LOGAN, Utah — Montana Tech led at halftime, but the upset bid was derailed in the second half.

Utah State, a member of the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference, defeated the NAIA Frontier Conference Orediggers 70-58 in an exhibtion men's basketball game played Tuesday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Montana Tech went ahead 16-15 on layup by Brandon Rydborg off an assist by Tyrie Haynie with 12 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half.

The Aggies caught the Orediggers once, at 18-all, on a 3-point basket by Preston Medlin and went ahead 21-20 on another Medlin trey before Montana Tech took the lead for the rest of the half.

Brian Cummings netted a 3-pointer for Orediggers for the go-ahead points.

However, the advantage did not last long after the 34-30 halftime lead for Montana Tech was etched. Utah State went ahead for good at 45-43 when Brockeith Pane drove for a layup with 14:09 on the game clock.

The Aggies built up the margin as the game progressed and Montana Tech suffered foul problems.

“For the first 35 minutes,it was close and we had them scared,” Montana Tech head coach Aaron Woliczko said. “But they then showed some muscle down the stretch. 

“I thought our guys dis a good job of battling bigger, stronger kids, especially on the defensive end. Bigger, stronger kids can get more physical with you and our guys really battled.”

The strategy was to take the game outside, Wolicszko said.

“We played a lot of zone (defense) and made them shoot 3s, and they were 4-for-18, 22 percent,” the coach said. “We made them shoot from the cheap seats and they didn't really hit tonight.”

Medlin finished with 22 points for Utah State and Pane with 16. Medlin also had nine rebounds.

Utah State's head coach is former Montana Grizzly head coach Stew Morrill.

Adam Greger led the Orediggers with 12 points, 10 coming in the first half. Cummings finished with 11 points and Cole Conway tallied 10, all before intermission.

Conway also snared seven rebounds, and A.J. Paine dished six assists.

“It was a great performance in the first half by Cole Conway and Adam Greger,” Woliczko said. “Adam was 5-for-7 and Cole 4-for-6 against these bigger guys. Cole played a lot of power forward in the first half because Daniel Simon got into foul trouble.

“We had seven assists at halftime, which was awesome. The guys were driving and kicking it out. “

The foul trouble incurred by Cummings and Simon changed the strategy.

“It made a difference in the way we were attacking their players,” Woliczko said. “It could've made a big difference if we could've kept them in and also if we'd gotten to the free throw line.”

Theh Orediggers made 2 of their three tries from the foul line and lsot both Simon and Cummings to their fifth fouls.

Utah State was 20 for 27 from the charity stripe.

The trip was worth the team bonding experience, Woliczko said. 

“Just being a part of  the team and high-fiving each other — it was a lot of fun watching them,” the coach said. “The nicest part of the whole experience was my boys got to play in front of 9,600 people who really know basketball. It was a great experience, a nice place to play.”

The Orediggers will resume their Frontier Conference schedule on Friday with a game at Montana Western in Dillon.