Season ends for UGF men with loss at Rocky Mountain

BILLINGS – The sixth-seeded University of Great Falls men’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with an 87-81 loss at third-seeded Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday in the Frontier Conference quarterfinals.

UGF senior guard TJ Harris, playing near his hometown of Huntley, poured in a game-high 31 points to go along with five assists in his final game.

RMC (20-9), the two-time defending Frontier Conference Tournament champion advanced to the semifinals at second-seeded Montana Western on Saturday.

The Argos finish the season with a 17-12 mark overall as the Battlin’ Bears won the rubber match after each team won on the road during conference play.

UGF finished the season with seven consecutive losses.

The Argos opened the second half on a 14-6 run that gave UGF its first lead at 51-50. The teams traded leads until Taylor Longo and Sian Laine combined for three 3-pointers with four minutes to go that pushed the advantage to 75-67 for Rocky.

UGF managed to cut it to three at 82-79, but RMC held off the Argos by making five free throws in the final 16 seconds.

The Bears led by as many as 15 points in the first half. Harris made four first-half 3-pointers to help cut the deficit to 44-37 at the half.

Darren Lockett and Steven Daho each scored 12 points, and Marcus Hurn added 10 for UGF.

Laine led the Bears with 19 points. Longo contributed 16 and Tyree Anderson scored 15. Rob Nyby had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Bears out-rebounded the Argos 47-37.