BUTTE, Mont. -- Brayden Koch was off balance as the shot left his hand from the top of the key.

It didn't matter.

The sophomore's 3-pointer splashed home as time expired, sending the HPER Complex into bedlam as Koch's go-ahead jumper pushed No. 7 Montana Tech men's basketball past No. 22 Lewis-Clark State, 85-83, in the final game of the Comfort Inn Fall Classic.

Koch's buzzer-beater capped off an improbable comeback for the Orediggers (6-0), who trailed by 10 with 3:15 to play. But Tech point guard Keeley Bake drew a foul and converted both free throws to kickstart a 6-0 run.

After LC State missed on the other end, Bake took the rebound straight to the hoop to cut the deficit to six. The Warriors missed again, and Hayden Diekhans spun around his defender to finish a left-handed lay-in that trimmed it to 79-75 with 1:58 remaining.

LC State immediately responded, but Montana Tech was back in the game. Bake found Ifeanyi Okeke for an uncontested dunk on the other end, and after the Warriors tacked on a free throw, Diekhans drew a foul and hit the front end of his two from the stripe. He missed the second, but Okeke grabbed the offensive rebound and stuck it back to cut the deficit to two.

Diekhans then drove the lane and laid it in with 17 seconds to play, tying the game at 82.

On the other end, the Warriors' John Lustig drew a foul with 7 seconds on the clock. Lustig made the back end of his two free throws to put LC State ahead by one, setting up Koch's heroics.

Bake took the ball up the floor and handed off to Koch, who came off a screen and nailed the contested shot at the top of the key as time expired. It was the capstone of an eight-point night for Koch in his first start as an Oredigger.

Diekhans led the way for Tech, scoring a game-best 24 points to go with five rebounds, three blocks, and three assists. Bake, Okeke, and Josh Coulanges scored 12 points apiece for the Diggers, and Bake added eight assists, a season-high. Okeke had a team-best eight rebounds despite playing just 22 minutes due to foul trouble.

Foul trouble hamstrung Montana Tech all evening. Okeke picked up three infractions in the first half, forcing him to the bench for the waning minutes of the period, and all-conference selection Michael Ure also found himself with foul issues most of the evening. Both wound up fouling out in the final minute of the game.

Montana Tech started the game with a 6-0 run, but things tightened up quickly. LC State battled back to tie the game at 11, and neither team led by more than two possessions until Alton Hamilton's free throws with 6:09 left in the second half put the Warriors ahead by seven. LC State pushed its lead to as many as 11, and the deficit was double digits before Bake got to the line with 3:15 to go.

Lustig led four Warriors in double figures with 22 points, and he added 10 rebounds for the game's only double-double.

Montana Tech's victory avenged a NAIA tournament second-round loss to the Warriors in March. The Orediggers haven't lost since.

Tech will put its unblemished record on the line Wednesday with a trip to California and a date with UC Merced. Tipoff in the Gateway to Yosemite is set for 8:30 p.m. Mountain time.

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