Student-Athlete of the Month - Andrew Strait Andrew Strait - complete bio Ht: 6'8" | Weight: 245 lbs | Year: Sophomore Major: Undecided Previous School: West Valley HS Hometown: Yakima, WA STRAIT'S DECEMBER STATISTICS 12/2 vs. Stanford: 11 pts, 8 rbs, 1 blk 12/6 vs. Loyola Marymount: 17 pts, 8 rbs 12/9 vs. Mississippi Valley St.: 17 pts, 7 rbs 12/10 at Drake: 17 pts, 6 rbs, 5 blks, 4 asts 12/14 vs. UM-Western: 20 pts, 7 rbs 12/19 at UC-Riverside: 31 pts, 5 rbs 12/22 at Santa Clara: 13 pts, 5 rbs, 2 blks 12/30 vs. UW-Milwaukee: 23 pts, 6 rbs Averages: 18.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.1 bpg For the second consecutive month sophomore forward Andrew Strait has been named MontanaGrizzlies.com Student-Athlete of the Month for his athletic achievements throughout December. Strait averaged 18.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to help lead the Grizzlies to a 7-1 mark in the final month of 2005. Strait, from Yakima, Wash., started December with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the Grizzlies' 88-69 romp over Stanford. He followed that up with a 17-point, eight-rebound performance in a 79-61 home win over Loyola Marymount to complete the season sweep of the Lions. Later that week at the Drake Tournament, Strait scored 17 points on back-to-back nights in the Grizzlies' path to the tourney title. The 6-foot-8 power forward added seven rebounds in an 81-57 semifinal victory over Mississippi Valley State. He tallied six boards, five blocks and four assists in the 78-72 championship win over host team Drake. In just 20 minutes of action against Montana-Western, Strait scored 20 points and seven rebounds to help pace Montana to a 110-71 home win. It was the second most points scored in school history, just one point off the record of 111 points scored in a 111-84 win over Idaho State in the 1965-66 season. Strait scored a career-high 31 points with five rebounds, one assist and a steal in a 77-66 victory over UC Riverside. The 31 points was the highest by a Big Sky player this season. Strait added 13 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks in a 67-56 win over Santa Clara. He was named co-Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for his play in a pair of Griz wins on the California road swing. Strait and the Griz took a 10-game winning streak into the marquee non-conference contest with Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In front of 7,213 fans at Dahlberg Arena, Strait made 9-of-13 buckets to lead all scorers with 23 points but it wasn't enough as the Griz dropped a 78-74 thriller to the Panthers.