Orediggers look to bury the Saints
Before we delve into Montana Tech v. Carroll College, let’s do a little housekeeping. The new NAIA Top 25 was released, and the Orediggers moved up a spot from #12 to #11 in the national ranking. MSU Northern is also receiving votes (finally) in this week’s poll. Now for a look at the Frontier Conference Standings.
Montana Tech 9-3 21-4
MSU- Northern 7-5 18-7
Providence 7-5 13-12
Carroll College 5-7 11-12
Rocky 4-8 12-12
Western 4-8 9-16
Northern is on the road Thursday to Billings to battle the Bears, Western will be in Great Falls for a showdown with Providence, and Montana Tech will welcome the Saints to the HPER.
Over the past 6 seasons Montana Tech and Carroll College have squared off 21 times. In those 21 games, the road team has won only twice. That’s it.
January 11, 2018, and February 28, 2022.
January 11th, the Saints win in Butte 56-41. Dane Warp gets 13, and Ryan Imhoff puts down 12 for the Saints. The Diggs were led by Trent Molesworth with 14, and Chris O’Neill right behind with 11. Carroll tied for the Frontier Conference regular season crown with Western that year.
February 28, 2022. The Orediggers took down the Saints in Helena for the Frontier Conference Championship 62-61. Sindou Diallo had 18, Caleb Bellach with 15, and Drew Huse with the game-winner.
Before last season, you have to go back to February 13, 2014, for the last Tech win in Helena.
In two games so far this season -shocker- both teams won at home. In the last meeting in Helena, Andrew Cook had a huge game for the Saints, finishing with 24 points, and Brayden Koch followed with 22 in the win.
Andrew Cook has led the way all year for Carroll, averaging nearly 19 points a game. Johnny Hillman is back in the lineup for the Saints and averaging 14, Brendan Temple comes in at 13, and lastly, Brayden Koch is putting in 9 points a game.
Andrew Cook enters as the #2 scorer in the Frontier Conference, behind Montana Tech’s Caleb Bellach. On the season Bellach is averaging over 19 a game, and in conference games, that number swells to 23. Caleb is fast approaching the 1,000-point club as an Oredigger. Last season he finished with 470 points, and through 24 games this season he has 457, leaving him 73 points shy of one thousand.
The Diggs are averaging 83 points a game, and everyone chips in. Asa Williams and Michael Ure both at 12 points a game, and Hayden Diekhans is at 10. Then, the real strength of this Oredigger team shows in their depth. Chrishon Dixon, Keeley Bake, and Bridger Larson all come in at 8 points a game, and all of these guys can take a game over. (And have)
Montana Tech doesn’t have any Seniors, but Bridger Larson will be able to graduate at the end of the semester, so he will be honored for Senior Day.
This game will be electric, with incredible energy, and more than likely some big runs. We will see who can control that energy the most effectively.
The men’s game is scheduled for a 7 pm start, and remember to bring non-perishable food items for the Montana Tech Food Pantry, you can read more about that HERE.
