. . . game between the first- and second-place teams, in a game when no run got bigger than 8-0 and in a game where neither team led by more than six, the small things matter.
“Montana is traditionally good,” Weber State forward Dillon Jones said. “When you’re playing these good games like the Montanas … this is when the little things matter, the details are amplified.” The first detail: Weber State guard JJ Overton made his team’s first 3-pointer of the half to cap a run that put WSU up 67-62 over Montana with 5:40 left Thursday night at the Dee Events Center — the Wildcats’ first cushion of any kind after halftime. The next: WSU only gave up five offensive rebounds to the Griz, but one was when Mack Anderson grabbed a rebound, scored while fouled and made his free throw to stop that run and lead to a 67-67 deadlock.
Jones, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, drove the paint one more time for a bucket and a foul, making his free throw. On the next possession, another detail: WSU guard Koby McEwen drove baseline, paused against a double team, and whipped a skip pass to Dontay Bassett in the corner. The big man rattled in a 3 that put WSU up 73-67 and, ultimately, was the deciding play to send the Wildcats to victory. Weber State won 80-75 for its eighth-straight victory and remained in first place with eight games to go.
“In these games, you just want to minimize those mistakes … when they happen in these games, they’re amplified and they mean more,” Jones said. McEwen’s detail: shooting 19 of 20 from the foul line, after drawing 11 Montana fouls, on his way to 32 points — his Weber State best and tying his career-high. He got to 17 of 17 before his miss, which took away a school record for most free-throw makes in a game without a miss (16, Jimmy DeGraffenreid, 1996). But Montana sent him to the line one more time in the closing seconds, he made both and eclipsed the school record for made free throws in a game (18, Harold Arceneaux in 2000 and Davion Berry in 2014).
The game wasn’t quite over after Bassett’s corner 3. Some of Montana’s late, small details included Brandon Whitney missing the front-end of a bonus free-throw trip and Cam Parker seeing a driving shot roll out. After Lonnell Martin Jr. swished a 3 out of a timeout, and in a game full of good calls and bad (42 total fouls were whistled) Bassett fouled out on a Josh Bannan move inside and intensely voiced his disapproval, a detail that rightly earned him a technical foul. Montana made 3 of its 4 free throws, cutting it to 75-73. But McEwen made 3 of 4 freebies from there and Bannan missed a tough take inside that ended his team’s final push. With all the fouls, the details at the line were a place of betrayal for the Griz: the sixth-best free-throw shooting team in the country missed six free throws (18 of 24) while WSU missed three (26 of 29).
McEwen added three rebounds and three assists to his 32 points for Weber State (18-5, 11-1 Big Sky). Jones had 18 points and 11 rebounds with four assists. Bassett totaled nine points, six rebounds and a late, emphatic block. JJ Overton also chipped in nine points, while KJ Cunningham gave WSU seven solid minutes of defense and knocked down a 3-pointer.Bannan led Montana (15-7, 8-3) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The quick-trigger Robby Beasley added 16 points and kept WSU on its toes shooting 3 of 6 from downtown, Whitney scored 13 points, and Martin added 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting behind the arc. McEwen raced to 21 first-half points, shooting 3 of 4 from deep and going 10 of 10 from the foul line, but a Bannan personal 7-0 run helped Montana early and the Griz led at halftime 39-37. After Montana went up 55-50 with 11:35 left in the game, Jones answered with three straight buckets in the paint to put WSU up one, setting up another thrilling finish between the two rivals.
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