BUTTE — With its home opener delayed over a month, the Montana Tech men's basketball team made the most of its return to Kelvin Sampson Court.
Taylor England notched a double-double and Sindou Diallo scored 19 points as the Orediggers used a second-half surge to roll past Carroll College, 82-62, on Wednesday evening at the HPER Complex.
It was Tech's first win of the season and first game in nearly three weeks. The Orediggers are now 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Frontier Conference.
"Obviously we were disappointed that we got put on a 14-day quarantine but these guys got their minds right," said Tech coach Adam Hiatt. "As soon as we found out we were going to play Carroll coming out of quarantine they committed to staying in shape, doing the best they could.
"These guys are only just now starting to scratch the surface of what they can be. This is a really good team."
Tech and Carroll traded the lead four times in the first half, with Tech heading into the break up 32-27. The Orediggers went on to built a cushion in the second half and led by double digits most of the way.
England led his team with 20 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds. Markieth Brown Jr. added 15 points for the Orediggers.
"At the end of the day we got a win," England said. "I felt like I did what I needed to do for the team to succeed and ultimately beat Carroll by 20."
Carroll was led by a game-high 24 points from Shamrock Campbell and Brendan Temple scored 16. The Saints (2-2 overall, 0-1 Frontier) head to Dickinson State to take on the Bluehawks on Saturday.
Tech is on a two-week break and returns to action against Montana Western on Dec. 30 and then faces a rematch against Carroll at home on Dec. 31.
