December 2006
Bulldogs at Surf City Classic
Wednesday, December 27 2006
The University of Montana Western Bulldog basketball team travels to Huntington Beach, California to compete in the Surf City Classic Thursday, Dec. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 30.
On Thursday, the Bulldogs face the Vanguard University Lions at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Bulldogs play the Daemen College Wildcats at 6 p.m.
Montana Western is 5-6 on the season after a Dec. 16 loss to Albertson College 83-87.
Vanguard, a NAIA Division I school, is a member of the Gold Coast Athletic Conference from Los Angeles, California. The Lions are 2-7 on the season after a 69-77 loss to Cal Poly Pomona. Vanguard has already played two teams from the Frontier Conference. The Lions beat Carroll College 78-67 and lost to Lewis-Clark 63-82. Kevin Dalafu leads Vanguard with 14.9 ppg followed by Curt Watson with 13 ppg. The Lions average 64.9 ppg while giving up 72.9 ppg. The Bulldogs and Lions played in 2003 at the Westminster Tournament with Vanguard winning 95-93 in overtime.
Daemen College is a NAIA, Division II school from Amherst, New York. The Lions are members of the American Mid-East Conference. Daemen is 5-7 on the season. The Lions last played on Dec. 16 when they lost to Malone 50-68 in the Hoops 4 Healing Tournament. The Lions have four players averaging in double figures led by Dewan Stroud with 17 ppg, followed by Donjuan Tyson with 12.3, Jeremy Richardson with 10.7 and Kristien with 10.3. Daemen averages 70.5 ppg and give up 70.1.
"Both of these games will be tough,” said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. “We play Vanguard on their home court and all the GSAC teams are pretty good. Daemen College is out of New York and have been at the National Tournament (NAIA II) in past years. We need to go out and play hard and get ready for conference next week."
Six players are scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs led by Tyler Palmer with 16.4 ppg followed by Wes Morales with 12.3 ppg, Aaron Sims with 11.8 ppg, Gus McDonald with 11.5 ppg, Zach Pitts with 11.4 and Chad Myers with 10 ppg. The Bulldogs averaged 89.8 ppg while giving up 86.6.
The Bulldogs open Frontier Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 6 at Montana Tech.
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Bulldogs Drop Another Close One To Albertsons
Monday, December 18 2006
Albertson College of Idaho used five free throws in the last minute to overcome the University of Montana-Western Bulldogs 87-83.
Montana-Western jumped out to a 39-36 lead at half time. Albertson College responded in the second half by out-scoring the Bulldogs 51-44. With 7:15 remaining in the game Albertson climbed out to a 77-62 advantage. Montana-Western then used a 16-0 run to climb ahead 78-77 with 3:06 left in the game. The two teams traded basket for basket until Albertson finally pulled away with less than a minute left in the game.
Brandon Wilson and Josh Owen paced Albertson College with 25 points and 5 rebounds apiece. Ike Stafford also contributed 14 points, which included the final five free throws, in the winning effort.
The Bulldogs placed six different players in double figures led by Chad Meyers with 14 points followed by Zach Pitts and Aaron Sims with 13 each, Tyler Palmer with 11 and Kellen Ori and Wes Morales with 10 each. Western outrebounded Albertson 44-39 led by Ori with 12 rebounds.
Montana-Western returns to action after the Christmas break with a pair of games in California. The Bulldogs face Vanguard University on Dec. 28 and Daemen College on Dec. 30. Western opens Frontier Conference play on Jan. 6 at Montana Tech.
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Bulldogs Host Nationally Ranked Albertson College
Thursday, December 14 2006
The University of Montana Western Bulldog basketball team hosts Albertson College in a non-conference men’s college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 16. Tip-off is 8 p.m. from the Straugh Gymnasium. The Bulldog JV’s host Little Big Horn College at 6 p.m.
The Montana Western-Albertson game will be broadcast in southwest Montana on KDBM Radio, 1490 on the AM dial.
Live stats of the game can be accessed online at: http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/TeamPage.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&sea=NAIMBB_2006&team=454,
Western is 5-5 on the season after a 78-81 loss to Dixie State College on Wednesday.
Albertson is 6-1 on the season after beating Eastern Oregon 98-90 on Dec. 1. The Coyotes are an NAIA Division II team and members of the Cascade Conference. Albertson is ranked 13th in the latest Division II power poll.
The two teams met in early November at the Eastern Oregon tournament and put on an offensive show. Albertson won 129-120 in overtime. In the game, Western’s Tyler Palmer hit for 37 points. This is the 52nd meeting between the teams since 1942, with Albertson leading in the series 34-17 including eight wins in a row.
"This should be a fun game to watch.,” said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. “They like to press the whole game so there are going to be a lot of possessions. We need to cut down on our turnovers from the first time we played. Albertson is ranked #13 and that is extra motivation when you get a ranked team into your gym."
