BUTTE -- The No. 4-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team could not overcome an early deficit, falling 81-70 to visiting Rocky Mountain Friday night in Valley Bank Arena. 

Asher Williams paced the Orediggers with a season-best 18 points to go with six rebounds, and Hayden Diekhans (15 points) and Brayden Koch (14) also reached double figures. 

Montana Tech (8-2, 2-2 Frontier Conference) struggled shooting the ball early as the Battlin' Bears began the game with an 11-3 run. The Orediggers rebounded to tie the game at 11 and took their first lead of the game at the 12:40 mark in the first half, 14-13, after a Williams 3-pointer. 

Rocky Mountain (6-1, 3-1) made another run, however, and extended the lead to nine with 3:59 until halftime. The Battlin' Bears took a 36-31 lead into the locker room. 

Tech cut the deficit to one early in the second half, but the Battlin' Bears made a 15-2 run over the next several minutes to gain some breathing room. 

The Orediggers began to climb back into the game, trimming the lead to eight after Josh Coulanges' free throw with 9:38 to play, but that's as close as Montana Tech got. RMC extended the lead to as many as 19 in the late going. 

Montana Tech will look to get back on the winning track Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against rival Carroll. 

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