Johnson carries Montana past Weber State for Big Sky title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Johnson set a tournament record with 42 points and knocked down the game-winning jumper with 10.4 seconds left to cap a furious second-half comeback, as Montana upended Weber State, 66-65, to claim the Big Sky Conference tourney crown and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Johnson poured in 34 of those points in the second half to help erase a 20- point halftime deficit and give Montana (22-9) its seventh tourney title and eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. The senior was 13-of-22 from the field and made all 14 of his foul shots.

Derek Selvig chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds for the Grizzlies.

Big Sky Player of the Year Damian Lillard had 16 points and five rebounds, but was just 5-of-13 from the field. Franklin Session added 10 points for top- seeded and tournament host Weber State (20-10), which was vying for its ninth Big Sky Tournament crown.

The Grizzlies shot just 28 percent in the first half with its seven field goals leading to a measly 20 points and a 40-20 deficit after 20 minutes.

However, thanks to Johnson, Montana sank a startling 69.6 percent of its shots in the second half.

Weber State was still up 19 nearing five minutes into the second half after Nick Hansen dropped in a layup, but Johnson hit from beyond the arc on the other end to start the improbable comeback with the first points of a 13-3 run.

Selvig and Ryan Staudacher also struck from three-point range during the stretch, which sliced the deficit to nine with 12 1/2 minutes remaining.

Lillard drained a three for the Wildcats to stem the tide, but Johnson was at the head of another Montana run pouring in eight points during a 10-0 surge that brought the lead down to 51-49 with close to nine minutes left.

A layup by Session and Trevor Morris' basket with 6 1/2 minutes to play gave the Wildcats some breathing room at 60-52.

Johnson simply took over from there, scoring the final 14 Montana points. He scored six straight to make it a one-possession game and hit a jumper to get with 61-60 near four minutes remaining.

His jumper with 1:04 to go gave the Grizzlies their first lead at 64-63, but Lillard answered with two free throws.

Montana had a chance to go back in front but Lillard came up with a huge steal of Selvig that led to a trip to the line by Session with 28.1 seconds on the clock.

Session, though, missed both attempts and Johnson pulled up for a short jumper on the ensuing possession to put the Grizzlies up 66-65. Will Cherry then tied up Lillard on a loose ball to force a possession change back to Montana to seemingly end things with 2.6 seconds left.

Selvig missed a pair of free throws, though, to give Weber State life. But a last-second heave fell well short.

Game Notes

The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning on their home floor. Weber State remains ahead in the all-time series with a 58-48 mark...The Wildcats shot 28 percent in the second half and 37.3 for the game...The hosts got eight points each from Hansen, Lindsey Hughey and Darin Mahoney.

Gambling-sportsbook-online NCAA Basketball Betting News

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.