(RMC release)
GREAT FALLS – The Rocky Mountain College men’s basketball team opened its final road trip of the regular season with a 61-55 win at Providence on Friday night in Frontier Conference action.
Rocky (17-10, 8-7 Frontier) was able to overcome 36.5 percent shooting by adding 11 points from their 15 offensive rebounds. They held Providence (10-15, 4-11) to 36.7 percent shooting, including 5 of 22 in the first half.
Jared Samuelson provided much of the offense for Rocky on Friday. He scored a game-high 17 points behind a 7 of 13 shooting night. Samuelson also collected five rebounds.
The Battlin’ Bears used an 11-2 run in the first half to help them build a 12-point advantage with 2:54 to play in the half. Providence was able to get the deficit within 33-32 with 14:53 to play, but Rocky never gave the lead back and had the advantage back to nine in the final 80 seconds.
It was a tough night from beyond the arc for the Battlin’ Bears as they hit on just four pf their 24 attempts from distance. The team tallied nine assists and 11 turnovers while forcing the Argos into 15 turnovers for 17 points.
Satchel McDonald added nine points and four steals in the win. Danny Betcher and Chad Kananen finished with eight points apiece.
Providence got 14 points from DuShaun Rice and 13 points and 10 rebounds from Steven Daho-Clark.
Rocky now heads to Havre where they will face MSU-Northern on Saturday at 8 p.m. Rocky holds a two-game lead over the Lights in the battle for a home game in the quarterfinals of the upcoming Frontier Conference Tournament.
