The University of Montana apologized on Thursday for a scoring error, which occurred in Wednesday night’s Grizzlies-Hornets game in Missoula, Mont., which ended in an 84-79 victory for the Grizzlies.

Montana (19-5, 8-3) athletic director Jim O’Day sent a letter of apology to Sacramento State (14-12, 5-7) athletic director Terry Wanless after reviewing film of the game with his staff.The error occurred when DaShawn Freeman made two free throws with 5:14 remaining in the game but three minutes later the official bookkeeper told the scoreboard operator to subtract a point from the Hornets with 1:57 to go in the contest. Due to the error, a potentially game-tying Clark Woods 3-pointer with 10 seconds left put the Hornets just one point behind, but forced them to have to foul.

“I felt there was a mistake made,” Hornets coach Jerome Jenkins said. “I have to let the Big Sky conference officials take care of the situation.”

“It was unfortunate because it changed the way we had to play.”

Montana’s Kevin Criswell made four free throws in the final nine seconds of the game to secure the victory.

“I can only imagine how upset the Sacramento State men’s basketball team must be,” O’Day said. “On behalf of the University of Montana, I express our deepest and most sincere apology.”Despite the apology the Big Sky announced it will conduct its own investigation.

“We appreciate the University of Montana stepping forward and admitting the mistake,” Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said in a press release. “The officials rely on the personnel at the scorer’s table to keep an accurate account of the score. The Big Sky Conference will still review the game tape and evaluate the procedure of everyone involved.”

As per NCAA rules, no protest can be made and the score and game result will stand.

Kevin Criswell scored 28 points and Andrew Strait added 25 to lead Montana. Criswell was 8 of 15 from the field, made all nine of his free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists for the Grizzlies (18-5, 8-3).

Alex Bausley led Sac State with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Jason Harris added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana scored 11 unanswered points to pull away from a 56-all tie and take a 67-56 lead with 6:55 remaining on a basket by Strait, who made 10-of-18 shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds.A 3-pointer by Criswell gave the Grizzlies their largest lead at 72-59 with 5:21 left, but Bausley scored nine of his points in the last 3:41, including two 3-pointers.

Despite another close loss, the Hornets have locked up a spot in the Big Sky Conference playoffs because of Weber State loss on Saturday to Portland State.

Because of a tie-breaker, Sac State can finish no worse than sixth in the conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Robert Alvis can be reached at [email protected]