BUTTE, Mont.-
Taylor England did it again on Saturday night as the Orediggers defeated Montana Western 77-66 at Kelvin Sampson Court.
England, a junior from Helena, notched his seventh double-double of the season in the victory over the Bulldogs scoring 20 points and snagging 10 rebounds. England finished the contest 8-for-14 from the floor and collected four steals to pace the Diggers.
"I'm proud of our effort tonight," said Montana Tech head coach
Adam Hiatt. "Western is one of the hottest teams in the league right now, so to be able to find a way to pull out a win was big four our program."
England wasn't the only Oredigger to step up when needed tonight as
Sindou Diallo and
Derrius Collins each scored 16 points. Collins was a perfect 4-for-4 from three and 6-of-7 from the floor.
Troy Owens Jr. scored 14 points while
Dylan Pannabecker added 6 and
Drew Huse scored 5.
"
Derrius Collins stepped up big in the second half and showed the type of player he can be.
Troy Owens Jr. was fantastic as well. Now we will see if we can build on this."
With the Diggers taking a 35-32 lead into the half, Collins' four 3-pointers proved critical for Montana Tech. Collins knocked down three triples in a two minute stretch to push Montana Tech's lead to 16 points, 69-53.
Montana Tech shot 48.3% from the floor and 42.9% from three in the victory while Western managed 45.3% for the game and made nine threes.
The Orediggers improve to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in Frontier Conference action. The Orediggers have won 9 of their last 10 games and picked up their third straight Frontier Conference victory.
Montana Tech travels to Great Falls next Friday to take on University of Providence at 7:30 p.m.