HAVRE, Mont. -- Despite double-figure scoring outputs from four Orediggers, the ninth-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team dropped a Frontier Conference matchup, 68-65, Saturday afternoon at MSU-Northern.

Keeley Bake led the Orediggers (20-4, 8-3 Frontier) with 18 points and five assists, while Brayden Koch added 14 and Ifeanyi Okeke and Hayden Diekhans scored 10 each. Diekhans added eight rebounds to his line.

The teams played back and forth in the early going until Tech took the lead on a Koch engineered a personal 6-0 run to put the Diggers in front. The junior led all scorers with 10 at the half as Tech carried a 31-25 lead into the break.

Tech built the lead to as many as nine early in the second, but the Lights had an answer in the late going. A 10-0 run put MSU-Northern in front, 40-39, on Leo Sewell's bucket with 13:49 to play. The Diggers retook the lead briefly thanks to a Koch jumper, but the Lights punched back with a 12-2 run to take control of the game.

Jack Reardon led all scorers with 26 for Northern (8-16, 2-9).

The Orediggers will hit the road again next week, first heading to Rocky Mountain Thursday for a 7 p.m. Frontier tip.

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