Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Eastern Washington 69, Montana 65
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 14, 2015
Where: Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, Montana
Officials: # Wilson Holland, # Brett Nansel, # Gregory Nixon
Attendance: 7026

Eastern Washington 69, Montana 65: Tyler Harvey scored 18 points and the visiting Eagles finished the game on a 21-6 run to win the Big Sky Tournament title and earn their first NCAA bid since 2004.

Drew Brandon added 16 points and seven rebounds for Eastern Washington, which trailed 59-48 with 6:11 to play before rallying for its fifth straight win and second Big Sky title. Bogdan Bliznyuk added 13 points off the bench for the Eagles (26-8).

Marcus Breunig led Montana (20-12) with 23 points and 17 rebounds but the Grizzlies, which won a tiebreaker enabling them to host the conference tournament, had their four-game winning streak snapped. Michael Weisner added a career-high 18 points, including 13 straight Montana points in a stretch that vaulted the Grizzlies from a tie into a 55-48 lead midway through the second half.

But Harvey, who leads the nation in scoring at 23.1 points a game, scored eight points in the game-changing run which began on a putback by Venky Jois that cut the deficit to 59-50. Trailing 61-52 with 4:13 to go, Jois scored again from down low and Harvey followed with a long 3-pointer in front of the Eastern Washington bench and the Eagles scored 10 straight points to take the lead with 2:09 left.

Jordan Gregory answered on a driving layup to put Montana, which has won nine Big Sky titles, back up 63-62, but Brandon's jumper on the next possession gave Eastern Washington the lead for good with 1:35 left and Harvey converted a three-point play on the next trip to seal it. Breunig, a transfer from Washington, had 13 points at the half and the Grizzlies took a 30-29 lead into intermission.
Top Game Performances
 
Eastern Washington   Montana
Tyler Harvey 18 Scoring Martin Breunig 23
Drew Brandon 2 Assists Mario Dunn Jr. 3
Drew Brandon 7 Rebounds Martin Breunig 17
Tyler Harvey 5 Free Throws Made Martin Breunig 7
Tyler Harvey 4 Steals Riley Bradshaw 2
Bogdan Bliznyuk 1 Blocks Martin Breunig 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Eastern Washington 69 44.4 4-18 17-23 6 28 3 7 13
Montana 65 43.4 4-16 15-18 10 32 4 9 13