New faces show early promise for Girzzly hoops

If you've read Missoulian sports editor Bob Meseroll's coverage of the Montana Grizzly men's basketball team’s progress in the University of Calgary's preseason Battle of the Border tournament, the play of several newcomers has been the story so far in this very young season.

Sophomore transfer Michael Taylor, in particular, appears ready to challenge for significant playing time at the shooting guard slot. Taylor brings an impressive basketball resume onto the court. He's the son of highly respected Washington State prep boys’' basketball coach, Tim Taylor, for whom he played while an all state multi-sport athlete at Brewster, Washington H. S.

You can read the Grizzly Journal profile on Taylor by clicking the MICHAEL TAYLOR PROFILE header on this page under JOURNAL PAGES. The profile was first published Jan. 8 in grizzlyjournal.

Three other Washington State prep standouts also saw action. Point guard Shawn Stockton (11 points and 10 assists, 3 steals), power forward Mathias Ward (28 points and 9 rebounds), and wing Nyandigisi Moikubu (9 points, 4 rebounds) were all-state prep players in 2008.

The final game of the Battle of the Border -- a rematch between Montana and the University of Calgary Dinos --  will be at noon, Monday.