Saints rumble past Tech

By Pat Ryan, of The Montana Standard - 01/13/2007

Montana Tech’s Sam Conley rises up to make the shot during the Orediggers’ game against Carroll College Friday night in the HPER Complex. Lisa Kunkel/The Montana Standard.

It seems like a stretch, but the bitter cold outside the Montana Tech HPER Complex Friday may have found its way into the Orediggers locker room.

Cold-shooting Tech managed to net only two 3-pointers on the night — one at the final buzzer — as Carroll College claimed a 68-58 Frontier Conference men’s basketball victory.

“Both teams played very tough defense,” said Carroll coach Gary Turcott. “The only difference was that we made a few more shots.” Tech coach Nate Larson could only agree.

“The effort was there,” he said. “The guys worked hard defensively, but Carroll did a nice job knocking down their shots.

“We couldn’t miss last weekend, and we couldn’t hit tonight.” Carroll took charge from the start, collecting defensive rebounds and converting possessions into points. The Saints ran to an 11-2 lead behind a couple of early buckets from Gage Brumwell, who led the Saints with 14 points.

Tech fired up, as Jake Williams drew a foul on a successful drive to the hoop. When he missed the free throw, Maurice Williams collected the rebound and drove in for two more. But the 11-7 deficit was as close as Tech could come Friday.

Every Oredigger rally in the first half was met with an accurate response from the Saints, usually in the form of shots from behind the arc.

Dallas Leslie netted three of his four 3-pointers in the first half, leading Carroll to a 36-27 halftime lead.

Jake Williams finished the first half with eight points, en route to a team-high 14-point showing. Williams also collected 10 rebounds, four steals, three assists and a blocked shot in a well-rounded game.

Casey Briggs, a strong inside force for the ’Diggers, has had problems with early fouls and Friday was no exception. The 6-foot-5 post sat out most of the first half after collecting a pair of early whistles. Briggs was strong on defense in the second, hustling for steals and rebounds, and scored 12 points in about 13 minutes of second-half play.

Maurice Williams gave another strong performance off the bench, netting eight points and three rebounds, while Sam Conley tallied 10 points and four rebounds. Conley’s 3-pointer five minutes into the second half was Tech’s first make after 12 misses.

The trey brought the ’Diggers within nine of Carroll, but the Saints had just begun to pour on the coal. Carroll reeled off an 11-2 See SAINTS, Page B5 run and led by 21 midway through the second half.

The Orediggers showed signs of life with a Shea Bradshaw-to-Jake Williams alley oop, followed by a Jake-Williams-to-Sam Conley version, but Carroll was too effective running off the clock and converting baskets for Tech to mount any kind of comeback.

Luke Harman’s 24-foot jumper as the clock ran out was bittersweet, as the Orediggers absorbed their first conference loss.

“If Shea Bradshaw makes half of his (3-pointers) then it’s a different game,” Turcott said. “He had some looks, and we’re lucky because he won’t miss many of those.” “Our post defense wasn’t up to par,” Larson said. “They got too many post touches and knocked them down. And Credit the Carroll defense. It seemed like they had a hand in our face every time we shot.” The Orediggers host Rocky Mountain College tonight at 8 p.m. The Bears (2-1, 12-7) were 84-79 victors over UM-Western Friday.

“Tonight’s behind us,” Larson said, looking forward to another tough contest. “Rocky’s posts are probably even better than Carroll’s, and they run a similar offense. We’ll focus on the posts and hopefully make a few more shots.” CARROLL COLLEGE (3-0, 13-5) Eric Henkel 5-9 2-2 13, Chad Vaculin 2-6 5-6 9, Dallas Leslie 4-9 0-1 12, Gage Brumwell 7-7 0-0 14, Chris Kaschmitter 1-5 1-3 3, Sam Grantham -6 0-1 4, Mike Dorr 2-4 0-1 5, Derek Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Dellen Hasquet 2-4 2-2 6, Lukasz Turski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 10-16 68.

MONTANA TECH (1-1, 6-9) Jake Williams 7-10 0-3 14, Casey Briggs 3-4 6-6 12, Shea Bradshaw 0-8 0-0 0, Tony Trudnowski 0-3 0-0 0, Matt Nottingham 2-5 2-2 6, Luke Harman 1-3 3-3 6, Stephen Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Billy Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Harris 1-2 0-0 2, D.C. Egge 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Conley 4-9 1-4 10, Maurice Williams 3-6 2-4 8. Totals 21-51 14-21 58.

Halftime — CC 36-27. 3-point goals — CC 6-19 (Henkel 1-2, Vaculin 0-1, Leslie 4-8, Grantham 0-2, Dorr 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Hasquet 0-2), Tech 2-17 (Bradshaw 0-7, Trudnowski 0-2, Harman 1-3, Harris 0-1, Egge 0-1, Conley 1-3). Rebounds — CC 33 (Leslie 7), Tech 32 (Williams 10). Assists — CC 14 (Henkel 4, Dorr 4), Tech 12 (Williams 3). Steals — CC 10 (Henkel 5), Tech 7 (Williams 4). Blocks — CC 1 (Kaschmitter 1), Tech 2 (Williams, Conley). Turnovers — CC 15, Tech 18. Fouls — CC 21, Tech 16. Fouled out — Vaculin. Technicals — none.