MISSOULA, Mont. – Montana Tech men's basketball team dropped an exhibition matchup to the Montana Grizzlies, 86-44 Tuesday night at Dahlberg Arena. Tech was limited to shooting 29.4 percent from the field from the game. The Griz used their size in the middle scoring 38 of their 86 points in the paint.

Senior Reid Baerlocher led the Diggers (11-5) with 10 points in 20 minutes of action. Trent Thompson and Adam Greger added seven points apiece.
Montana (7-8) was led by senior Jordan Gregory who had a game-high 24 points.

The Diggers got off to a good start with a three-point field goal from the corner by Chase Haack. The very next play Antonio Snow stole the ball and was fouled on the act of shooting. Snow hit one of two shots to put Tech up 4-0. The Orediggers continued to battle taking the 13-11 lead thanks to a three pointer by Greger with 13:25 remaining. Following a Griz layup, Brandon Rydberg put Tech back on top, 16-13 with a three-point shot of his own. Montana would collect themselves and rally going on a 28-7 run to end the first half taking the 41-23 edge.

Montana continued the second half the way they ended the first. The Griz shot 60.7 percent from the field in the second half and held Tech to just nine points in the first 10 minutes of the half. Tech went on a brief run mid-way through the half behind back-to-back buckets by Baerlocher, but it was too late as the Diggers fell 86-44.

Montana Tech returns to Frontier Conference play on Saturday when they host 19^th-ranked Lewis-Clark State at 7:30 p.m.