2016 Big Sky Tournament Final: Weber State grabs 10th title over Montana in nail-biter

If you only watched the first 10 minutes of the Big Sky Championship, you may have thought that Weber State was going to cruise to an easy win. At the time, the Wildcats held a 12-point lead over Montana, and they were hitting every shot in sight.

But Montana was not going to make it simple for Weber State to win its 10th conference tournament title. The Grizzlies came back and made this a back-and-forth affair, one that Weber State ultimately won 62-59, to head back to the NCAA Tournament.

Jeremy Senglin shot 50 percent from the floor and went 3-for-9 from 3-point range to score 20 points to lead the Wildcats. He added six assists and two steals in the win. Ryan Richardson added to the damage with three 3-pointers and 15 points.

The duo for Weber State ruined two nice games from the Montana leaders. Martin Breunig had 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks, while Walter Wright had 18 points and five assists. Wright's desperation three at the buzzer almost went through and sent this game to overtime. But it was clear the lack of a good look caused by the pressure Weber State defense made a difference.

Whomever draws Weber State will need to contend with one of the best kept secrets in mid-major basketball inside. Joel Bolomboy was just 1-for-6 in the game against Montana, battling against the Montana bigs, but he grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks. He is also difficult to get into foul trouble -- he was disqualified from just a single game all season.

Weber State enters the NCAA Tournament at 23-8 overall. They are 1-1 against the RPI top 50, a split with South Dakota State with each team winning on their home floor. They also had a loss to BYU, the only other game on their schedule against the top 100.

The Wildcats also had two losses to teams in the bottom 100, defeats at the hands of Utah Valley and Idaho State.

As of Sunday morning, Weber State was projected to get a No. 15 seed based on the 97 brackets at the Bracket Matrix.