BUTTE — Caleb Bellach's first shot from the field — a 3-point attempt from the left corner — was on target and that's all it took.
"I just felt like I was back," Bellach said.
In his first game with Montana Tech since a season-ending knee injury on March 7 in the first round of last season's NAIA national tournament, the senior looked very much like his old Frontier Conference MVP self. Bellach piled up 17 points in limited minutes to help the No. 8 Orediggers roll to a 110-65 victory over Concordia University of Edmonton as his team improved to 7-1.
Michael Ure led all scorers with 20 points, Chrishon Dixon added 13 and Ifeanyi Okeke and Hayden Diekhans each scored 10, with Diekhans also grabbing 11 rebounds to give him a double double.
Bellach's first three attempts from the field were good from 3-point range. He said seeing the first one fall through helped him get into an early rhythm.
"Obviously when you see your first one go in that helps," he said. "Keeley (Bake) made a great pass, it was just a nice shot to catch and shoot."
In the first game of the doubleheader against Concordia, the Oredigger women had little trouble cruising past the Thunder. Kia Wasson poured in 15 points and Macy Mayer and Liv Wangerin each had 13 as Tech went up by double digits in the first two minutes en route to a 91-34 win to improve to 4-2.
Brooke Badovinac added 10 points for the Orediggers who shut out Concordia in the second quarter and led 52-11 at halftime.
Both Tech teams play again next Friday, with the women set to host Briercrest College and the men traveling to Missoula to take on the Montana Grizzlies.
