this season's title with Northern Colorado but will be seeded second in the conference tournament beginning Saturday in Boise, Idaho. The Grizzlies receive a first-round bye and will play the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 7 seed Northern Arizona and the eighth-seeded Eagles (10-21, 6-12). The Bears will square off on Sunday against the winner of Saturday's matchup between No. 10 seed Sacramento State and No. 9 seed Weber State.

Williams hit three 3-pointers and added three rebounds and three assists for Montana. Te'Jon Sawyer had 19 points. Joe Pridgen totaled 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Mason Williams led the Eagles with 20 points. Andrew Cook had 19 points and Emmett Marquardt scored 13.

Eastern Washington hit nine straight shots while Montana missed nine in a row in jumping out to a 19-5 lead. The Eagles led 37-30 at the half.

Malik Moore hit a 3-pointer to put Montana up 73-70 with 2:42 remaining and the Grizzlies pulled away from there. Senior Brandon Whitney notched his school-record 433rd assist on the basket. He added 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

Travis DeCuire became the first Grizzlies coach to win four regular-season championships.

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