DILLON — Sindou Diallo poured in a career-high 35 points and Markieth Brown Jr. added 17 as the Montana Tech men's basketball team rallied and then outlasted Montana Western 88-84 on Wednesday evening at Straugh Gymnasium.
Western took a 50-41 lead into halftime. After the break the Orediggers made enough plays down the stretch to bounce back and get the win. Meanwhile, Western struggled from the free throw line after the break, hitting just 3 of 10 shots from the stripe.
The Bulldogs opened their Frontier Conference schedule at 0-1. Tech improved to 2-0 in league play and 2-2 overall.
"I think it took 20 minutes for our guys to really respect their opponent," Tech head coach Adam Hiatt said. "I felt like we came out in the second half and we made the adjustments, our effort was better, we made a much more concerted effort to get the ball into the paint and it paid off for us in the long run."
Diallo shot 12 of 19 from the field and was 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Brown was 5 of 10 from the field hit two shots from 3-point range.
Western was led by 20 points from Jamal Stephenson and 19 from Max Clark. Michael Haverfield added 17 points and Colter Miller had 10.
Tech returns home to host Carroll College on Thursday. The Orediggers defeated the Saints 82-62 on Dec. 16.
"Hopefully this kicks off some of the break rust and we can come out and play with more energy (Thursday)," Hiatt said. "We're going to have to play one of our best games of the year to be able to compete with them (Thursday)."
Western heads to Billings next week for a doubleheader against Rocky Mountain College on Jan. 4 and 5.
