Teammate’s Talk Inspires Simmons

One day after being ejected from Cal State Northridge’s loss at Montana, Jabari Simmons turned in his best performance of the season Saturday in the Matadors’ 87-78 upset of Montana State.

Simmons, a junior forward, made seven of 12 shots and scored a season-high 23 points.

Credit point guard Lucky Grundy with an assist.

During the three-hour bus ride from Missoula, Mont., to Bozeman on Saturday, Grundy sat with Simmons and talked about how much the team needed him.

“The bus was completely dark except for one little light over the seat Jabari and Lucky were in,” Coach Bobby Braswell said. “They had a long conversation.”

Braswell believes the ejection of Simmons was not merited.

Simmons and Montana’s Dominique Davis got tangled up on the floor going for a rebound in the second half. As they stood up they elbowed one another, but no punches were thrown.

Official Richard Ball stopped play and ejected both players. Ball is the same official who called a foul against Matador Greg Minor with 1.4 seconds to play in overtime at Northern Arizona on Jan. 31.

The loss of Simmons was compounded when three Matador players fouled out, leading to an 84-65 loss.

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Minor is back in good standing with the Northridge coaches and will play this week in home games against Eastern Washington and Portland State.

Minor was suspended last week and missed games at Montana and Montana State for displaying a negative attitude on the bench.