Montana dumps Weber St to return to Big Sky title game

BOISE, Idaho (AP) Ahmaad Rorie scored 28 points and Bobby Moorehead scored 13 with 10 rebounds and Montana beat Weber State 78-49 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament on Friday night.

The top-seeded Grizzlies (25-8) advance to the title game to face No. 3-seed Eastern Washington, a 77-61 winner over Southern Utah, on Saturday. The Eagles beat Montana 78-71 at home before Montana returned the favor with a 75-74 win on its home court. Montana beat Eastern Washington 82-65 in the conference tournament championship game last year.

Montana owns a three-game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 18.3 points. The Eagles own a five-game win streak victorious by 11.2 points per contest.

Rorie made two 3-pointers and a jumper early and Montana built a 19-7 lead and never trailed. Kendal Manuel's 3 with 62 seconds before halftime made it 42-20 contest. The Grizzlies extended the lead to 62-31 on a 3 by Moorehead with 12:03 remaining. Sayeed Pridgett added 13 points for Montana.

Brekkott Chapman led Weber State (18-15) with 16 points and Michal Kozak scored 10. The Wildcats shot just 31.5 percent (17 of 54) including 5 of 21 from 3-point range.