BOX SCORE | PHOTOSA dominant second half by the Montana Grizzlies led to an 82-53 victory over Lewis-Clark State College Warriors in a Friday night exhibition matchup.
Senior guard Ryan Staudacher led the second half surge, scoring all of his 10 points in the final frame. He helped lead the Griz to 60 percent shooting from the field in the second half.
The Montana defense also stepped up their second half effort, holding the Warriors to just 29 percent second half shooting after allowing 45 percent from the field in the first half.
Montana held a hard-earned 34-28 halftime lead on balanced scoring. Seven Grizzlies scored in the first half led by Anthony Johnson with 11.
The Grizzlies started the game slow. The first Montana points of the game came on a Brian Qvale layup on a pass from Anthony Johnson nearly two minutes into the game. The slow start the helped the Warriors to an early 7-2 lead.
The Grizzlies took their first lead over five minutes into the game, a 12-11 advantage on an Anthony Johnson three. The score remained 12-11 for nearly three minutes until Johnson once again scored at the 11:45 point to up the lead to three.
Anthony Johnson led the Grizzlies with 19 points and 8 assists. Johnson again showed he is a feature player with an amazing first half play. He sent two Warriors flying with a head fake, leading to an uncontested layup.
Brian Qvale showed an increased aggressiveness with several tough rebounds and a huge first half block. He led the Griz with 10 rebounds, he also added 7 points.
New Grizzlies Raason Young and Will Cherry both saw extensive minutes with big results. Young had 8 rebounds and scored 8 points including an emphatic first half break away dunk. Cherry contributed 10 points with seven coming in the final minutes of the game.
Redshirt Freshman Mathias Ward also contributed to the victory with 7 points and 6 rebounds.
Montana now prepares for the Karl Tyler Chevrolet Grizzly Basketball Tournament. The tournament is the first home tournament since 2003. The tournament features Boise State, Loyola-Marymount, and North Dakota as well as the host Grizzlies.