2008 Woodie Awards
Bears lose fourth straight to Montana
Jordan Freemyer
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Sports
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The loss dropped the Bears to 8-11 on the season and to 2-6 in the Big Sky.
Things went sour from the start for the Bears, who failed to score from the field until the 14:28 mark of the first half, allowing Montana to jump out to a 14-1 lead. The drought was broken by a Jabril Banks dunk and a Robert Palacios lay-up, cutting the Grizzlies' margin to nine.
Banks led the Bears with 16 points and eight rebounds on the night.
"At the beginning of the game we were trying to attack and draw fouls, but they've got some really good bigs," Banks said.
The Grizzlies took their biggest lead of the game with just more than four minutes to play before halftime when Ceylon Elgin-Taylor hit a 3-pointer to make the score 39-16. The Bears closed the half with a 6-0 run to make the score 39-22 at halftime.
The Bears only made 8-29 shots in the first half and just 1-8 on 3-pointers.
"We didn't make shots, and you've got to make shots to beat Montana," Bears coach Tad Boyle said.
Things were better for the Bears in the second half. They cut the Grizzly lead to as few as nine points. The Bears trailed by 10, 53-43, when guard Thanasi Panagiotakopoulos went down with a knee injury.
Sophomore guard Will Figures stepped in admirably, scoring 13 points in 24 minutes. Despite his offensive performance, Figures was disappointed by the Bears' play on defense.
"On the defensive end, we weren't focused and ready," Figures said.
Even with the losing streak, Boyle said he still sees something special in this year's team.
"I really like the spirit of our team," Boyle said.
The Bears will need all of that spirit when they return to the court to take on Big Sky leader Northern Arizona on Thursday night at 7:05 at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
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