DILLON, Mont. – UGF's Frontier Conference Tournament quarterfinal game against (22) Montana Western came down to a final minute free throw conference and the Argos won, defeating the tournament's 3-seed 67-64 to move on to the semifinals.

With the game tied at 64 with six second left, junior forward John Makkar corralled a missed layup from Sergio Berkley and was fouled as he went backup for put back. The 51 percent free throw shooter hit both to put the Argos up by two.

"He's been a low percentage shooter but he actually has a nice touch and when he's locked in he can knock 'em down," UGF head coach Anthony Owens said of Makkar. "That was big. That almost sealed the game for us."

As the Bulldogs raced down the court for a hopeful buzzer beater, the Argos inexplicably fouled the ball handler to put Western on the line for two double-bonus shots. Both shots missed, and sophomore Sigman Farmer III was fouled with 1.6 seconds left after grabbing the defensive board.

Farmer hit one of two to push the lead to three and the Bulldogs missed their three-quarter court heave.

"We played hard. We busted our butts for 40 minutes and when we do that we're tough to beat," Owens said. "This keeps us alive in the tournament and it gives us a chance. That's all you can ask for."

The Argos trailed for majority of the first half. When Owens subbed in rarely used reserve Alexander Shepard at the 4:51 mark with his team down seven, it seemed like a desperate move by a coach that saw the game slipping away. A minutes later, the freshman proved he belonged on the court, hitting a three that narrowed the gap to four and gave UGF new life.

Shepard hit another, two possessions later, to give UGF its first lead of the night and while the team went into the locker room down four, his six points were a momentum changer.

"I know Shep can shoot it. At that time, we had some guys who had open threes and wouldn't take them, so I put Shep in there because I knew he would take them," Owens said. "I thought he might hit one, but I didn't expect him to hit two. Those two shots really kept us in the game."

Shepard scored more points in that first half, than total minutes played in the regular season (5).

The energy from Shepard's shooting carried over to the second half. UGF hit another three to start the period, this one from Micahel Harris, and after five minutes of play held a five-point lead. As the half progressed, UMW managed to tie the score seven times and briefly led by two but the Argos held the advantage majority of the time.

UGF's full court press turned the game into a frantic, sloppy affair and got the Bulldogs off of their game. The Argos forced 15 turnovers and held Western well below their season scoring average of 78 points per game.

"I think our pressure really bothers team a bit. When we're flying around, which we did tonight, we may make a few mistakes but we get to dictate the pace," Owens said. "We played our tempo to start and controlled it."

Owen's used 11 of the 12 players on his roster and all 11 made crucial contributions. The balance of the team's performance played out in the stats, with ten players score but only three finishing with 10 points or more.

Farmer led the team with 12 points and seven rebounds. He was closely followed by Makkar's 11 points and senior Darren Lockett's 10. UGF made 87 percent its free throws, including 9 of 10 in the second half while UMW's percentage dropped from 77 percent in the first half to 44 percent in the second.

With the win, UGF moves on to the Frontier Conference Tournament semifinals against the top seeded (6) Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. The game will be played on Friday, March 4 at 8 p.m. MST.