Kyle Owens poured in 22 points off of the bench and Montana bounced back from Saturday's loss with a 78-66 Big Sky Conference men's basketball win over Sacramento State in Sacramento, California, on Thursday evening.
Owens came off of the bench for the first time since earlier this season but didn't miss a beat as the sophomore scored 16 of his points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting, including a 3-for-4 mark from deep. Robby Beasley scored 17 points and Mack Anderson added 12, both also off of the bench, as the Grizzlies improved to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky Conference play.
Brandon Whitney tallied 14 points while Micheal Steadman led the way with seven rebounds and Cameron Parker added seven assists.
Sac State jumped out to an 8-2 lead to start, but from there Montana went on a 16-0 run that was steered by Owens to take an 18-8 lead. UM ultimately took a 33-25 lead into the break.
In all-too-familiar fashion this season in conference play for the Griz, Sac State came out of halftime with a 14-4 run to tie the game at 37-37 with 13:59 left in the game, but the Hornets were never able to get over the hump and retake the lead from Montana like Northern Arizona did on Saturday in UM's last game. The Grizzlies eventually grabbed a double-digit lead late in the second half to seal the victory.
Montana shot 49% from the field but 4 for 13 from deep. Meanwhile, Sac State finished with a 47.2% shooting mark and went 5 for 19 from 3-point range. The Grizzlies also finished shooting 26 for 30 from the free throw line while Sac State was 11 for 17.
Ethan Esposito led the Hornets (5-3, 3-2 Big Sky) with 24 points. Sac State and Montana tip off again on Saturday at noon.
