Dec. 18, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - John Bryant had 14 points and 12 rebounds as Santa Clara beat Montana 60-49 on Monday night for its fifth win in seven games.
Brody Angley and Ben Dowdell each added 10 points for the Broncos (7-3), who won at home for the first time since the season opener in November.
Andrew Strait scored 15 points for Montana (5-6), which lost its fourth straight after opening the season with five wins in seven games.
Strait moved into sole possession of sixth place on the Grizzlies' all-time scoring list with 1,325. Next on the list is his current coach, Wayne Tinkle, who scored 1,500 points in the late 80s.
Montana was within 43-33 with 10:06 remaining to play following Ryan Staudacher's 3-pointer as the Broncos went nearly six minutes without a field goal.
The Grizzlies, with leading scorer Jordan Hasquet slowed by an ankle sprain, crawled within eight points in the final two minutes.
Santa Clara took control of the game with an 11-0 run during a four-minute stretch of the first half. Calvin Johnson hit successive 3-pointers to spark the rally. Cedric Latimer also hit a 3-pointer for the Broncos during the run.
Montana's poor shooting in the first half only added to its woes. While Strait was 5-of-8 from the field, the rest of the team struggled with two baskets in 16 tries.
The Grizzlies were also denied second-chance points as Santa Clara won the rebounding battle by a 22-10 margin in the first 20 minutes.
Andrew Zimmerman's layup in the final minute gave the Broncos a 33-20 lead at halftime.
Former NBA and Stanford coach Mike Montgomery was in attendance doing preparation work for his television assignment on Wednesday when the Broncos visit Stanford. Montgomery's first head coaching job was at Montana. He was also the halftime guest for the Grizzlies radio network.
