BUTTE, Mont. -- Keeley Bake stepped back off the dribble and shot the basketball.

It was contested well by the defender, but it didn't matter. Bake's jumper got nothing but net, leaving less than a second on the clock and giving the No. 9-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team a 68-66 lead that would prove the final score in the Orediggers' victory over rival Montana Western Saturday on Kelvin Sampson Court.

Bake finished with nine points in the win, but Montana Tech's other heavy hitters showed up big. Hayden Diekhans led Tech with 20 points, Ifeanyi Okeke added 18, and Michael Ure scored 15 for the Orediggers (20-2, 8-1 Frontier). Ure and Okeke led the team with seven rebounds each.

Neither team led by more than two possessions in the first half. Western's Jalyn Stepney hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the half to make 28-27 in Tech's favor midway through.

After Stepney put the Bulldogs (12-10, 4-5) ahead on the opening possession of the second half, Tech ripped off a 7-0 run and appeared to be rolling. But the Western defense reappeared, and the rest of the game was a battle of wills. The Bulldogs battled back to take a 41-40 lead, and the teams traded the advantage for the remainder of the half. 

The Orediggers led by four in the final minute before Stepney knocked down a 3-pointer and drew the foul. His ensuing free throw tied the game at 64 with 46 seconds on the clock.

Okeke put Tech back in front with a layup at the 35-second mark, but Western again tied the game, this time thanks to a Kevin Bethel lay-in with 10 seconds remaining.

The inbound went to Bake, and he went to work. The senior pulled up just inside the 3-point line, and his shot proved true, leaving just 0.6 seconds on the clock. Western's desperation shot didn't get off on time, and the Orediggers remained unbeaten at home in 2024-25.

Saturday marked the fastest a Montana Tech team reached 20 victories in a season, and it was also the first time in the program's nearly century-long history that the Orediggers have won 20 in four consecutive years.

Montana Tech begins an extended away-from-home stretch Thursday at 7 p.m. at Providence.

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