BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- Brayden Koch returned from injury to score 20 points, Rhett Reynolds and Asher Williams each scored 18, and the eighth-seeded Montana Tech men's basketball team held on for a 91-87 win over No. 9-seed Oklahoma City Friday night in the first round of the NAIA national tournament. 

Koch, who left the Orediggers' Frontier Conference semifinal game against Rocky Mountain with an injury, battled through the pain to lead Tech with 20 points. The junior was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, highlighting the Orediggers' best performance of the season at the stripe; they were 28-for-33 as a team. 

Williams was also terrific at the line, shooting 11-for-11. 

Montana Tech (23-8) started off in the hole. The Stars began the game with a 9-2 run, and it took Tech until midway through the first half to catch up. The Orediggers tied the game at 21 on a Connor Michaud 3-pointer with 9:52 until halftime. 

The rest of the game was a dogfight. The teams traded the lead five times before halftime, but the Orediggers stormed into the break on an 11-0 run, leading 46-35 at intermission. 

Tech never relinquished the lead in the second half. Oklahoma City (21-11) cut the deficit to four early in the second, but the Diggers responded with back-to-back baskets, and that was the template for the second half. 

The Orediggers never got the lead past 11 in the latter period, but they never relinquished it either. The team went 18-for-21 at the line after halftime to help seal the victory. 

Montana Tech will move on to square off with No. 1-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan, which cruised past Southern University at New Orleans in Friday's first-round game. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. MDT.

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