Saints roll past ’Diggers

By The Standard Staff - 03/02/2007

Carroll College Saints’ Derek Johnson blocks Montana Tech's Jake Williams’ shot Thursday during the second day of the Frontier Conference Basketball Tournament being played in the Maroon Activities Center. For more photos of the Frontier tournament go to mtstandard.com. Walter Hinick/Montana Standard.

Carroll College ended Montana Tech’s season in the opening round of the Frontier Men’s Tournament held at the Maroon Activities Center in Butte.

The Saints outscored the Orediggers 80-70 to advance to a second-round matchup with Westminster, while MSU-Northern got some last-second heroics to advance to a Friday meeting with top-seeded Lewis-Clark State.

Carroll College 80, Montana Tech 70 With tears in his eyes, Montana Tech’s D.C. Egge said he had just finished his last game as an Oredigger, an 80-70 loss to the Carroll College Saints.

“It’s been great. A great group of guys. Great fans,” said the 6-foot, 7 senior. Egge’s response was the same one shared by all the ’Digger men after the game — however, most dared not show it like the seasoned forward from Lavina.

Egge, who played in all but one of the Oredigger games this year, played the role of a stabilizing force on the team. “Everybody was great,” added Egge.

The Orediggers spent the entire second half of their final game trying to recover from an 18-point scoring binge by Dallas Leslie of the Saints. Leslie scored all of his first-half points via the trey. He was six-of-eight from the 3-point line or beyond and helped slap an 18-point deficit on the ’Diggers at the half.

“I got a couple of good looks (an obvious understatement). Eric (Henkel) and Chad (Vaculin) did a good job finding me,” added Leslie.

Leslie scored two of his 3-pointers within the first five minutes of the game and then four more in the final five minutes of the first half. After his fourth trey, the obviously See SAINTS, Page B4 elated Leslie let out a hoot in celebration on his way down the court.

To add more insult to injury to the down-and-out ’Diggers, the final shot of the half was a Leslie bomb from two feet beyond the arc. Ouch.

In the second stanza Leslie’s shooting cooled a bit, and he failed to add to his 3-point totals. He finished the game, however, with 26 points and a 53 percent shooting percentage.

From 18 points down, the ’Diggers sunk to 21 points in the black at the 12-minute mark of the second half.

“We played good defense,” said head Saints’ coach Gary Turcott. “We created some good mismatches that got us some points,” added Turcott who rushed off for a radio interview after the game.

Rebounds were also a key factor in the Saints’ win. Carroll ripped down 42 rebounds to Tech’s 26.

First-year Oredigger coach Nate Larson focused on defense also, but spoke about the lack thereof. “We did not defend one bit in the second half,” said Larson. “The first half set the tone for the rest of the game. We got it down to five (actually seven) in the second half, but it’s a disappointing way to the end the season.” The final minutes were tight even though the 10-point margin could be an indicator of a Saint blowout.

With five players on the floor scrambling for a loose ball, the Orediggers inadvertently put the ball in Carroll’s hands with the score 72-65.

Tech’s Tony Trudnowski sank a three from the right side with 55 seconds remaining, but Leslie of the Saints sank two free throws courtesy of a Jake Williams foul to go up 78-70.

Williams, who averages 11 points per game, tried to cut the lead to six on the return trip to the basket, but his behind-the-back dribble and shot in the lane bounced off the front of the rim.

The ’Diggers’ slim chance at a comeback win over the third-seeded Saints came to a dramatic halt.

The Orediggers were led by Shea Bradshaw’s outside shooting. Bradshaw had 13 points at the half, but the Saint defense was more swarming in the second half and held the junior guard to only five points. Jake Williams finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Williams finished the season leading the Orediggers in rebounds.

In addition to Leslie’s 26 points, Chad Vaculin scored 11 and Eric Henkel, the 6-foot-5 guard from Missoula, tallied 10 points for Carroll.

D.C. Egge headed out into the main arena of the MAC after his emotional reflections on the Tech season without any noticeable scars. He happily shook hands with some appreciative fans on his way off the court. A couple fans reached up to pat Egge on the back.

The Oredigger season was indeed over and without the experienced senior play of Egge, Sam Conley, Maurice Williams, Nate Harris, and Matt Nottingham, Larson’s Montana Tech Orediggers will have to create a new and different look for the 2007-08 season.

—Dave Johnson The Montana Standard Montana Tech (5-10, 10-18) — Jake Williams 4-8 5-6 14; Casey Briggs 0-4 2-2 2; Shea Bradshaw 7-16 0-0 18; Matt Nottingham 1-5 0-0 2; Sam Conley 3-8 0-0 8; Luke Harman 2-8 7-7 12; Tony Trudnowski 1-2 1-2 4; Nate Harris 3-9 0-0 8; Maurice Williams 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-64 15-17 70.

Carroll College (10-5, 20-10) — Eric Henkel 4-6 2-2 10; Sam Grantham 2-3 0-0 4; Chad Vaculin 2-8 7-10 11; Dallas Leslie 8-15 4-6 26; Chris Kaschmitter 2-5 3-4 7; Mike Dorr 1-1 0-0 2; Derek Johnson 4-7 0-1 9; Kellen Hasquet 1-1 0-0 2; Gage Brumwell 4-5 1-1 9. Totals 28-52 17-54 80.

Halftime — Montana Tech 27, Carroll College 45. 3-point goals — MT 11 (Bradshaw 4-11, Conley 2-6, Harris 2-6), CC 7 (Leslie 6-12). Rebounds — MT 26 (Williams 5, Briggs 5), CC 42 (Henkel 6, Vaculin 7, Kaschmitter 9). Total fouls — MT 22, CC 23. Fouled out — Briggs, Conley, Grantham Kaschmitter. Assists — MT 9 (Williams 2, Nottingham 2), CC 9 (Henkel 4, Vaculin 4). Turnovers — MT 10, CC 18. Blocks — MT 2 (Williams 2), CC 3 (Hasquet 2). Steals — MT 6 (Williams, Nottingham, Conley, Harman), CC 3 (Vaculin 3). Technicals — none.

