A win by the University of Montana men’s basketball team Saturday night sent the Northern Colorado men into second place in the Big Sky Conference standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Montana beat Weber State 65-58 at home for its eighth straight victory. Earlier in the day, UNC lost on the road at Portland State.
Montana (19-8 overall) is 12-2 in the conference with four games remaining. UNC is 11-3. The Bears (19-8 overall) also have four games left on their schedule — starting Thursday night at home against Eastern Washington. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
UNC and Montana split their two conference games with each team winning on the road. UNC’s other conference loss came Jan. 23 at Idaho.
Montana’s other conference loss was to Idaho State on the road Jan. 18.
Montana’s winning streak is currently the longest in the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies are penciled into the NCAA Tournament by ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi as of Tuesday. Lunardi has the Grizzlies as a 15 seed in the west region.
UNC won eight consecutive games from mid-December to mid-January, spanning non-league and league games. As of a few weeks ago, the Bears claimed the Big Sky spot in the NCAA Tournament according to Lundardi. UNC was listed as a 14 seed in the west.
The Grizzlies’ next game is Saturday night at rival Montana State (7-7, 12-15) in Bozeman.
Northern Colorado hosts Idaho at 6 p.m. Saturday for its senior night game — and final regular-season home game.
The Bears play their final two games on the road: Saturday, March 1 at Northern Arizona (2 p.m.) and Monday, March 3 at Weber State (7 p.m.).
Wrestling
Former local high school wrestlers Dom Serrano and Andrew Alirez won early for the Bears wrestling team Sunday against Wyoming, but those were the only UNC wins for the day in a 26-9 Big 12 Conference loss to the Cowboys in Laramie.
At 133 pounds, the 14th-ranked Serrano pinned Stockton O’Brien in 3 minutes, 26 seconds. Alirez, ranked second nationally at 141, decisioned Cole Brooks 11-6.
UNC defeated Utah Valley 22-21 in a Big 12 Conference dual Feb.14 in Orem, Utah.
Serrano, Alirez, Benji Alanis, Vinny Zerban and Andrew Donahue earned wins.
Serrano, a former four-time state champ from Windsor, beat Kase Mauger on an 8-2 decision.
Greeley’s Alirez, a four-time state champion at Greeley Central, scored a major decision over Haiden Drury 12-3.
Alanis also won on a major decision at 149, with a 14-4 victory over Smokey McClure.
Nationally ranked No. 18 Zerban gave the Bears their fourth straight win with an 18-3 technical fall over Tanner Frothinger.
Clayton Ulrey (165), Aydin Rix-McElhinney (174) and freshman AJ Heeg (184) all lost their matches before Donahue pinned Kael Bennie for a 22-13 lead.
UNC hosts its final match of the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 23 against Air Force. The match begins at 2 p.m. at Bank of Colorado Arena.
The Big 12 Conference Championships are Saturday-Sunday, March 8-9 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Softball
The Bears split two games Sunday against Manhattan University and University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) in El Paso.
UNC (3-7) beat Manhattan 10-1 in five innings on Sunday morning, the final day of the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament.
UTEP beat UNC 6-2 in the afternoon game.
Four teams participated in the tournament named for Natalicio, a former UTEP president who died in 2021.
UTEP played games against Montana and Manhattan on Friday and Saturday.
UNC on Friday and Saturday was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for New Mexico State’s Troy Cox Classic. The Bears finished with a 1-3 record at the classic. UNC split two games with the host Aggies and lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 17-ranked Nebraska.
Nebraska pitcher Jordyn Bahl no-hit the Bears in a 10-0, five-inning win Feb. 16. Bahl struck out five and walked two. She also hit two batters.
In El Paso, UNC pitcher Isabelle DiNapoli allowed one run on three hits in the five-inning win against Manhattan. DiNapoli struck out four and walked three.
The Bears scored eight runs on four hits in the second inning to take an 8-1 lead.
Outfielder Jazzy Longo had two hits with a double and home run and four RBI. Katie Walling was 2 for 2 with an RBI, run scored and a stolen base. Abby Gaona reached base three times with a base hit, scored three runs and stole a base.
Longo and infielder Krista Francia were named to the all-tournament team.
Francia was 2 for 3 with a run scored in the game against UTEP. She also scored a run in the Manhattan game.
UNC goes to Raleigh, North Carolina, this weekend for games Friday-Sunday at the Marucci Classic hosted by North Carolina State.
The Bears play Central Michigan and N.C. State on Friday, Illinois and N.C. State on Saturday and a second game against Central Michigan on Sunday.
Women’s basketball
Northern Colorado swept its weekend games Feb. 13 and Feb. 15 against Sacramento State and Portland State.
The Bears are 5-9 and in seventh place in the Big Sky Conference heading into their final four games of the regular season. UNC (12-13 overall) travels to Eastern Washington and Idaho for games Thursday and Saturday.
UNC is home for the final weekend at Bank of Colorado Arena, playing Northern Arizona at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1 and Weber State at 6 p.m. Monday, March 3.
Baseball
The Bears are 2-2 following their season-opening series at Utah Tech in St. George, Utah. All four games were decided by one run.
UNC clinched the series tie with a 5-4 win Sunday after scoring a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to complete its comeback.
UNC didn’t win its first game a year ago until late March. The Bears started the season 0-21 before earning their first win March 22 against Summit League opponent Omaha.
Utah Tech won the opener Friday 7-5. The teams split the Saturday doubleheader with UNC winning 9-8 in Game 1, and Utah Tech winning 5-4 in Game 2.
Kai Wagner hit a solo home run, Jake King brought in the go-ahead runs with a two-run double in the ninth and Brandon Sanchez also had a hit and an RBI.
Jack Tuttle earned the win in two innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
King on Monday was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week following his play in the series at Utah Tech.
A senior outfielder from Buckeye, Arizona, King was 7 for 16 in the series with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored in the four games. King had a two-run single in the second game of the series, breaking a 7-7 tie. UNC went on to win 9-8.
UNC travels to the University of New Mexico for four games Friday-Sunday in Albuquerque.
Men’s golf
The Bears were 11th Tuesday in the 19-team Loyola (Maryland) Intercollegiate Tournament in Arizona.
Senior Antti Vahvaselka was UNC’s top individual finisher in 24th place at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.
Vahvaselka was 2-under par for the tournament. He opened 1-under par through the first two rounds and shot a 1-under 71 in the final round to move up from 34th.
Junior JaeSeung Na finished tied for 28th at 1-under.
