HELENA, Mont. -- Less than 48 hours after he helped the No. 15-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team to a fourth-consecutive regular-season Frontier Conference championship, the league named Hayden Diekhans its defensive player of the week.

Diekhans helped the Oredigger defense hold Montana Western and Providence to a combined 113 points in a pair of home victories last week. The junior from Geraldine barely left the floor in those two victories, averaging 34 minutes per game. Diekhans snagged 22 rebounds, 18 of them on the defensive end of the floor, and blocked four shots.

He was as efficient as they come offensively in the two wins also, shooting over 70 percent from the field to average 18.5 points per game. Diekhans added eight assists for good measure.

Tuesday's was Diekhans' fourth Frontier Conference athlete of the week honor this season and his third on the defensive end. Carroll College's Isaiah Crane won the offensive honor for the week.

Montana Tech (22-6) will carry the No. 1 seed into the upcoming Frontier Conference tournament. The Orediggers will await the lowest remaining seed from Sunday's first-round contests Monday at a time yet to be determined.

The Frontier Conference basketball championships will be decided Sunday, March 2 through Tuesday, March 4 at the Pacific Steel & Recycling Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

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