Weber St. 68, Montana 67

1/20/2008 6:17 PM

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -Dezmon Harris scored 17 points, including the winning free throws with 17 seconds to play, to lift Weber State to a 68-67 win over Montana in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game Sunday afternoon.

Harris, a senior guard, was five for six from 3-point range, including two backbreakers in the final 2:36 to blunt a Grizzly rally.

Arturas Valeika added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Wildcats, who improved to 4-1 in league play and 9-8 overall. Daviin Davis chipped in 11 points, and Kellen McCoy came off the bench for nine points and the steal that led to the clinching free throws by Harris.

Jordan Hasquet scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Montana (1-4, 7-11). Andrew Strait added 14 points, and Ryan Staudacher chipped in 12 on four 3-pointers.

Valeika had 10 of his points and six rebounds in a first half in which Weber led by as many as 11 points with 4:08 to play before intermission. The Griz finished the half on a 9-2 run to cut the gap to 34-30 at the break.

The Wildcats maintained their lead until an 8-0 burst capped by 3-pointers from Matt Martin and Staudacher gave the Griz the lead at 48-46 with 9:42 to play.

The lead went back and forth until Davis converted a three-point play to give Weber a 66-64 lead with 1:13 left. The Griz had a chance to tie, but Cam Rundles missed a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left.

Montana forced Harris into an off-balance 3-point attempt at the end of the shot clock on the Wildcats' next possession. Strait grabbed the rebound, but McCoy stripped the ball and called a time-out.

Harris was fouled and extended the Wildcats' lead to 68-64 with a pair of free throws.

Staudacher hit a trey to bring the Griz within 68-67 with 8.7 seconds to play. Montana had a chance to win after Tyler Billings missed a free throw, but Martin was unable to get off a shot.

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com