MISSOULA — The Montana Tech men's basketball team arrived at Dahlberg Arena looking to pull out a major upset like they did in 2019 and, for much of the first half, they went toe-to-toe with the Montana Grizzlies.
But then a dunk from Griz redshirt senior forward Laolu Oke with 7:51 remaining before halftime put Montana ahead, and the Grizzlies roared from there.
Montana went on to storm to an 88-67 victory on Saturday afternoon — paced by a 25-point outing from Money Williams, 20 from Aanen Moody and 11 from Oke — as the Griz delivered their second runaway win over a Frontier Conference opponent this week after thumping MSU-Northern 91-67 on Tuesday.
The game was an exhibition for Montana Tech — which upset the Grizzlies in 2019 — and won't be reflected in their overall record.
The Grizzlies (5-4) built a 42-30 halftime lead and led by as many as 32 in the second half. It was Montana's third straight win.
The Orediggers (7-1) were led by 18 points from Asa Williams, 9 from Keeley Bake and a 7-point, 10-rebound performance from Hayden Diekhans.
The Griz now head to California next week to face San Jose State on Dec. 17 and UC Davis on Dec. 19.
The Orediggers also head for California and will play three Southern California opponent next week starting with Vanguard University on Dec. 15.
