Weber State advances to Big Sky Semifinals

OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- Arturas Valeika scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season as No. 3 seed Weber State defeated No. 6 Montana State 65-49 on Saturday in a quarterfinal game of the Big Sky Conference postseason tournament.

With the win the Wildcats (16-13) move on to face No. 2 seed Northern Arizona in the semifinals on Tuesday in Portland, Ore.

Valeika scored nine of WSU?s first 10 points during a 26-3 run that put the Wildcats ahead 30-7 with 6:13 left in the first half. The Bobcats made just three of their first 21 shot attempts, but hit their final five shots in the half during a 12-4 run to trail 36-21 at the break.

The Bobcats (15-15) cut WSU?s lead to 38-25 on a free throw from Divaldo Mbunga with 16:16 left in the game, but the 13-point deficit was as close as they would come during the rest of the game.

Kellen McCoy?s pair of free throws with 7:12 left in the game gave WSU a 61-36 lead, its biggest advantage of the night.

Brody Van Brocklin also scored 10 points for the Wildcats.

Carlos Taylor led MSU with 14 points.

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