Watching the Montana Grizzlies outlast Northern Colorado Tuesday finally brought into focus for me what has been an ongoing problem for the Griz this season.

They seem too ready to relax when things are going well.

It happened twice against Northern Colorado, and the second case nearly cost Montana its berth in Wednesday’s Big Sky tournament championship game against Weber State.

The first drop-off in intensity happened early in the game when the Grizzlies jumped out to an 11-3 lead with 15:05 left in the first half. The Bears, to their credit, took advantage of Montana’s lapse in intensity and went on an 18-4 run to lead 21-15 about seven minutes later.

To Montana’s credit, the Griz clawed back to lead by one at the half.

Then Montana jumped out to a 14-point lead with eight minutes left. It was huge, because the game had been pretty tight throughout.

I don’t remember ever seeing a Grizzly basketball team, or any other basketball team for that matter, give up a lead so quickly.

With eight minutes to go in the game Montana led 57-43. Four minutes later the game was tied at 60. Too fast, and too easy, for UNC.

It’s hard to be critical of a team that is 21-9 and on the verge of winning a Big Sky title and an NCAA berth.

But the Griz can’t afford ANY lapses in concentration and/or intensity if they hope to beat Weber State, especially on the Wildcats’ home floor.

If Montana plays with intensity, is aggressive on offense and tight but not too aggressive on defense, and hits the boards, a title and NCAA berth can be the result. But we’ve seen that intensity and concentration fail to surface at the strangest times (both MSU games for example), so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

- Bill Schwanke