#4 Bulldog MBB Falls to #5 Montana Tech 93-65 in Frontier Conference Quarterfinals

BUTTE, Mont. - The four-seed Montana Western men's basketball program (20-9, 15-7 FC) was clipped by five-seed Montana Tech (22-7, 15-7 FC) 93-65 Saturday.

"Credit to Tech, they came out ready to go," head coach Patrick Jensen said. "I thought their defensive intensity was the difference, it seemed like we were on our heels most of the night. And that's on me to make sure our guys are ready to go."

STAT BREAKDOWN

UMW shot 38.1 percent (24-63) from the floor, 27.3 percent (6-22) from three, and 73.3 percent (11-15) from the foul line.

Western tallied 22 rebounds, three assists, nine steals, and two blocks.

The Bulldogs earned 24 points in the paint, 15 points off turnovers, six second-chance points, and 20 bench points.

LEADERBOARD

Emanuel Steward led the team with 19 points, followed by Kyle Gruhler with 10.

Steward also paced the team with seven boards.

David Young tallied team-bests in assists (two) and steals (three).

Kolter Merritt and Quincy Taylor swatted one block apiece for the Bulldogs.

NOTABLES

Steward reached double figures for the 27th time on the year.

Young tallied his eighth multi-steal game this season.

Every Bulldog who saw action scored at least three points.

GAME SUMMARY

The Orediggers opened the game on an 11-0 before stretching their lead to 23, 49-26, at the halftime whistle.

UMW shot 25.8 percent (8-31) from the floor, 33.3 percent (3-9) from three, and 70.0 percent (7-10) from the foul line in the first half.

The Bulldogs showed moxie to start the second half and cut the lead to 14.

Montana Tech continued its strong perimeter shooting, however, and put the game out of reach of Western.

THE OPPOSITION

The Orediggers shot 59.6 percent (34-57) from the field, 50.0 percent (12-24) from three, and 76.5 percent (13-17) from the stripe. They tallied 38 rebounds, 14 assists, four steals, and five blocks. Brayden Koch led all players with 29 points. Hayden Diekhans posted game-highs in both rebounds (nine) and assists (four). Rhett Reynolds and Ethan Venema both registered two blocks while four different players tallied one steal each.

LOOKING AHEAD

Western now awaits word from the NAIA on a possible national tournament bid.