Another crazy week in the Wild Frontier
We stroll into a Monday, with another crazy week of Frontier Conference basketball behind us.
By the time this season is done we will know one thing for certain, MSU-Northern’s men will be the best-conditioned team… ever. In 8 conference games so far, half of them have gone to overtime. One single overtime loss, 2- double overtime losses, and now, a triple-overtime win, 86-84 over Rocky, on Saturday. To start the weekend, the Lights were south in Great Falls taking on the Argos. Northern was up by 8 at the half, and actually led by 14 with 17 minutes remaining. Over the next 4 minutes the Argos went on a 15-1 run to tie the ballgame up at 51. The game went back and forth after that, but the Argos held on for the win 77-71.
Carroll College’s men had a much-needed ‘good weekend’ with wins over Western 85-81 in Dillon and taking down #12 Montana Tech 84-77 in Helena. Andrew Cook was on fire, hitting 31 against Western, and 24 against the Orediggers. Carroll is 2-0 against Western this year and 1-1 against the Orediggers. 10 of the last 11 games between the Diggs and Saints have been won by the home team.
Caleb Bellach had another strong weekend for the Orediggers, knocking down 26 points in a win over Rocky, and 27 in the loss to Carroll College. Tech’s shooting % had been incredibly high the last several wins, including 50% from the floor against Rocky, Carroll was able to knock that down to 37% from the floor, and 31% from the arc. Tech and Carroll will face off again on February 9th in Butte.
The Argos of Providence should have the ‘Jaws’ theme playing whenever they enter a gym. The Argos have won 4 straight and are tied with Tech for first place in the Frontier. This past Thursday they got past MSU Northern 77-70 in Great Falls, Harris Williams led them with 24. On Saturday they got themselves involved in a shootout with the Bulldogs at home and got the win 95-89. Marcus Stephens put 30 points on the board, and Harris Williams with 22. The Argos and Orediggers will battle in Butte for first place Thursday.
The Bulldogs of UM Western went 0-2 on the weekend, with hard-fought losses to Carroll 85-81 in Dillon, and 95-89 to Providence in Great Falls. That Providence game kicked off a run of 4 straight road games for the Bulldogs, an important stretch for the Dawgs, with 4 weeks of conference remaining.
The Battlin Bears also went 0-2 on the weekend, and maybe just as important 0-2 at home. With a 78-55 loss to Montana Tech on Thursday, and that triple OT heartbreaker to Northern 86-84. The Tech loss was a tight ballgame midway through the second half when Tech went on a 23-9 run over the final 9 minutes to take the Win. Maxim Stephens had a great weekend for the Bears, registering 24 points against the Diggs, and 23 in the triple-OT loss to Northern.
So with 4 weeks of Conference play behind us, here is a look at the Frontier Conference Men’s standings. Conference standings first. Overall record next.
#12 Montana Tech 6-2 18-3
Providence 6-2 12-9
Carroll College 4-4 10-9
MSU- Northern 3-5 14-7
UM Western 3-5 8-13
Rocky Mountain 2-6 10-10
Here is a look at this week’s games:
Thursday
UM Western @ MSU Northern
Rocky Mountain @ Carroll College
Providence @ Montana Tech
Saturday:
Montana Tech @ MSU Northern
Carroll @ Providence
Western @ Rocky
Week 4 of the Frontier women's games can be found HERE.