Jan. 26, 2008

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GREELEY, Colo. - Trailing by as many as 23 in the first half, the University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team scrambled back in the second half closing within nine but could not get over the hump, falling to the University of Montana, 71-60. The Bears fall to 8-12 overall and 2-6 in Big Sky Conference play, while the Grizzlies improve to 9-11 and 3-4 in league action.

Junior forward Jabril Banks led the team with 16 points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Will Figures came off the bench to score 13 points and had a team best three assists.

Montana was led by Jordan Hasquet with 16 points, Ceylon Elgin-Taylor scored 13 including 8-for-9 from the free throw line and Andrew Straight tallied a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Matt Martin notched a game-high four assists and Brian Qvale had six blocked shots.

"You've got to make shots to beat Montana," said Head Coach Tad Boyle. "And tonight we didn't make shots. We have to tip our hat to Montana. They made shots when they had to. They were the better team tonight."

The Bears scored the first point of the game on a free throw by Robert Palacios but Montana scored the next 14. The first field goal of the game came on a dunk by Banks with 14:28 in the half. Palacios cut the lead to nine with a layup, 14-5. Montana scored seven of the next nine to increase the lead to 15, 21-6 and with 4:09 left in the half, had its largest lead of the game, 39-16 after a three-pointer by Elgin-Taylor.

With 16:45 remaining in the game, Hasquet hit two free throws for an 18-point Montana lead, 45-27 and the Bears scored 11 of the next 14 to close within 10, 48-38 with 10:44 on the clock. A three-pointer by Figures with 2:20 left brought the Bears the closest since early in the first half, 59-50, but the Grizzlies made 10 of their 12 free throws in the final two minutes to hang on for the 71-60 win.

"I still believe in our guys and believe in what we're doing," stated Boyle. "We were much more solid defensively in the second half and did a much better job on the boards. We are not giving up, that's for sure. We've got to play now with a sense of urgency."

Northern Colorado closed the first half of conference play and looks towards the second half, hosting Northern Arizona on Thursday at 7:05. They then play at Sacramento State on Saturday.