Sacramento State's Dylan Garrity had 16 assists in a win over Montana State.
MBB Recap - Feb. 9
Sacramento State freshman Dylan Garrity accomplished something a Big Sky Conference men's basketball player hasn't accomplished in 21 years on Thursday night, while Montana and Weber State secured byes to the semifinals of the postseason tournament.
Garrity dished out 16 assists in Sacramento State's 86-76 win over Montana State, becoming the first Big Sky player to have that many dimes in a game since 1991. The mark tied for the fourth-most in Big Sky single-game history, and was just two shy of the league record. It also tied the most assists in a Division I game this season.
Garrity also had 14 points as the Hornets won their fourth straight game, the program's first four-game winning streak since the 2005-06 season. Joe Eberhard scored 23 points with eight rebounds in the win. The Hornets improved to 4-8 in league, moving into a tie for seventh place with Northern Colorado. Montana State dropped to 6-6 and is tied with Portland State and Idaho State for third place. Tre Johnson scored 16 points with six rebounds and four steals for MSU.
In other games, Weber State beat Northern Arizona 67-49, Montana pulled away from Northern Colorado 75-68, and Portland State topped Idaho State 67-54.
Weber State and Montana both moved to 11-1 in conference and clinched byes to the conference tournament semifinals on March 6. What remains to be seen is who will be the No. 1 seed, and host the semifinals and championship on March 6-7.
Montana trailed Northern Colorado in the second half, but pulled away late for its seventh straight victory. Junior guard Will Cherry scored 30 points and had eight steals. Cherry moved into the top 10 on the Big Sky's all-time steals list with 198. Kareem Jamar and Derek Selvig each scored 12 in the win. Mike Proctor led Northern Colorado with 18 points. The Bears shot 58.5 percent from the floor, but were done in by 27 turnovers.
Weber State completed a season sweep of Northern Arizona. Damian Lillard, the nation's leading scorer, led the way with 18 points and five assists. Senior Kyle Bullinger had his best game since returning from an injury with 16 points. Sophomore Byron Fulton scored 13 points with 10 rebounds off the bench. Durrell Norman led NAU with 11 points. The Lumberjacks were eliminated from postseason contention.
In Pocatello, Chehales Tapscott scored 15 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead Portland State to a 67-54 win over Idaho State. Charles Odum netted 18 points. Melvin Morgan led ISU with 18 points. The Bengals played without leading scorer Chase Grabau, who is out with an injury. The Bengals played just seven players. Abner Moreira had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Bengals.
Eight Sky teams will be in action on Saturday. At Noon MST, Northern Colorado takes on Montana State in the Altitude Game of the Week. Eastern Washington is at Weber State at 7:35 p.m. Mountain. Northern Arizona plays host to Idaho State at 6:35 p.m. Mountain. At 7 p.m. Pacific, Montana is at Sacramento State.
Sacramento State 86, Montana State 76 | Stats
Weber State 67, Northern Arizona 49 | Stats
Portland State 67, Idaho State 54 | Stats
Montana 75, Northern Colorado 68 | Stats