Sunday’s Regional Briefs

Rustler boys host Butte in makeup match

The C.M. Russell boys’ soccer squad will be in action Monday afternoon at 4 when they host the Butte Bulldogs at Siebel Soccer Park.

The game was originally slated for Saturday, but poor weather — rain and snow — during the girls match forced officials to reschedule the match. The CMR girls won their match with the Bulldogs 5-0.

The Rustler boys are 2-3-2 this season.

UGF-Jamestown soccer matches canceled

Poor field conditions stemming from last Saturday’s snowstorm over the Electric City have resulted in the cancellation of Monday’s soccer matches between Jamestown College and the University of Great Falls at Siebel Soccer Park.

The matches will not be rescheduled.

The bad weather also forced postponement of their matches against the College of Idaho on Saturday. A reschedule date is in the works, but has not been officially announced yet.

Next on the Argos’ schedule will be nonleague matches with Trinity Lutheran College of Everett, Wash. this Thursday at Siebel Soccer Park. The Lady Argos (1-3-1, 3-3-1) begin play at 1, while the Argo men (4-1, 5-3) kickoff at 3.

Cats’ Colbert All-Big Sky preseason pick

BOZEMAN — After his selection as a Preseason All-Big Sky choice on Sunday, Marcus Colbert’s status as one of the top players in the Big Sky Conference is not likely a subject of debate. His status in the Montana State starting lineup, though, is.

That topic relates not to Colbert’s talent as a versatile guard, but to his value to his team coming off the bench. After starting MSU’s first 21 games a season ago Colbert moved to the bench, and in nine games occupying that role made such an impact that he was named the Big Sky’s Reserve of the Year for 2015-16. Colbert finished the season averaging 13.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game on the season, with a +1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Colbert joins a lineup of returning stars on the preseason team. Eastern Washington forward Venky Jois lands Preseason MVP honors, joined by his teammate Bogdan Bliznyuk, a forward. Weber State’s Joel Bolomboy and Jeremy Senglin, Montana center Martin Breunig and NAU guard Kris Yanku also earned selection.

MSU’s season begins with an exhibition game on November 3 against Northwest Indian.

UM’s Bruenig gets All-Big Sky nod

MISSOULA — Montana men’s basketball standout Martin Breunig has been named to the Big Sky Conference preseason All-Conference team following a breakout 2014-15 season where he finished as the league’s sixth leading scorer, averaging 16.7 points per game.

The 6-8 senior transfer from Washington was a monster in the post for the Griz, totaling 534 points in his first season at UM. Montana’s leading returning scorer, he was a key asset for the squad that claimed a Big Sky Championship after being picked to finish 8th in the league.

Breunig finished fourth in the league in field goal percentage with .593 from 214 field goals on 361 attempts while starting every game for the Griz and averaging 30.1 minutes per contest.

A versatile and mobile forward, Breunig finished ’14-’15 ranked sixth in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 83 offensive boards and 150 defensive to total 233 on the season with an average of 7.3 per game. He also led the Griz in blocked shots with 27, and also had 17 steals, a testament to his defensive capabilities.

Breunig and the Griz open the regular season at home on Nov. 13 against former Big Sky foe Boise State, who are expected to repeat as champions of the Mountain West Conference.