MISSOULA, Mont. -- Kamarr Davis scored 15 points Saturday afternoon and Montana moved into the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a 58-48 victory over Eastern Washington.
Montana (16-12) takes a four-game winning streak into its game against rival Montana State (14-13) on Tuesday in Portland, Ore.
Eastern Washington (8-20) failed to advance to the league championship game for the first time in four years.
Montana held Eastern without a basket for more than eight minutes in the second half, using a 12-2 run to build a 40-30 lead on Virgil Matthews' 3-pointer with 10:45 to play. Eastern's only points during the run came on two free throws by Marc Axton, the only Eagle in double figures with 12 points.
James Loe's 3-pointer with 2:18 remaining brought Eastern within 50-46, but the Eagles missed three shots and made just two of four free throws from there. The Grizzlies hit six of eight free throws in the final 58 seconds.
Kevin Criswell, whose jump shot with 3.6 seconds left gave Montana a 55-53 win over Eastern last week, added 10 points.
Deuce Smith, who scored 19 points in last week's loss, was held scoreless after finishing 0-for-7 from the field.
Loe's basket with 10:07 remaining in the first half gave Eastern it's only lead of the game 14-13. Montana led 28-24 at halftime.
Eastern tied the game at 28 on a basket by Axton with 17:55 to go, but the Eagles didn't score another basket until Danny Pariseau hit a shot at the 9:42 mark to make it 40-32.
