BUTTE -- Five Montana Tech men's basketball players scored in double figures in the No. 11-ranked Orediggers' 86-83 season-opening victory over Eastern Oregon Saturday night inside Valley Bank Arena. 

Senior Camdyn LaRance led the way for Montana Tech with 19 points, while fellow senior Hayden Diekhans registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Orediggers (1-0) started off hot with an 11-5 run to open the ballgame, but EOU responded with a 15-2 run of its own.  

Tech had another run in it before halftime, though. A Marley Gonzalez bucket with 40 seconds before the half capped off an extended 28-8 run and gave Montana Tech a 16-point lead, its largest of the game. The Orediggers led 45-32 at the break. 

Eastern Oregon (1-1) rallied back after halftime. The Mountaineers ripped off a 20-5 run early in the second to tie the game at 52, and the fight was on. 

With 2:40 on the clock and the game tied at 80, LaRance converted a layup that put the Orediggers up for good. The senior added another layup and a pair of free throws in the late going to ice the victory. 

Gonzalez finished with 10 points for Tech, as did junior Rhett Reynolds and freshman Asher Williams, who was 3-for-4 from the field in his collegiate debut. Junior Karson Peffer chipped in seven points and eight rebounds for the Orediggers. 

Eamon Monahan led the way for the Mountaineers with a game-best 23 points. 

Eastern Oregon couldn't miss from 3-point range in the second half, going 10-for-13. 

Montana Tech got the job done with dribble penetration all evening, outscoring EOU 50-18 in the paint. Tech also won the second-chance points battle, 10-1. 

The Orediggers will head to Dillon for the Montana Western Classic next week, where they will take on No. 14 Southern Oregon Thursday at 4 p.m. and Warner Pacific Friday at 1 p.m. 

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