University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall To Montana 72-65 At Old Spice Classic
11/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Four Golden Gophers scored in double figures but it wasn't enough as Montana emerged with a 72-65 victory this morning in the seventh place game of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Dan Coleman led the Gophers with 13 points and Jamal Abu-Shamala added 12. Minnesota fell to 2-4 while Montana improved to 2-4.
Montana relied on hot three-point shooting, making 10-of-18 in the game. The Grizzlies shot 53 percent for the game from the floor while the Gophers fired 43 percent on 24-of-56.
The Gophers rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to make the game very close down the stretch. Trailing 45-33, Abu-Shamala kept the Gophers alive with two three-pointers. However, Montana maintained a 53-424 lead with 11 minutes remaining. A Lawrence McKenzie trey with 10:35 on the clock brought Minnesota within seven at 54-47 but Montana immediately pushed it back to 11 on a Matt Dlouhy three-pointer. Minnesota found its touch after the three, going on an 8-0 run capped by two McKenzie baskets to trail just 58-55 with 6:40 left. Bryan Ellis broke the Gopher streak by making 1-of-2 from the free throw line but Brandon Smith scored with 5:14 on the clock to trim the deficit to just one at 59-58. However, just as the Gophers seemed to seize the momentum, the Grizzlies had an answer from three-point range as Cameron Rundles made back-to-back threes to push the Montana lead back to seven at 65-58.
McKenzie made a trye on the next possession to bring Minnesota back within four at 65-61 with 4:04 left. However, Montana was able to thwart any additional Gopher runs. Spencer Tollackson scored on a reverse layup with 43.3 seconds left to make the score 67-65 but Westbrook was called for a foul attempting to trap Ellis on the Grizzlies' next possession. He made both free throws to push the lead to four. The Gophers got the ball back but Tollackson was called for an offensive foul setting a screen and Ellis made two more free throws to put the game away.
Minnesota led for much of the first half, taking a 17-12 lead on a Tollackson jumper with 12:10 to go. Coleman scored 11 first half points, including a dunk at the 6:27 mark to give the Gophers a 24-21 lead. A 12-4 Griz run gave Montana a 33-28 lead with just over a minute left in the half. Two Coleman free throws with seven seconds remaining made the halftime score 35-31.
Westbrook added 11 points for the Gophers while McKenzie chipped in 10. Andrew Strait led Montana with 17.
The Gophers return to action at Williams Arena on Wednesday night when they face Clemson in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at 8:30 p.m.
