BUTTE — Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain College split their Frontier Conference basketball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the HPER Complex three weeks after the Battlin' Bears swept the Orediggers in Billings to open league play.
The women's game saw No. 20 Rocky Mountain take a three-point lead into halftime and pull away after the break for a 62-53 win. With Carroll College falling to Providence, the Bears and Saints are now tied atop the Frontier at 5-2.
RMC (13-7, 5-2) saw five players score in double figures, led by Sydney Dethman with 14 points and Iliana Moran with 13. Paige Wasson added 11 — including three triples — and Gracee Lekvold and Isabelle Heggem each had 10 .
Tech (13-7, 4-3) was led by 12 points from Aubrie Rademacher, 11 from Hadley Humphreys and eight apiece from Hallie Neibauer and Brooke Badovinac.
In the men's game, No. 11 Tech surged in the second half en route to a 76-59 victory over No. 19 Rocky Mountain College and the Orediggers fifth straight win as they avenged their lone conference loss of the season. Tech remains on top of the league standings.
The Orediggers (18-2, 6-1) got 19 points from Keeley Bake who connected on three 3-point attempts. Hayden Diekhans and Michael Ure each scored 14 and Ifeanyi Okeke added 10. Tech opened the game on a 12-0 run, led 31-28 at the break and then outscored the Bears by 14 in the second half.
The Battlin' Bears (15-5, 4-3) got 13 points from Colton Spencer, 11 from Carter McCoy and 10 from Jesse Owens.
Montana Tech travels to Carroll College on Thursday while Rocky Mountain College hosts MSU-Northern.
