This Week's Matchups
 
Frontier Conference Tournament
Rocky Mountain College (19-11, 10-8)
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 7 P.M. MST
Fortin Center, Billings, Mont.
 
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FULL GAME NOTES

Scouting the Battlin' Bears
The Battlin' Bears of Rocky Mountain College are the No. 3 seed in the Frontier Conference playoffs after completing league play at 10-8 in the Frontier. Rocky is led in scoring and rebounding by junior Jared Samuelson (18.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG). The Battlin' Bears are coming off a loss to Carroll College, 84-72, on Saturday night in Helena.
 
Last Time
The Orediggers lost in overtime to Rocky Mountain College on Friday night in Butte, 84-80. After trailing by 14 points at halftime, the Diggers responded by scoring the first nine points of the second half to cut into the Rocky lead. Rocky was led in scoring by Clayton Ladine and Craig Wilmore who each had 20 points. Montana Tech received 22 points and 17 rebounds from sophomore Taylor England while Derrius Collins and Drew Huse chipped in 12 and 10 respectively.
 
Playoff Time
Carroll College and Lewis-Clark State both finished the Frontier Conference schedule at 13-5 and shared the Frontier Conference Regular Season Title. The Saints held the tie-breaker over L-C winning their three game series and earned the first round bye in the playoffs. Other first round matchups around the league include Montana Western at Lewis-Clark State and Providence at MSU-Northern.
 
England's Double-Doubles
Sophomore Taylor England registered back-to-back double-doubles over the weekend and leads the Frontier Conference with eight double-doubles. England, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the win against Carroll and 22 points and 17 rebounds in the overtime loss to Rocky, is ninth in the Frontier Conference in scoring (15.3 PPG), second in rebounding (7.8 RPG), and first in field goal percentage (60.5 %).
 
Defensive Strength
Montana Tech is second in the Frontier Conference in scoring defense holding opponents to 68.9 points per game. Additionally, the Diggers lead the conference in blocks averaging 3.9 per contest and steals averaging 9.3 per game. Taylor England leads the Frontier Conference averaging 1.2 blocks per game.
 
Trending the Right Direction
Montana Tech's six conference wins are the most since the 2012-13 season and the 16 total wins are the most for the Diggers since the 1999 season.