BUTTE -- Brayden Koch scored 19 points, Asher Williams and Ethan Venema both reached double figures off the bench, and the No. 19-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team made it six consecutive wins with a 68-58 triumph over MSU-Northern Saturday inside Valley Bank Arena. 

Trailing by four just over 5 minutes into action, the Orediggers (14-3, 8-3 Frontier Conference) rattled off an 11-0 run to take the lead and never trailed again. 

The Lights (10-7, 5-6) made back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to one. Tech pushed its lead back to eight points late in the first half and went into halftime with a 37-33 lead. 

MSU-Northern hung around in the early going of the second half before another Montana Tech run, this one accentuated by a Koch dunk on the fast break, put the Orediggers ahead by double digits with 10:03 remaining. 

The Oredigger defense did the rest, holding the Lights to 27.6 percent shooting in the second half as Tech secured the victory. 

Koch scored 10 of his 19 in the second half to help seal the win. Venema piled up a team-best eight rebounds to go with his 10 points in just 18 minutes of action, while Williams finished with 16 points for his seventh double-digit effort of the season. Hayden Diekhans added eight points, six rebounds, and three steals for the Orediggers. 

Austin Ramos led MSU-Northern with 14 points. 

Montana Tech will put its win streak on the line next weekend on the road. The Orediggers take on Dakota State Friday, January 16 at 6 p.m. Mountain, 7 Central.

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