Oredigger Men blast Rocky in Frontier Opener

Behind first half runs of 8-0 and 12-0, the Montana Tech Mens Basketball team blasted out of the gates to a big lead and used most of their deep bench in an 82-59 dismantling of the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears Thursday night at Kelvin Sampson Court.  And it was Michael Ure doing most of the damage early.  The 6'7 former Idaho Player of the Year was fouled on a three point attempt on the Orediggers first possession and after knocking down all three foul shots followed with another long ball and after another Digger bucket it was 8-0.  Later in the half, Ure drove the lane and threw down a dunk that would make Dominique Wilkins shake his head.  He was one of 4 Orediggers in double digits, finishing with 14 points and 5 rebounds.  And Caleb Bellach wasn't bad either.  The former Manhattan Christian star led all scorers with 18 and added 7 rebounds and 4 steals.

Despite the offensive output, it was again the Orediggers stingy defense that gave the home team a wire-to-wire victory.  Rocky was a dismal 7 for 25 in the first half as the Diggs took a 37-18 lead into the locker room.  Montana Tech would lead by as many as 28 before Rocky would cut into the deficit.  The Bears were led by Jesse Owens' 13 points and Kael Robinson's 10.  The Diggers won the overall battle of the boards as well, outrebounding Rocky 45-36.  The Diggers only turned the ball over 4 times the entire game while Rocky gave the ball up 16 times.

With the win, the Diggs improve to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in Frontier play.  They will put their #12 national ranking on the line when they travel to Dillon to face the Montana-Western Bulldogs at 7pm on Saturday