Montana senior forward Mathias Ward had surgery Wednesday morning on his injured left foot and will miss the rest of the season, Coach Wayne Tinkle announced Wednesday afternoon.
Ward was injured on Feb. 16 in Montana’s 61-54 road win at Idaho State.
A 6-foot-7, 228-pound senior from Gig Harbor, Wash.,Ward had started the first 24 games of the season for the Grizzlies. He is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14.8 points a game, which ranks him fifth in the Big Sky Conference. He is also ranked among the conference leaders in free throw percentage (81.7) and field goal percentage (51.0). He was named the Big Sky’s “Player of the Week” twice this season.
“It was a deal where we were thinking about his future and getting that surgery done so that he might have opportunities to play in the future,” said Tinkle. “It’s just too bad it had to happen late in the season in his senior year. We will definitely miss him out on the floor.
“But we’ve been pleased with the guys who have stepped up in his absence, guys like Mike (Weisner) and Spencer (Coleman). He’ll (Ward) be out there in spirit and with us on the bench, trying to help us motivate the guys.”
Ward was a starter on Montana’s conference champion and NCAA team of a year ago that went 25-7, and UM’s third leading scorer (10.9 ppg) that season. He averaged 21.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in UM’s wins over Eastern Washington and Weber State in the Big Sky’s 2012 postseason tournament, and was named to the all-tournament team.
Source:
http://www.grizbasketball.com/?p=821
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