BILLINGS, Mont. – The Rocky Mountain College men's basketball team had three players scored 20-plus points, but it was No. 10 Montana Western using the long ball late to rally for an 82-79 win in the Fortin Education Center on Thursday night.
Rocky (17-12, 8-9 Frontier) led 77-71 with 1:49 to play when things went the wrong direction. Montana Western (23-5, 13-4) got threes from Dom Robinson, Warrn Helligar, and Zaccheus Darko-Kelly on its next three possessions to take the 80-77 advantage.
Craig Wilmore would cap hit career night with an offensive rebound and put back to get Rocky within one with 11 seconds to play. After a pair of free throws from Brandon Jones for Western had the lead back to three, Wilmore's attempt to tie at the buzzer hit off the back rim.
Rocky didn't shoot it well all night, finishing the game at 39.2 percent. The Battlin' Bears dominated on the glass with 25 offensive rebounds for 27 second chance points. Those offensive rebounds helped the team to a 51-37 advantage on the boards.
Jared Samuelson was a dominate inside with 27 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year. He had 11 offensive rebounds and added three blocked shots.
Wilmore finished the game with a career-high 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for his first double-double since December of 2016. He also had four assists.
Danny Betcher matched his career high of 20 points set in Rocky's last game while getting eight rebounds and three blocks.
Montana Western shot 46.9 percent for the game and was 13 of 28 from beyond the arc. They took advantage of the seven Rocky turnovers with 12 points from those miscues.
Kooper Kidgell led five Bulldogs in double figures with 21 points.
Rocky now moves into a tie with MSU-Northern for the fourth spot in the Frontier standings ahead of Saturday's regular season finale with Lewis-Clark State in the Fortin Center. Rocky can earn the No. 4 seed – and a home game against Northern in the quarterfinals – with a loss by the Sky Lights at Montana Tech on Friday and then a Rocky win over LC State on Saturday. If Northern wins on Friday, they secure the fourth seed and lock Rocky into the No. 5 seed.
