BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - Brian Qvale had game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds as Montana broke away from a halftime tie to rout Montana State 79-58 on Saturday night and move into first place in the Big Sky Conference.

Montana State (11-10, 5-4) scored the first basket of the second half to take a 35-33 lead, but the Grizzlies (16-5, 8-1) used an 11-2 run to take command.

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Montana built its margin to as many as 22 points en route to sweeping the regular-season series from the Bobcats.

Derek Selvig added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Montana.

The Grizzlies, who shot 66.7 percent for the game and outrebounded Montana State 40-21, moved into first after Northern Colorado's 72-71 loss at Weber State.

Bobby Howard scored 18 points and freshman Jeff Budinich added a career-high 14 for the Bobcats, who shot less than 50 percent (40.4) for their seventh straight game.