December 2005

Bulldogs Play Three in Canada
Wednesday, December 28 2005
The University of Montana-Western Bulldog basketball team will travel to Canada to play three games at the USA-Canada Men’s Basketball Challenge hosted by the University of Alberta.

Western will play Alberta on Thursday, December 29; King’s University on Friday, December 30 and Concordia University on Saturday, December 31.

The Bulldogs are 4-9 on the season entering their final weekend of non-conference play. Their last action was two weeks ago when they lost to Eastern Oregon 79-102 and Albertson 89-97 at the Eastern Oregon Holiday Tournament.

Alberta is 11-11 on the season with one of their losses, a 65-68 loss to MSU-Northern.

King’s University is 3-9 overall. On their website, King’s only lists their conference games. Last year, the Bulldogs rolled over Kings 131-60.

Concordia University College of Alberta is 15-3 overall and ranked 15th in the nation in Canada.

"This is going to be a challenge,“ said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. We will be playing three games in three days. The teams are a little bit of an unknown. We will try to control the boards, keep our turnovers down, and hopefully get some wins!"

The Bulldogs open Frontier Conference play when they host MSU-Northern on January 6 and the University of Great Falls on January 7.
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Bulldogs Play Two Games in Idaho
Thursday, December 15 2005
The University of Montana Western Bulldog basketball team travels to Idaho for two games. The Bulldogs face Northwest Nazarene University on Friday, Dec. 16 in Nampa, Idaho and Albertson College on Saturday, Dec. 17 in Caldwell, Idaho. Both games tip-off at 7:00 p.m.

Due to scheduling problems, neither game will broadcast in the Dillon area but can be heard over the internet on nnusports.edu on Friday and albertson.edu on Saturday night.

Western is 4-7 on the season. The Bulldogs lost 72-110 to the University of Montana in an exhibition game from Missoula on Wednesday evening. That game does not count on Western’s win-loss record.

Northwest Nazerene is 3-2 on the season. The Crusaders last played on Dec. 10 when they defeated Willamette University 91-84. Mesut Ademoglu leads Northwest Nazerene with 19.8 points per game followed by Ryan McCarthy with 17.6. The two teams last played in the 2000-2001 season with Northwest Nazarene beating the Bulldogs 56-71 in Nampa. The Crusaders average 78 points per game while giving up 79.8.

Albertson College is 3-6 on the season after losing two last weekend at the Cougar Classic in California. The Coyotes lost 96-99 in double overtime to Concordia-Irvine and 69-87 to Azusa Pacific. One other wins this season was a 97-89 victory over the Bulldogs in the Quinn Classic at La Grande, Oregon on Nov. 11.

Ike Stafford leads Albertson in scoring with 16.8 points per game followed by Brandon Nielsen with 15.9 and Josh Owen with 15.4. Albertson averages 77 points while giving up 82.3.

"These will be very tough games on the road,” said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. “Northwest Nazarene is an uptempo team like us, so it should be a great game to play in, watch, and coach. Albertson is a very good team with a record like ours. They have played a similar schedule, facing a lot of good teams on the road. We had a great game with them earlier this year and expect another one."

The Bulldogs have four players averaging in double figures led by Tyler Palmer with 18.9, Charlie Cox with 16.1, Jeff Feenstra with 13.6 and Wes Morales with 10.7. Western averages 87.6 points per game but gives up 92.6.
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Bulldogs Fall to Grizzlies
Thursday, December 15 2005
The Bulldogs lost to the University of Montana 110 to 71 in an exhibition basketball game from Missoula.

Western stayed with the Division I Grizzlies for most of the first half. With three minutes left in the first half, the Bulldogs trailed 24-27. The Grizzlies quickly put the game out of reach with an 18-5 run.

In the second half, U-M outscored the Bulldogs 65-42. The loss does not count in Western's win-loss record.

Wes Morales led the Bulldogs with 17 points followed by Charlie Cox with 16 and Terry Hauser with 12.

Western travels to Idaho for games against Northwest Nazarene on Friday, Dec. 16 and Albertson College on Saturday, Dec. 17.
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Bulldogs Thump Johnson & Wales
Friday, December 2 2005
The University of Montana Western Bulldogs raced by the Johnson and Wales University Wildcats 110-90 in a men’s non-conference college basketball game from Dillon.

The win raises Western’s record to 4-7 overall while Johnson and Wales drops to 0-9.

In the game’s first ten minutes, neither team could gain control as they traded baskets and leads. At the 9:26 mark, Tyler Palmer’s two free throws gave the Bulldogs a 23-21 lead and it was a lead they would never lose. Western finished the half on a 37-14 run and led 60-35.

The second half opened with the Bulldogs in control. For a while, it seems that Western would win with ease. Then at the 10:00 minute market, Johnson and Wales caught fire. On the strength of their three-point shooting, the Wilcats trimmed Western’s lead to just five, 79-74 with 6:36 remaining. The Bulldogs turned up the defense and converted Wildcat turnovers to baskets and quickly built the lead back to 18.

Tyler Palmer led Western with 23 points followed by Jeff Feenstra and Kellen Ori with 17, Jeff Graham with 13, Terry Hauser with 12 and Charlie Cox with 10.

Eric Daniels led Johnson and Wales with 28 followed by Ryuji Brumley with 26 and Danny Lopez with 10.
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Bulldogs Host Johnson and Wales
Thursday, December 1 2005
The University of Montana Western Bulldog basketball team hosts Johnson and Wales University in a non-conference men’s college basketball game Friday, December 2. Tipoff is 8:00 p.m. from the Straugh Gymnasium.

The game will broadcast locally on KDBM-AM, 1490 on the AM-Dial and on sportsjuice.com.

Western is 3-7 on the season after going 1-2 on a swing through North Dakota. The Bulldogs beat Jamestown College 88-84 and lost to Minot State 70-86 and Dickinson State 106-115.

Johnson and Wales is 0-8 on the season after a 66-78 loss to Western State of Colorado on Tuesday night.

Last year Western and Johnson and Wales played a high scoring thriller at the Straugh Gymnasium. The Bulldogs won 109-107.

"Our guys are excited to play another game, especially at
home, said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. “We are working on some new twists and we need to try them out on somebody besides our redshirts. This is still a team with a lot of room to grow and also we are going to try and play to our strengths a little more."

Four Bulldogs are scoring in double figures led by Tyler Palmer with 18. 5 points per game. Charlie Cox is next with 16.7 followed by Jeff Feenstra with 13.3 and Wes Morales with 11.2.
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