BUTTE — Montana Tech and Carroll advanced Saturday at the Frontier Conference men's basketball tournament, albeit in very different ways.
Tech may have missed out on a fourth straight regular-season championship in the Frontier, but its bid for a fifth straight tournament title are very much alive. The fifth-seeded Orediggers handled No. 4 Montana Western 93-65 in the quarterfinal round at the Butte Civic Center to move into the semifinals, where they'll face 2026 regular-season champ and top-seeded Rocky Mountain College on Sunday.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Carroll trailed by double digits for a good chunk of its quarterfinal matchup with No. 5 Dakota State (S.D.) but slowly clawed its way back for an 87-81 victory. The Fighting Saints were down by as much as 17 points twice in the first half, and didn't get their deficit under 10 until five minutes had passed in the second. But Carroll won, and will face No. 7 seed MSU-Northern in Sunday's semifinals.
The Saints improved to 20-8 overall. Their semifinal contest against MSU-Northern (17-12) tips off at 7:30 p.m. Dakota State's mark fell to 18-10.
With its win over Western Montana, Tech improved to 22-7 overall. The Orediggers' semifinal game against No. 1 Rocky (26-3) tips off at 5. The Bulldogs fell to 20-9.
Montana Tech 93, Montana Western 65
Brayden Koch erupted for 29 points as Montana Tech kept alive its hope for a fifth consecutive Frontier tournament crown. Koch made 9 of 15 shots from the floor, including six 3-pointers.
As a team, the Orediggers shot 59.6% (34 of 57) and hit 12 of 24 3-point attempts. They won the rebounding battle 38-22 and got 45 points from their bench.
Asher Williams scored 18 points for Tech, making 7 of 8 from the floor. Hayden Diekhans finished with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Orediggers. Connor Michaud also had eight points as 10 different Montana Tech players found the scoring column.
Montana Western struggled from the field, making just 38.1% of their attempts (24 of 63). The Bulldogs also hit just 6 of 22 3-pointers and had only three total assists.
Emanuel Steward led the way for Western with 19 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Gruhler scored 10 points. The Bulldogs, who haven't won a Frontier tournament title since 1991, trailed 49-26 at halftime, a hole far to deep to dig out of.
Carroll 87, Dakota State (S.D.) 81
Carroll trailed Dakota State 8-0 right out of the gate and trailed by 17 points — 40-23 — after two free throws by the Trojans' Brayden Pankonen with 4:36 left before halftime. The deficit reached 17 points again with 2:18 left in the half after a Pankonen layup.
Dakota State led 49-37 at intermission, but Carroll finally got within single digits with 15:24 remaining on two foul shots by Kellen Harrison. A shot by Frontier MVP Isaiah Crane pulled the Saints within 59-54 with 13:20 left, and Carroll knotted the game 72-72 on a 3-point basket by Drew Jones with 5:06 to go.
Carroll took its first lead — 74-72 — on two Jones free throws with 3:57 left. After Dakota State tied it again, Jones nailed a 3 with 3:16 on the clock and the Saints never trailed again.
Jones led the way with 23 points while Crane added 22 for Carroll, which outscored Dakota State 50-32 in the second half to complete the comeback. The Saints hit 11 3-pointers and won the game despite being outrebounded 34-20.
Nate Christy added 15 points for Carroll while Isaac Round added 11. Nathan Ojukwu's 26 points led the Trojans. Pankonen added 18.
