The Great Falls Electric (18-7) have played 22 regular-season games and have two playoff appearances under their belts since the 2026 The Basketball League (TBL) started on March 1.
The Electric have defeated every team in the West Conference at least twice but have yet to get in the win column against the 4 Bears Roar (26-1), a new team this season based out of New Town, North Dakota. Four of Great Falls’ six losses have come against the North Dakota TBL franchise, and two other losses came at the hands of the Grant County (WA) Red Tails earlier in the regular season. Great Falls hosted the North Dakota team to open the season in Great Falls for a pair of contests. The Electric fell by seven points in the opener on March (105-98) and then lost in the second game, 117-92. A month later (March 27-28), both squads met in New Town, North Dakota at the 4 Bears Event Center and the host team won both matchups (109-101 and 106-88).
Great Falls won 16 regular season contests and downed Grant County to open the 2026 TBL Playoffs (West Conference Semi-Finals) last week in two games in their best-of-three series. Montana’s lone professional basketball franchise is currently on a nine-game win streak that includes two forfeit victories against the Red Tails.
Great Falls advanced to meet the 4 Bears Roar squad in the 2026 TBL West Conference Finals, who have won 25 of their 26 games this season with the lone setback coming from the Trii-Cities (WA) Sun Devils on March 21 where they lost 86-85 in the final seconds. 4 Bears Roar won their TBL West Conference Semi-Finals with a two-game sweep over the Willamette Valley (OR) Jaguars that concluded on Saturday night. Since the March 21st loss, 4 Bears Roar is 18-0 against their opponents.
The 4 Bears Roar led at the end of each quarter to pull out a 96-92 victory in front of their home crowd at the 4 Bears Event Center in New Town, North Dakota on Wednesday night for Game 1 of the West Conference Finals. 4 Bears Roar leads the best-of-three series, 1-0 and could win the West Conference Finals with another win in Great Falls on Friday evening.
Both teams scored during the opening minute after tipoff. Deshawn Munson, who played last season with the Potawatomi Fire of the TBL, put the first points on the scoreboard for 4 Bears Roar, followed by a layup from JaMichael Brown for Great Falls. The Electric took their first lead on a Manny Izunabor layup for the 5-4 lead with 9:52 on the clock. The visiting Montana team led by as many as five points (12-7) midway through the first quarter on a dunk by Manny Izunabor. The opening quarter of the West Conference Finals saw six ties as 4 Bears Roar grabbed a 22-19 advantage. Manny Izunabor led Great Falls with seven points while Rob Phinisee scored ten for the home team.
Rodarious “Pig” Washington was back in the lineup for head coach Broc Finstuen on Wednesday night after missing last week’s West Conference Semi-Finals against the Grant County (WA) Red Tails due to his wife giving birth to a baby boy. The Tennessee native scored the first two points of the second quarter by draining a pair of free throws. Both TBL squads went back and forth with neither team leading by more than five points. KenDarrius Hamilton was fouled by Great Falls’ Mikel Beyers before halftime and made both shots from the charity stripe to send the 4 Bears Roar into the locker room with a one-point lead (43-42). Manny Izunabor tallied seven points in both quarters to finish the half with 14 markers for the Electric. Rasheed Brooks scored seven of the 21 second quarter points for the home team.
Mikel Beyers scored three seconds into the third frame to give Great Falls back the lead, 44-43. 4 Bears Roar scored six unanswered points to put the North Dakota TBL team back in front, 49-44 within the first minute. Manny Izunabor and Mikel Beyers went on a run of their own, scoring seven points to put Great Falls on top, 50-49 with eight minutes remaining. Later in the quarter, Taevon Horton knocked down a shot from behind the arc with a few minutes left before the fourth quarter, with 4 Bears Roar leading 68-63. JaMichael Brown evened the game (70-70) with 26 seconds to go. Taevon Horton, a University of West Virginia standout, answered back with a jumper before the third quarter expired for a 72-70 lead. Deshawn Munson led both teams with 13 points for 4 Bears Roar. Great Falls received a combined 18 points from JaMichael Brown (10) and Manny Izunabor (8).
4 Bears Roar and Great Falls were within five points through the first three minutes of the final quarter of play. South Dakota native Alejandro Rama’s layup increased the advantage for 4 Bears Roar to 82-76 with 8:27 left in the contest. The Electric kept the game within striking distance and prevented the home team from leading by double digits. Mikel Beyers pulled the Electric to within a point (93-92) on a dunk with 15 seconds left. 4 Bears Roar kept possession of the ball, and Great Falls fouled them as they connected on three successful free throws for a 96-92 victory.
Rob Phinisee scored 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead head coach Wayne Casey’s squad. Deshawn Munson had a solid game for the North Dakota team with 17 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Alejandra Rama was the most consistent player of the night, connecting on 66% of his field goals, including going 2-for-3 from three-point land.
Manny Izunabor led three Great Falls players in double digits by scoring 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting and accumulating 14 rebounds. JaMichael Brown scored nine of his 18 points from long distance. Mikel Beyers accrued 14 points in 33 minutes while dishing out five assists.
The 4 Bears Roar snapped Great Falls’s seven-game win streak with Wednesday’s setback.
By Kevin Scott: June 3, 2026 – New Town, ND
