The Grizzly men's basketball team fell in overtime at Eastern Washington 59–55 on Saturday, likely dropping out of the running for the Big Sky Conference regular-season title and a chance to host the conference tournament next week.
The Griz final game wrapped up league play at a 12–4 record, 20–9 overall, but they trail Northern Colorado for first place. A win would have guaranteed the Griz a share of the conference crown, but the loss could drop them as low as third depending on Northern Colorado and Weber State's remaining schedule.
Guard Glenn Dean led the Eagles (6–9) with 17 points as Eastern Washington shot 54.5 percent after halftime and made its case for post-season play stronger.
Eastern Washington also got the better of the Lady Griz basketball squad 71–63 at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday. The win marked the first time the Eagles had beaten Montana in Missoula since 1986.
The loss dropped Montana to 9–5 in conference play and into fourth place. The Lady Griz trail first-place Montana State (10–3) and Northern Colorado (10–3) by one in the win column, but two straight losses put the team in a tougher spot with only two conference games to play.
Freshman Lexie Nelson scored 14 points to lead all Grizzlies and senior Sarah Ena added 13 points and eight rebounds. Two players scored 15 points apiece for the Eagles (8–6) who sit in fifth place behind Montana in the conference standings.
Tennis
The women's tennis team took on three road matches over the weekend, knocking off Gonzaga 4–3, Eastern Washington 5–2 and Idaho 4–3. Montana finished February with a 6–2 record, bringing its total to 6–5 and remaining unbeaten in conference play.
Rebecca Bran and Whitney Paluch each went 3–0 in singles matches over the weekend. Paluch's victory Sunday marked her ninth consecutive singles win. The two seniors also combined for three wins in doubles play.
Golf
Montana's golfers placed third at the Northern Arizona-hosted Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Ariz., on Saturday in the team's first trip to the links since the fall.
Fighting unusually low temperatures and high winds, tournament officials pushed the start of the tournament up a day to Friday and eliminated a practice round for the 18 teams. The Grizzlies shot 315 as a team on Friday before cutting a stroke off the next day at 314 for a 629 total.
Individually, junior Lauren Howell and senior Carissa Simmons shot the lowest scores for Montana, each finishing the weekend with an 11-under-par 155 strokes, good enough for a tie for sixth place at the tournament. Sophomore Olivia Weber was one stroke off her teammates' pace with a 156.
Northern Arizona captured the title at its home tournament, shooting 613 overall and logging the two lowest team rounds of 304 and 309 respectively.