BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Despite 18 points and eight rebounds from Hayden Diekhans, the 15th-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team dropped a 67-62 decision Saturday night at Bellevue in the first-ever Frontier Conference showdown between the two schools. 

Brayden Koch and Asher Williams each added 10 points for the Orediggers (15-4, 9-4 Frontier). 

Neither team was able to get a foothold in the game's early going, but the Bruins (16-3, 11-2) used a 6-0 run late in the first half to take a nine-point advantage. 

Montana Tech was never able to recover. The Orediggers trailed 34-26 at halftime. 

The Orediggers trailed by as many as 12 early in the second half, but Tech had some fight left. A Diekhans free throw kicked off an 8-1 Oredigger run midway through the second half, a stampede that Ethan Venema put the finishing touches on with a vicious dunk that trimmed the lead to five. 

But it wasn't enough. Bellevue stretched the lead out to double figures by the 10:54 mark and held on the rest of the game. 

Ahamad Bynum led the Bruins with a game-best 22 points. 

The loss snapped Montana Tech's five-game road win streak. 

The Orediggers will hit the road again Friday with a 7 p.m. tip at Montana Western. Both teams sport a 9-4 Frontier Conference record headed into the matchup.

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