Griz championship bound after win over Portland St.

BOISE, Idaho — For the third consecutive year the Montana Grizzlies will play for the Big Sky men’s basketball championship.

Tuesday’s 75-72 victory over Portland State wasn’t for the faint of heart though as Montana held off a furious comeback from the Vikings in the final minutes at Idaho Central Arena.

The top-seeded Vikings used 23 points from Jaylin Henderson to cut a 19-point deficit down to one over the final 10 minutes.

Kenyon Aguino put the Griz ahead 51-32 with 9:23 left as the comeback attempt started with a Henderson basket in the paint shortly after.

A quick 11-2 run over two minutes put all the momentum in Portland State’s favor, but a technical foul on Tre-Vaughn Minott cut the momentum if only for a moment.

The ensuing free throws from Money Williams proved necessary at the end of the night. Williams followed his 40-point night from Monday with 32 points Tuesday.

The Vikings continued their comeback soon after though with Henderson getting to the paint at will in the final minutes, including a layup with 41 seconds left that made it 70-67.

Chase Henderson went 1-of-2 from the line to make it a two-possession game, but Brycen Long quickly cut that to one, 71-70 as he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Montana went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 21 seconds to preserve a 75-72 lead.

Portland State had a chance to send it to overtime, but a Sebastian Tidor triple was no good, and Montana grabbed the rebound as time expired.

The Griz advanced to Wednesday’s championship game at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2 against either Idaho or Eastern Washington. The Vandals and Eagles were still playing at press time.

Montana swept their regular season meetings with Idaho, while falling twice to Eastern Washington.