It took two overtimes, but Idaho fought its way to a 92-87 victory over Montana Thursday night in front of an electric Memorial Gym crowd.
Failure was not an option for Connor Hill and Mike Scott, as the two seniors willed the team to the win in their second-to-last home game as Vandals. The two combined for 41 points and made clutch baskets in key situations throughout the game.
Individually, Hill led the team with 23 points and Scott finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The two, joined by fellow senior Bira Seck, will play in their last home game against Montana State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym. Idaho improved to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in conference competition, which is good for seventh place in the Big Sky standings. Montanan is now 16-11 and 12-4 in the Big Sky and currently sits at third place in the standings.
While the end had its fair share of excitement, the highlight of the game came in the first half when sophomore guard Sekou Wiggs pulled a dunk that could have been mistaken for something out of the video game NBA Jam.
After he stole a Montana pass near his own basket, Wiggs gathered himself, took one quick dribble, launched himself over two Montana defenders, cocked the basketball behind his head and threw it down with authority.
With six seconds left in regulation and his team down two, Scott dribbled the length of the floor, charged at two Montana defenders and hurled up a desperation layup — he missed, but was fouled. He made both and sent the game into its first overtime.
The teams exchanged baskets for duration of the first overtime period. Idaho, however, led by three points with less than 10 seconds remaining, but Montana’s Jordan Gregory pulled up from behind the arc and drained the game tying shot. The game went into double overtime.
Gregory wouldn’t cool down in the second overtime and scored his team’s first 14 points of the period. He finished with a career-high 36 points.
The show was stolen by Idaho though. With the help from a deafening Memorial Gym crowd, the team kept fueling the tired voices with basket after basket and eventually pulled away for the win.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]
The Wiggs slama-jama.