MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho Vandal men's basketball battled to the whistle, but fell to Montana 73-71 Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth game at the ICCU Arena in Moscow.
 
The Grizzlies jumped out to big lead, scoring the first eight points of the game and building a 20-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game before Idaho went on a 25-9 run to close the first half to take a 32-29 lead into the break.
 
The Vandals led most of the second half, but Montana took the lead with 4:57 and never trailed again. Idaho cut the lead to two and had a last second shot to tie, but failed to score in the final minute as the Grizzlies earned the two-point win.
 
Idaho outrebounded the Grizzlies 36-31and attempted 12 more field goals than Montana, but the Grizzlies shot 61.5% from the field in the second half to earn the win.
 
Kris Gonzalez led Idaho with 19 points while Jack Payne added 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Tyler Linhardt also added 11 points for the Vandals.
 
The Vandals fall to 6-9 on the season and 1-1 in Big Sky play while Montana is now 9-6 and 2-0 in Big Sky action.
 
Idaho is on the road next weekend with games at Sacramento State Thursday and Portland State, Saturday.