Sports Briefs: Durham retires after 5 seasons at MSU-B

Mar. 30—BILLINGS — After five seasons back coaching college basketball in Montana, MSU-Billings' Mick Durham announced Wednesday he is retiring.

The NCAA Division II Yellowjackets went 59-56 in Durham's tenure, with a 39-36 record in the Great Northern Athletic Conference. His 2022-23 team went 20-10, the program's most wins since 2005-06, and went to the NCAA D-II Tournament.

"It's been a thrill for me to come back to my home state and finish out my coaching career," the 66-year-old said in a release from msubsports.com. "I also would like to thank my two full-time assistants — Bobby Howard my first TWO years and Luke Fennelly the last three years — for all the work and loyalty they showed during my MSU-B tenure.

"Lastly, thanks to the players that played here the last five years and all the work they put in on and off the court to make MSU-B proud. I'm excited to be leaving after a good season and a NCAA Tournament berth and solid momentum for the future."

The Three Forks product was a standout point guard at Montana State from 1975-80, and coached his alma mater from 1990-2006 with a 246-213 record and a 1996 NCAA Tournament berth.

He spent time as an assistant coach at New Mexico State, then was head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks for seven seasons. He was GNAC co-coach of the year there in 2012-13, and grabbed the honor outright this past season with MSU-Billings.

He was also Big Sky Conference coach of the year three times with the Bobcats, and won 397 games as a college head coach.

Lakers camp

set for April 21

The Kalispell Lakers will host their annual Lakers Baseball Camp on April 21 at Griffin Field from 6-9 p.m.

Get a head start on the season and have a great time enhancing your fundamentals in throwing, fielding, and hitting with the Lakers coaching staff/players. For more information and to register on-line, go to www.kalispelllakers.org.

Griz spring game

tailgate moves inside

The Grizzly Scholarship Association announced Wednesday it will move its tailgate party for the April 7 spring scrimmage from its traditional spot at the River Bowl to the new Grizzly Den, on the 200 level of the east concourse inside the stadium.

The move will give all fans a chance to enjoy the exclusive venue with pre-game beer, wine, and seltzers while offering restrooms and private concessions and the ability to take a drink to their seats in the 200 level during the scrimmage, which starts at 6 p.m. The tailgate will begin at 4 p.m. Fans are to enter the stadium through the south entrance.

Tickets to the spring game are available now and cost $10 each. All seats are general admission, and proceeds from the event go directly to the GSA and its mission to provide scholarships to student-athletes.

Fans not able to attend the spring game in person can catch all the action on SWX TV and ESPN+.