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Montana Grizzlies surge past Eastern Washington to win share of Big Sky Conference title

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Montana Grizzlies surge past Eastern Washington to win share of Big Sky Conference title


MISSOULA — For the fourth time in coach Travis DeCuire’s tenure, the Montana men’s basketball team is the Big Sky Conference regular-season champion.

The Grizzlies overcame a slow start Monday to rally for an 83-72 win over Eastern Washington at Dahlberg Arena and clinch a share of the Big Sky title. Montana and Northern Colorado finished the regular season tied atop the league standings.

Money Williams continued his recent hot streak for the Griz, scoring a game-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He was one of five players to score in double figures for UM, which also got 19 points, on 6-of-6 shooting, from Te’Jon Sawyer, 13 from Brandon Whitney, 12 from Malik Moore and 11 from Joe Pridgen.

Slim Kimmel / MTN Sports

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Montana guard Money Williams drives to the basket against Eastern Washington in the final men’s basketball game of the regular season at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula on Monday, March 3, 2025.

Pridgen added 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double, while Whitney added three assists to his stat line, bringing his career total to a program-record 436. DeCuire was the previous record-holder with 435 assists during his Griz playing career from 1991-94.

Whitney’s record-breaking assist came on a pass to Moore, who sank a wing 3-pointer to break a 70-70 tie with 2:42 to play and spark a 13-2 run to close out the game. Following Moore’s 3, Pridgen sank two free throws to push the Griz lead to 75-70.

Eastern Washington got a tough layup from Mason Williams moments later but wouldn’t score the rest of the way, as Montana iced the game at the free throw line. The Grizzlies made 23 of 33 free throws in the game, including a stretch of six consecutive made shots during the closing run.

Photos: Montana Grizzlies win share of Big Sky Conference regular-season championship

The Eagles were only 8 of 11 at the free throw line.

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Eastern Washington began the game about as well as it could have, building a 19-5 lead after a Mason Williams 3 less than seven minutes into the game. But Montana responded with a 10-0 run keyed by a Whitney jumper, five points from Money Williams and a 3-pointer from Kai Johnson.

The Eagles’ lead stayed between four and eight points the rest of the first half as they shot a blistering 65.4% over the first 20 minutes. Mason Williams and Andrew Cook, a former standout at NAIA Carroll College, combined for 24 first-half points on 11-of-12 shooting.

EWU maintained its advantage for the first seven minutes of the second half before Money Williams finally gave the Griz their first lead at 53-51 with 12:01 to play. From there, the teams remained close until Montana’s late run to steal the win.

Montana vs. Eastern Washington men's basketball

Slim Kimmel / MTN Sports

Brandon Whitney (12), Te’Jon Sawyer (32) and the Montana Grizzlies celebrate after defeating the Eastern Washington Eagles at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula on Monday, March 3, 2025, to win a share of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball regular-season championship.

Mason Williams led Eastern Washington (10-21, 6-12 Big Sky) with 20 points, and Cook contributed 19.

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Next up for the Griz (22-9, 15-3) is the Big Sky Conference tournament, which starts Saturday in Boise, Idaho. No. 2-seeded Montana will play a quarterfinal game against either Northern Arizona or Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington play in a first-round game on Saturday.





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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say


Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.

The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.

According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.

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Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.

A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.

Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.

The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.

Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.

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Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.

Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.

The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.



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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors


Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.

Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.

Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.

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“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”

RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions

House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.

Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.

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The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.

“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”

Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.

The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid


Washington Wizards (16-55, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-51, 14th in the Western Conference)

Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup with Utah after losing 16 in a row.

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The Jazz have gone 13-24 in home games. Utah ranks second in the Western Conference with 16.6 fast break points per game led by Lauri Markkanen averaging 3.3.

The Wizards are 5-29 in road games. Washington is 9-10 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 15.3 turnovers per game.

The Jazz score 117.4 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 124.1 the Wizards give up. The Wizards’ 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Jazz have allowed to their opponents (49.0%).

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Jazz won the last meeting 122-112 on March 6, with Ace Bailey scoring 32 points in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.

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Alex Sarr is averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks for the Wizards. Will Riley is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 3-7, averaging 116.4 points, 43.3 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.7 points per game.

Wizards: 0-10, averaging 114.3 points, 37.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 130.6 points.

INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Cody Williams: out (shoulder), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).

Wizards: Anthony Davis: out (finger), Tristan Vukcevic: day to day (back), Cam Whitmore: out for season (shoulder), Alex Sarr: day to day (toe), Tre Johnson: day to day (foot), Kyshawn George: out (elbow), D’Angelo Russell: out (not injury related), Trae Young: out (quad).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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