MISSOULA — Jordan Gregory scored 21 points, including the game-winning layup with less than a second remaining, to give Montana a 61-59 win over Northern Arizona in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament on Friday night.
Gregory’s basket with 0.4 seconds left came after Kris Yanku, who had 26 points for fourth-seeded Northern Arizona, tied the game with a pair of free throws with eight seconds left.
The Grizzlies (20-11) face second-seeded and conference co-champion Eastern Washington (25-8) in Saturday’s championship game.
Both teams missed numerous chances down the stretch but Aaseem Dixon hit a 3-pointer for the Lumberjacks (19-14) with 1:14 left to make it 56-55 but Gregory countered with a 3 for Montana at 43 seconds to make it a four-point game. After Yanku made two free throws with 30 seconds to go, but teams had a turnover and Montana missed two free throws before Yanku tied it.
After a timeout, Gregory brought the ball up the middle of the court and then cut down the right side of the lane, slicing through two defenders to lay the ball in.