(Missoula, Mont. - Nov. 25, 2024) - A late rally in the final 13 seconds by Montana saw the Grizzlies come back to defeat the Trailblazers, 69-66 on Monday night on day two of the Stew Morrill Classic hosted at Dahlberg Arena.

"Tough one tonight, we were right there, and we'll learn from it. The improvement was great and we'll use this as a great learning experience," head coach Jon Judkins said postgame.

Led by a double-double from senior guard Beon Riley, Utah Tech (1-6) had three Trailblazers finish in double figures in the contest.

Riley led the way with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, and added 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.

Noa Gonsalves added 13 points and Hakim Byrd chipped in 10 points and dished out a season-high five assists.

How It Happened
A fast start offensively for both teams, the Trailblazers raced out to a 14-13 lead at the first media timeout after a three-pointer from Riley.

A 12-0 run for the Grizzlies put Montana ahead 25-14 before a layup from Gonsalves ended the cold drought.

With Montana continuing to lead by 10 (38-28) with 6:17 to play in the first half, the Trailblazers closed out the half strong with a 6-0 run getting a pair of free throws by Justin Bieker and layups from Byrd and Stone Hutchings

Jumping back in the lead with a three-pointer from Gonsalves, UT scored 10 of the first 14 points of the second half to take a 44-42 lead after the opening six minutes of action.

Continuing to trade the lead back and forth, the Trailblazers surged ahead 57-52 on a layup by Riley with 6:05 to play in the second half.

A driving layup to the right by Tennessee Rainwater kept the Blazers in the lead, 65-61 with 56 seconds to go.

Two free throws by the Griz cut the Blazers' lead in half and after Samuel Ariyibi hit one of two free throws, UT led 66-63 with 20 seconds remaining.

A layup by Montana's Brandon Whitney seven seconds later cut the lead to one.

A costly turnover in the backcourt by Gonsalves gave the Griz the ball back as a steal and layup by Montana's Kai Johnson put the home team ahead, 67-66.

A pair of free throws by Johnson put the Griz ahead by three as a last second three-point attempt by Byrd fell just short for the heartbreaking loss.

Numbers to Know

• It was the first-ever meeting for Utah Tech against Montana.
• Byrd matched his Division I career high in assists with five matching the five he dished out at Monmouth on both Jan. 9, 2021 and Jan. 10, 2021 while playing for Marist.
• Riley also had a double-double earlier this season against Bethesda and tallied two double-doubles in 2023-24. His eight field goals made also tied his Utah Tech career high while his 15 attempts set a new UT career high mark.
• Gonsalves moved into the top spot in career three-point attempts in the contest passing Frank Staine (2019-23) as he now has 425 career attempts from downtown. He is now only eight away from setting the career three-pointers made mark.
• The Trailblazers shot 43.8 percent (28-64) from the field, 21.1 percent (4-19) from downtown and 75.0 (6-8) percent from the free throw line. The 28 field goals made were the second-most on the season and most against a Division I opponent.
• The Blazers' 19 three-point attempts tied for a season-low.

Up Next
The Trailblazers close out the Stew Morrill Classic on Tuesday afternoon facing Denver (3-4) at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ and The Fan Sports Network.