Butte-- Montana Tech fought hard to overcome a slow start against Rocky but ended up falling to the Bears 71-58 Saturday night.

The Diggers, led by Lukas Vining's game-high 18 points, shot 44 percent from the floor in the loss. Vining was 8-for-16 shooting including a 2-for-3 effort from behind the arc. Chris O'Neill and Dylan Pannabecker added 11 points while Sadiq Inuwa chipped in 10 for the Orediggers.

The Battlin' Bears started strong scoring 36 points in the first half compared to Montana Tech's 28. Rocky was led in scoring by Chad Kananen who had 15 points on four made threes.

The Diggers fall to 1-10 in Frontier Conference play and resume action next Thursday at 7:30 in Helena against Carroll College.