Stanford men easily handle Montana in opener

STANFORD - Oscar da Silva scored 21 points and Stanford beat Montana 73-62 in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

Tyrell Terry added 13 points for the Cardinal, who improved to 87-14 all-time in season openers. Bryce Wills scored 11.

Sayeed Pridgett scored 17 points to lead the Grizzlies, who have lost their last 11 games to Pac-12 teams.

Derrick Carter-Hollinger added 15 points and Josh Vasquez had 11.

Montana took its only lead of the second half at 36-35 on a Carter-Hollinger free throw.

Stanford went on a 25-2 run over the next eight minutes to take control of the game. The Grizzlies went nearly six minutes without scoring during that span.

Josh Vasquez hit a 3-pointer to give Montana 25-19 lead with 5:19 left in the first half.

Stanford went on an 11-3 run the rest of the way to take a 30-28 advantage into halftime.

There were six lead changes and the game was tied on six other occasions in the first half.

Big picture

Montana: The defending Big Sky champion Grizzlies will also be looking for others to complement seniors Pridgett and Kendal Manuel. Freshmen Vasquez and Kyle Owens were in the Grizzlies starting lineup with mixed results.

Stanford: With one senior on the roster, the Cardinal will be looking for rapid development from younger players. Terry and Spencer Jones appear to be the two freshmen who will get the first opportunity. Terry started along with two juniors and two sophomores. Jones came off the bench and hit 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Up next

Montana returns to Missoula to host MSU Northern in its home opener on Sunday.

Stanford stays at home to play Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night as part of a season-opening six-game homestand.