BUTTE — Both the Montana Tech and Montana Western men's basketball teams played a non-conference game on Friday evening at the HPER Complex in the Best Western Tip Off Classic with both the No. 9 Orediggers and Bulldogs looking to build off 2-0 starts to the season.
The Bulldogs fell to the University of Jamestown 76-57 as Western was dealt its first loss of the season. The Jimmies led 36-33 at halftime and then outscored the Bulldogs 40-24 in the second half.
Western's Jalyn Stepney led all scorers with 23 points while Kyle Gruhler added 13 and Alan Kane added 12. Jamestown was led by a 21-point outing from Cole Glasgow, 17 from Owen Hektner and 10 from Jimmy Llinas.
In the second game, Tech stormed to a 78-57 victory over Northwest University as the three-time defending Frontier Conference champions improved to 3-0.
Camdyn LaRance scored a game-high 18 points, Ifeanyi Okeke added 16 and Michael Ure tallied 11 points and 8 rebounds. Keeley Bake had nine points included a pair of 3-pointers and Helena Capital product Brayden Koch scored 8.
The Bulldogs will play Northwest on Saturday at 5 p.m. and the Orediggers will take on Jamestown at 7 p.m.
