BUTTE — Frontier Conference basketball is set to make it's return to the Mining City on Thursday.
MSU-Northern and Montana Tech will play a league doubleheader at the HPER Comlex with the women's game tipping off at 5 p.m. and the men and 7 p.m.
Both Tech squads and the Northern men will be looking to collect their first conference wins after dropping their openers last Saturday. The Orediggers were swept by Rocky Mountain College while the Lights were defeated by Montana Western. The Skylights defeated the Bulldogs 83-62.
The No. 6-ranked Tech men (12-2 overall, 0-1 in Frontier play) are in the hunt for a conference four-peat after claiming the regular season and tournament titles the past three seasons. Hanging a fourth straight banner is the ultimate goal, but getting there will required an eyes-forward approach as they gear up for the grind of conference play.
"Obviously it's pretty special, all the experiences and things like that," said senior guard Keeley Bake. "But we've closed on last year and we're just trying to go game-by-game this year and hopefully chase another one."
The Orediggers, coming off a loss in the second round of the national tournament last season, put together a solid preseason, going 12-1 while toppling two ranked teams along the way.
One of those ranked teams was Lewis-Clark State, which ousted Tech in the tournament. The Orediggers earned a bit of redemption against the Warriors on Nov. 16, winning 85-83 on a walk-off buzzer beater from Brayden Koch, the former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year who transferred from Carroll College to Tech last season but had to sit out due to Frontier transfer rules.
"Going the whole year without playing basketball, it's kind of hard when you've been doing that your whole life," said Koch. "To get back out there with the guys has been a great feeling."
Meanwhile, the Oredigger women are in search of a breakthrough this season under third-year head coach Jeff Graham as Tech aims for its first winning season since 2016-17. Tech concluded non-conference play with a 9-4, including a win over future Frontier member No. 14 Mayville State, mark and were receiving votes in the latest national coaches' poll.
"I think we had a tough preseason and it's prepared us well," said redshirt junior forward Macy Mayer. "I think we're very well set up going into conference play and I'm very confident in our team."