Ike Stafford leads Albertson in scoring with 19.3 ppg followed by Josh Owen with 13.7 ppg and Brandon Nielsen with 11 ppg. Albertson has been out-rebounded 189 to 271. Stafford and Craig McGee lead the team with four rebounds per game. Albertson averages 94.3 ppg while giving up 85 ppg.
Six players are scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs led by Palmer with 16.9 ppg followed by Wes Morales with 12.5 ppg, Gus McDonald with 12.1 ppg, Aaron Sims with 11.6 ppg, Zach Pitts with 11.2 and Chad Myers with 10 ppg. The Bulldogs averaged 90.5 ppg while giving up 86.6.
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Dixie State edges Bulldogs
Thursday, December 14 2006
The Bulldogs lost 78-81 to Dixie State on Wednesday night. Western falls to 5-5 on the season.
Montana-Western trailed Dixie State 39-33 at the end of the first half. The Bulldogs made a second half rally out scoring Dixie State 45-42, but came up short as Tyler Palmer’s last second three pointer rimmed out as time expired.
The Bulldogs shot 46% from the field in the loss. Dixie State shot a respectable 43% from the field, but made up ground by shooting 78% from the free throw line.
Gus McDonald led Montana-Western offensively with 18 points. Tyler Palmer added 16 points and Chad Myers contributed with 10 points in the losing effort.
Montana-Western returns to action on Saturday December 16 when they face Albertson College of Idaho. The game is slated to tip off at 8:00 at Straugh Gymnasium
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Bulldogs Host Dixie State
Tuesday, December 12 2006
The University of Montana Western Bulldog basketball team hosts the Dixie State College Rebels in a non-conference men’s college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006. Tip-off is 7 p.m. from the Straugh Gymnasium.
The game will be broadcast throughout Southwest Montana on KDBM Radio, 1490 on the AM dial. Live statistics will be available on the internet at http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/TeamPage.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&sea=NAIMBB_2006&team=454
Western is 5-4 on the season after a 114-106 victory over Dickinson State on Dec. 2.
Dixie State is an NCAA Division II school and members of the Pacific West Conference. The Rebels are 5-5 on the season after a 67-64 victory over Westminster College on Thursday, Dec. 7. Two of Dixie’s five losses were to Frontier Conference schools. The Rebels lost to Westminster 65-67 on Dec. 1 and to Carroll College 71-81 on Dec. 2.
"Dixie will be a very tough opponent,” said Bulldog coach Mark Durham. “They are a NCAA Division II team with really good guards and tough inside players. They won at Westminster the other night and anybody who can do that is a very good team! We will have our hands full."
Johnny Little leads Dixie in scoring with 14.2 ppg. Also scoring in double figures are Ryan Sanchez with 11.8 and Troy Randall with 11.2 ppg. Sanchez leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 rpg followed by Randall with 5.6 rpg. Dixie averages 66.9 ppg while giving up 66.8 ppg.
Tyler Palmer leads six Bulldogs scoring in double figures. Palmer averages 17 ppg followed by Wes Morales with 13.1 ppg, Aaron Sims with 12.2 ppg, Gus McDonald and Zach Pitts with 11.4 ppg each and Chad Myers with 10 ppg. Sims leads the team in rebounding with 7.2 rpg followed by Morales with 6.4 rpg. The Bulldogs are averaging 91.9 ppg while giving up 87.2 ppg.
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Bulldogs Split Weekend Games
Saturday, December 2 2006
The Bulldogs split their weekend series against Minot State and Dickinson State. Western lost 65-83 to Minot State and out-lasted Dickinson State 114-108.
Against Minot State, The Bulldogs never could get untracked, while Minot was red hot. The Beavers hit 62% of their field goals in the first half and held Western to 32% to lead 44-28 at the break.
The two teams battled evenly in the second half, but the Bulldogs could not overcome Minot’s big lead. The Beavers outscored Western in the second half 39-37.
Gus McDonald led Western with 17 points followed by Tyler Palmer with 15 and Aaron Sims with 13.
Saturday night against Dickinson, the Blue Hawks took control in the game’s first four minutes and led 5-10 at the 16:21 mark. After Western trimmed the lead to two, 10-12, the Blue Hawks went on a 10-3 run and led by nine at the 13:27 mark. Western then went on a 17-8 run and took their first lead of the game 32-30 at the nine-minute mark of the first half. A three-point field goal by Tyler Palmer at the six minute marked started a 14-4 run that built the Bulldogs lead to 52-39 with four minutes left in the first half. Western led at the half 64-49.
The Bulldogs maintained a double digit lead in the first six minutes of the second half. Dickinson gradually chipped away at the lead, and at the 14:39 mark, a Blue Hawk three-point basket trimmed the lead to eight, 77-69. Dickinson would get as close as two down the stretch, but were forced to foul, and Western put the game away at the free throw line.
Five Bulldogs scored in double figures led by Chad Myers with 20 followed by Zach Pitts and Tyler Palmer with 18 each, Gus McDonald with 17 and Aaron Sims with 15. Sims led the team in rebounding with 11 board.
Western is now 5-4 on the season.
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