BILLINGS — Last year the Rocky Mountain College men's basketball team was tremendous in the preseason, but it all fell off a cliff once Frontier Conference play rolled around.
The Battlin' Bears are off to a 12-2 start in the 2024-25 season, with one loss coming to NCAA Division II MSU Billings and another to top-10 Arizona Christian, and are hoping to continue their upward trajectory.
The Bears are ranked fifth in this week's edition of the NAIA RPI, which factors in record, strength of schedule and strength of opponents.
"I think we might have gotten intoxicated with it a little bit," senior guard Jesse Owens said of Rocky's early success in the 2023-24 season. "Enjoying the articles. Enjoying all the posts, stuff like that. This year we're just trying to stay one day at a time, level-headed, never get too high and never get too low."
Rocky is getting it done on the defensive end of the floor, anchored by Jaylon Lee, who has won four consecutive Frontier Conference defensive player of the week awards. The Bears have held three straight opponents below 65 points, including allowing just 55 in a top-10 win over Montana Tech on Saturday.
"The things we do in practice, it emphasizes our defensive plan and abilities. That's kind of what carries us. We're a really good defensive team and I feel like everyone knows that," Lee said.
"I think it's a combination of our back-line guys in Jaylon and Carter (McCoy). What Jaylon does well, Carter may lack. What Jaylon lacks, Carter might pick up for, so I think the combination of both of them allows us to do what we do on the perimeter," Owens said.
Rocky has three consecutive road games coming up, but the Bears have been comfortable away from the Fortin Center racking up an 8-0 record outside of Billings.
"We've been in a lot of places. We've been in Providence's gym. We've been in Dickinson's gym. We've been out in Arizona and we've been in MSUB's gym," head coach Bill Dreikosen said. "They're not afraid to travel. I think that's for anybody in our league. You've got to play some teams twice at their home place, so you can't be afraid to travel. If you're going to win at a high level, you've got to be able to win on the road."
The Bears will try to continue their upward climb on Thursday when they visit Providence in Great Falls. Rocky will enter riding a six-game winning streak.
