MISSOULA, Mont.- The Montana Tech men's basketball team did something that hasn't happened in 74 years on Monday night, the Orediggers defeated the Griz 74-72 at Dahlberg Arena for the first time since 1945.
In 1945 the price of a gallon of gas was 15 cents, Harry Truman was in the White House, and the Montana School of Mines defeated the University of Montana for the last time, 63-41. Tonight that all changed when the Orediggers from Montana Tech traveled to Missoula to face the two-time defending Big Sky Conference Champion Montana Grizzlies.
The Orediggers (3-3), who won't receive credit for the win on their schedule because it was an exhibition, have to take some solace in knocking off the Grizzlies who hadn't lost to a non-Division I team since the 2002-03 season. The loss counts for the Griz (1-3) who did not exhibition the contest.
For Montana Tech, the night started with some splashes and ended with many more as the Tech team doused coach
Adam Hiatt with water in the locker room to celebrate the victory. On the night, the Diggers canned eight triples and made the deep shots when they needed them most. Montana Tech rebounded from a seven point deficit in the second half with stingy defense and forced three straight turnovers out of the Grizzlies. Junior big man
Taylor England put the Orediggers in front 73-72 with a long two-point shot with 19.3 seconds left. After forcing the third Griz turnover in a row, England put Montana Tech ahead by two, 74-72, with a made free throw.
Griz senior Sayeed Pridgett's shot as time expired clanked off the side of the iron as the Diggers stormed the court to celebrate in front of the 2,000-plus fans in attendance for the canned food drive night.
Electric shooting and impressive play making from
Sindou Diallo who scored 24 points, and Troy Owens who chipped in 10 points made all the difference for Montana Tech. England scored 15 points,
Christian Jones added eight,
Drew Huse scored seven,
Dylan Pannabecker added six,
Derrius Collins added three and
Cody Baumstarck scored one.
Kendal Manuel's 25 points led the way for the Grizzlies.
The win was especially sweet for Oredigger men's basketball assistant coach
Derek Selvig who played for the Griz from 2007-08 to 2011-12 and scored more than 800 points and grabbed over 500 rebounds for the Maroon and Silver.
The Orediggers play a home contest against Yellowstone Christian on Tuesday Nov. 26 before traveling to BYU on Saturday Nov. 30.
