Griz upend Vikings, finally get that big win
It's been a long time since the Griz won a game like this. Over the past two seasons, the Griz have slipped from one of the conference's best teams, then to just a contender and finally to a mediocre squad stuck to the middle of the pack. With last night's 72-65 win over Portland State, a team some thought would go undefeated in conference play, the Griz may once again be one of the conference's elite.
A team that often times lacks intensity and heart finally showed the characteristics a decent team should.
Here's what Vikings coach Ken Bone had to say about the game, from the grizzlyjournal:
“They (Montana) hit some big shots, hit some big threes and... the crowd got into it, and I thought they just did a nice job of executing plays down the stretch and making baskets and we didn’t,” said Portland State Coach Ken Bone.
“I thought our guys played hard, but Montana just deserved to win,” said Bone.
It's odd hearing that quote coming from someone other than Wayne Tinkle. Rarely do we hit the big shots, make stops and end up being the team that deserved to win.
Here's Tinkle and AJ commenting on the team's character, which is no longer acidic and cancerous. From The Missoulian:
“I just think it says a lot about our character,” said Montana coach Wayne Tinkle, whose Griz had been outscored by the Vikings 180-101 in their previous two meetings. “It was a team that had stepped on us the last couple of times we played them. We challenged our guys to respond and show a little bit of Grizzly pride.”
“It's chemistry,” Johnson said. “We talk about potential a lot of the time. That's been the knock on us, when is our potential going to be realized. I think we saw it today, what we can do when we're firing on all cylinders. The chemistry was at a high.”
In conclusion, this victory and what it means for this program is almost bitter sweet. On the positive side, this was a much-needed win, one that thrusts this team and program back into the conference race. But when did beating a conference opponent constitute a signature victory? These are teams we're supposed to, at the very least, split the season series with and now it feels like a legit upset. I hope the next time we beat PSU, preferably in the tournament, it doesn't have close to the same feel.
Photo credit: Jerek Wolcott for Montanagrizzlies.com
