The Idaho men’s basketball team rebounded from an overtime loss to Southern Utah last week with a 63-58 upset over Montana on the road Thursday night.
The win by the Vandals marks the first conference loss for the Grizzlies, who were atop the Big Sky Conference standings with a 6-0 record before falling to Idaho.
Montana (11-7 overall, 6-1 Big Sky) began the game with strong defensive play, holding the Vandals (12-7 overall, 4-2 Big Sky) to 10 points in the first 13 minutes of play.
The absence of junior guard Perrion Callandret appeared to hinder the Idaho offense early in the game. The Vandals second-leading scorer missed his third consecutive matchup with a foot injury.
Junior guard Victor Sanders led the Vandals with 9 first-half points. Redshirt freshman power forward Nate Sherwood contributed another 4 points for the Vandals while freshman strong forward Nick Blair collected 4 rebounds.
The Grizzlies were led in the first twenty minutes of play by junior guard Brandon Gfeller, who provided 6 points for Montana. Junior Walter Wright added another 5 points while redshirt senior Martin Breunig notched 4 rebounds.
The Vandals shot 32 percent from the field and made two 3-pointers in the first half, while the Grizzlies converted 9 of 28 shots from the floor.
Montana entered halftime with a slim 24-22 lead over the Vandals after poor shooting performances from both programs.
Idaho began the second half with a 12-0 run to take a 10-point lead over the Grizzlies.
During the second half, sophomore guard Chad Sherwood connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Vandals a 44-29 lead over the Grizzlies midway through the second half.
The initial deficit proved too much for Montana to overcome, as the Vandals recorded 41 points in the second half to secure a 63-58 victory.
Sanders finished with 27 points and two rebounds for the Vandals, while Chad Sherwood ended the night with 9 points.
The Grizzlies finished the game with a 32.1 shooting percentage from the field, as the team scored 34 points in the second half of play.
Breunig finished the game with 20 points for Montana, while Gfeller contributed another 14 points for the Grizzlies.
The Vandals will travel to face Montana State at 1:05 p.m. Saturday in Bozeman, Montana.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom