HELENA, Mont. -- After Montana Tech's victories in both the Frontier Conference tournament semifinals and championship game, Orediggers head coach Adam Hiatt made the case for Hayden Diekhans' player of the year candidacy in the postgame press conference.

Diekhans' coach won't need to advocate for him anymore. The Montana Tech junior swept the Frontier's most valuable player and defensive player of the year awards, the league announced Wednesday with its full slate of postseason awards. Diekhans was one of three Oredigger players to land on the all-conference teams. Senior Keeley Bake joined him on the first team, and fellow senior Ifeanyi Okeke was voted to the second team. Diekhans and Okeke both landed all-defensive team honors as well, and Hiatt earned a third-straight conference coach of the year award.

Diekhans, a junior from Geraldine, did it all for the Frontier's regular-season and tournament champions in 2024-25. He led Tech in scoring (13.0 points per game), rebounding (7.2), steals (41), and minutes played (885). He hit 1,000 career points in the Orediggers' regular-season finale, a blowout win over Providence that sealed Tech's conference title. Diekhans landed three Frontier player of the week awards this season — three on defense and another on offense.

He is the second Frontier MVP for Tech in the past three seasons, joining Caleb Bellach's 2022-23 honor. Diekhans was also the league's defensive player of the year a season ago.

Bake, a senior from Fairfield, carries a 10.6 points-per-game average into the NAIA postseason. The point guard also leads Tech in assists (92), 3-point percentage (42.1), and free-throw percentage (84.0). It marks the first all-conference team honor in Bake's accomplished career; he was named sixth-man of the year in 2022-23.

Okeke, a senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., ranks third on the team at 10.8 points per game and second in rebounding (5.7), assists (70), steals (33), and blocks (33). He won the Frontier's defensive player of the week award twice and the offensive weekly honor once this season.

Hiatt continues to preside over the best run of success in Montana Tech men's basketball history. Now in his ninth season at the helm, his Orediggers became the first program in Frontier Conference history to win four straight conference tournament titles and the first since 1973 to win the regular season four times running. Tech ranks fourth in the NAIA in scoring defense, allowing just 62 points per game, and the Diggers checked in 21st in the latest national top 25 poll.

The Orediggers roll into the NAIA national tournament for the fourth-consecutive season carrying a 24-6 record. They will learn their draw when the bracket is announced live on NAIA.org Thursday at 6 p.m. Mountain time.

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