Montana dumps Weber St to return to Big Sky title game

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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.