MSU-Northern 64, Rocky Mountain 62 Before the game, the battle between MSU-Northern and Rocky Mountain looked pretty close on paper.

The live version didn’t fail to disappoint, as the Lights’ Marcus Wilson knocked down a short jumper at the buzzer, giving Northern another day to play, and ending Rocky’s season.

The Bears had trailed 49-40 with 8:35 left to play, but rallied hard to give themselves a shot at extending their season. Rocky’s Elijah Swan scored 10 of his team-high 16 down the final stretch, including a banked-in 3-pointer that tied the game, 62-62, with 14.5 seconds to play.

But the Lights had a plan, and it worked like a charm, as Brian Erickson fed a slick dish inside to Wilson, who quickly released it. The ball took its time, bouncing back and forth on the rim, but the final drop was in Northern’s favor.

“It seems like every game has gone down to the wire in this tournament,” said Lights coach Shawn Huse. “It’s been a fun one to watch, but a hard one on coaches, I’ll say that.” The Lights’ opening 7-4 lead took nearly five minutes to materialize, as neither team shot well in the opening minutes and seven of the first 17 total points came at the free throw line.

Rocky slugged back to claim an 18-13 lead with seven minutes left in the half, but it went downhill from there, as the Lights outscored Rocky 19-7 to end the half up 32-25.

“Going in at halftime with a lead, and with the way we were shooting the ball, it made me feel like we had a good chance,” Huse said. “I knew eventually we’d start clicking a little bit more.

“(Rocky) came out in the zone and threw us out of our rhythm. We didn’t expect that, but we finally found our rhythm and got a lead.” Northern’s Delvaughn Tinned scored the majority of his game-high 21 points with his signature move — taking a pass at the 3-point line, dribbling in and popping a shot from eight feet out. However, he also hit from behind the arc and under the hoop in transition, giving the Lights a well-rounded offensive threat.

With the game on the line, however, Tinned was well covered, and the Lights opted to put the game in Wilson’s hands.

“There’s a lot of options,” Huse said. “We didn’t know if they would be in man or zone, but hats off to our kids because they are ultimately the ones who executed it and made the plays. You can draw things up all season long and if your guys don’t execute, it doesn’t matter. Marcus really concentrated and hit a big shot there at the finish.” Andrew Sellars played a key role for the Lights, notching nine points and six rebounds, but the hustle that didn’t make the stat sheet was even more valuable. Ronnie Simpson had eight points and eight rebounds, while Northern forward Erv Sims had seven points and a pair of assists.

Devin Uskoski was a force for the Bears, scoring a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, all while swatting down a pair of Lights shots. Cooper Warren and Curtis Dunwoody each netted eight for Rocky, while Tony Eatinger had a solid first half.

“Give a lot of credit to Rocky,” Huse said. “They just didn’t give up. They had every reason to start looking forward to spring break at the end of a long season, and they did just the opposite. They kept fighting.” The Lights will face L-C State in Friday’s night cap at the MAC. The Warriors won both meetings during the conference season, 74-61 in Havre, and 78-63 in Lewiston.

—Pat Ryan The Montana Standard ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE (7-8) Devin Uskoski 6-13 0-0 13, Alvis Dowels 0-2 0-0 0, Chris Nickolei 3-7 0-2 6, Elijah Swan 6-14 1-4 16, Cooper Warren 3-7 2-3 8, Chris Townley 0-0 0-0 0, Curtis Dunwoody 3-6 0-0 8, Tim Scheffler 1-3 0-0 3, Ryan Gomendi 0-3 0-0 0, Tony Eatinger 2-4 1-2 5, Brian Baker 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-60 4-11 62.

MSU-NORTHERN (10-5) Ronnie Simpson 3-9 2-5 8, Erv Sims 3-11 1-2 7, Drew Pettersen 0-3 0-0 0, Delvaughn Tinned 8-21 4-5 21, Brian Erickson 1-5 0-0 2, Leo Bullchild 1-2 2-2 5, Durwin Williams 2-3 2-2 6, Andrew Sellars 3-3 2-3 9, Marcus Wilson 3-5 0-0 6, Cody Gillespie 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-65 13-19 64.

Halftime score — MSU-N 32, RMC 25. 3-point goals — RMC 8-22 (Uskoski 1-4, Swan 3-6, Warren 0-1, Dunwoody 2-5, Scheffler 1-3, Gomendi 0-2, Baker 1-1), MSU-N 3-18 (Simpson 0-2, Tinned 1-8, Erickson 0-2, Bullchild 1-2, Sellars 1-1, Wilson 0-1, Gillespie 0-2). Fouls — RMC 18, MSU-N 11. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — RMC 38 (Uskoski 10, Nickolei 7), MSU-N 47 (Simpson 8, Williams 8). Assists — RMC 10 (Swan 5), MSU-N 5. Turnovers — RMC 13, MSU-N 11. Blocks — RMC 3 (Uskoski 2), MSU-N 1 (Sims). Steals — RMC 6 (Dunwoody 2), MSU-N 6 (Williams 2).

Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at Maroon Activities Center Thursday Carroll College 80, Montana Tech 70 MSU-Northern 64, Rocky Mountain 62 Friday 4 p.m. — Westminster (12-3) vs. Carroll College (10-5) 8 p.m. — MSU-Northern (10-5) vs. Lewis-Clark State (13-2)