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BUTTE, Mont. — In a rivalry doubleheader, the Montana Tech men and women swept Montana Western, keeping both Oredigger squads in the Frontier title hunt with just a game left to play.
The first game of the night saw the Oredigger women outscore the Bulldogs 40-29 over the middle two quarters, as they came away with the 80-67 win.
Junior Liv Wangerin had a career high 23 points for Tech, making seven of nine field goals.
Aubrie Rademacher added 14 points, while Kia Wasson poured in 11. Eleven players saw the floor for the Orediggers, and all of them scored at least 2 points.
Keke Davis and Isabella Lund both scored 16 for Western.
The Bulldogs fall to 7-19 overall and 2-12 in the Frontier. They will be the sixth seed in the conference tournament.
Tech continues their best season in over a decade, as they improve to 18-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference. They are tied with Providence and Carroll for second in the conference, one game behind Rocky Mountain. The Orediggers can still earn a share of the Frontier Conference title with a win on Saturday combined with a Rocky Mountain loss, but they can be no higher than the 2 seed in the conference tournament because the Battlin’ Bears have the tiebreaker.
In the nightcap, the Oredigger men used a flurry of threes in the second half to pull away from the Bulldogs, 80-61.
No. 15 Montana Tech made five of 10 threes they attempted in the second half, with three of those coming from senior Keeley Bake, who finished with 17 points.
But it was junior Hayden Diekhans who shined brightest, scoring a career-high 25 and adding 11 rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Senior forward Michael Ure chipped in 17 for Tech, who snapped a four-game losing skid and remain undefeated at home.
Montana Western battled for 40 minutes despite foul trouble and injury woes. Clarence Martin led the charge offensively with 13 points off the bench, and Kevin Bethel, Kolter Merritt and Billy Carlson chipped in eight apiece.
It was a contentious and physical affair, with multiple flagrant fouls and technicals called. For Western, Jalyn Stepney had a technical, while Levi Torgerson was called for a technical for Tech.
With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 16-12 overall and 7-7 in conference. They are in a tie for fourth place with Rocky Mountain.
Montana Tech is now 21-6 on the year and 9-5 in the Frontier. They are tied at the top of the league with Providence, who they play on Saturday with the outright regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament on the line.
Montana Western will conclude their regular season in Dillon against Rocky Mountain, with the women tipping off at 2 p.m. and the men to follow.
Montana Tech will face Providence at Saturday, with the women’s game starting at 2 p.m. and the men to play at 4 p.m.
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