Dec 29 2008
Bears win decisively for tourney title
Jamal Boykin had a double-double and four Bears scored in double-digits as the Bears easily defeated the Portland Pilots 81-61 to take the 16th Annual Golden Bear Classic on Sunday. It was the 11th time the Bears have won their tournament of four teams.
Jerome Randle was named tournament MVP and with that became the first two-time winner in the history of the tournament. Randle again was one of the top scorers with 16 points. Along with Randle, Boykin and Theo Robertson were named to the all-tournament team.
Despite the 20-point loss, Portland head coach Eric Reveno was positive about the Pilots play for the weekend. “It was a good tournament for us. It was a good opportunity for us to come here and play. It was a good learning experience. I thought we had a good game last night, as ugly as it might have been to some fans. Some people like to see a little more scoring. We battled, hung in there, made plays when we needed to. To bounce back today was a good test for us. A Coach Montgomery team is going to be well-coached and well-prepared. And they were. They are not going to beat themselves. We made mistakes and they made us pay for them.“
Mike Montgomery was also optimistic about his team after the game saying that he felt that their non-conference schedule had at least six games comparable to Pac-10 competition. If that’s true, then the Bears going 11-2 in that span, with the 11 wins being the most non-conference wins since 1946-’47, is a very good sign.
“I think five or six of our preseason games will be comparable to Conference games,” Montgomery said. “We’ll see more physical teams. They’ll have scouted since everyone has more time to prepare now. We’re going to cause some people some problems in Conference play. There are still some areas that we need to work on, and we’re just going to keep working on them so that we will have a chance to compete.“
The Bears next face their first conference foe on January 2nd at home, when Arizona comes to play.
