BUTTE, Mont. -- The No. 15-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team got back on the winning track Thursday evening with an 80-61 home victory over rival Montana Western.

With the win, Montana Tech kept its hopes for a fourth-consecutive Frontier Conference regular-season championship alive. That will be decided Saturday when Providence pays a visit to Kelvin Sampson Court.

Hayden Diekhans led the Orediggers (21-6, 9-5 Frontier) with a 25-point, 11-rebound performance, while Keeley Bake and Michael Ure scored 17 points each. Ure got the majority of his points at the free-throw line, shooting 10-for-11 from the stripe.

Tech continued its trend of fast starts at home this season, starting the game with a 6-0 run. The Orediggers never trailed.

The Bulldogs (15-12, 7-7) posed a threat in the early going. Western battled to tie the game at 13-13 before Tech regained momentum, and the Bulldogs threatened again in the first half's late going. A 6-0 Western run tied the game at 26 with 2:30 left until halftime, but a couple Ure free throws and a Diekhans jumper just before the horn sent Tech to the locker room with a 30-26 lead.

Western continued to battle early in the second half, but the late going was all Diggers. Levi Torgerson and Bake nailed three consecutive 3-pointers to give Tech a 13-point lead, 47-34, with 12:28 remaining.

Three second-half 3s by Western's Clarence Martin kept the Bulldogs in the game, but the Orediggers closed the game on a 13-5 run to seal the victory.

Martin led the Bulldogs with 13 points.

For Montana Tech, the only thing standing between the Orediggers and a fourth-straight regular-season title is Providence. The Argos head to Butte Saturday for a 4 p.m. tilt, the rubber match in the series between the two league leaders. No Frontier Conference team has won four consecutive regular-season championships since Eastern Montana College pulled it off from 1970-73.

The Orediggers' men's and women's basketball programs will celebrate Senior Day following the conclusion of the women's 2 p.m. contest. The men are set to tip at 4.

Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.