Six-Team Men's Field Full
The picture became a lot clearer in the quest for the 2012 Big Sky Conference men's basketball championship on Saturday night.
Portland State topped Eastern Washington 69-64 to move to 9-6 in conference play, clinching the No. 3 seed. The Vikings will play host to No. 6 seed Montana State on Saturday, March 3 in a quarterfinal game.
Montana State clinched the sixth and final spot in the tournament despite a 57-47 loss at Montana on Saturday night. Northern Colorado, which did not play on Saturday, was eliminated from postseason contention.
In Saturday's other game, Sacramento State closed out its season with a 70-67 win over Idaho State on Joe Eberhard's 3-pointer with a second to play.
Eastern Washington and Idaho State will play in the other quarterfinal game next Saturday. The two teams play on Tuesday in Cheney in the regular-season finale. The winner of Tuesday's game will be the No. 4 seed and host the quarterfinal game.
Montana (14-1) and Weber State (14-1) meet on Tuesday night to determine the regular-season champion. The winner will host the conference semifinals and championship on March 6-7. Both teams have secured byes to the semifinals. The Montana-Weber State game will air live on Altitude at 7 p.m. Mountain. Montana enters the game riding an 11-game winning streak, and looking to secure its first regular-season title since 2000.
Four games remain in the conference regular-season. On Monday, Northern Arizona (1-14) is at Montana State (6-9).
On Tuesday, Eastern Washington (7-8) plays host to Idaho State (7-8), Weber State is at Montana, and Northern Colorado (5-11) is at Portland State (9-6).
Click on the links below for more information on Saturday's games.
Portland State 69, Eastern Washington 64 | Stats
Montana 57, Montana State 47 | Stats
Sacramento State 70, Idaho State 67 | Stats