BILLINGS, Mont.- Rocky Men's and Women's Basketball hosts University of Providence in the Fortin Education Center Thursday evening, before taking a trip to Butte to take on Montana Tech on Saturday.Â
Battlin' Bears Recap: Rocky women's basketball (15-7, 7-3 conf.) dropped their first back to back conference games since 2020-21 after taking defeats to both #11 Carroll College and #15 Montana Western last weekend. The Battlin' Bears, now with three conference losses, sit in third place in the Frontier Conference standings with five games remaining. Carroll College holds onto first place with a 9-1 record in conference, while Montana Western sits right behind them with an 8-2 record.Â
The Rocky men (11-11, 3-7 conf.) split their matchups last weekend, losing to Carroll on the road but picking up a much needed victory at home over Montana Western. The Battlin' Bears had four players score in double figures in the victory over the Bulldogs for the first time since their December 3rd victory over University of Providence. The Rocky men sit tied for 5th place in the conference standings, but remain only two games out from the third seed with five games remaining.Â
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Thursday, February 2nd vs University of Providence (WHITE OUT)
WBB @ 5:00pm
MBB @ 7:00pm
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Scouting the Argos: The University of Providence women (13-10, 3-7 conf.) split their weekend matchups last weekend, defeating Montana Tech in Butte and falling to #11 Carroll College at home. Reed Hazard has been on a tear as of late, scoring at least 20 points in each of her last three games. The Battlin' Bears will look for their fourth straight win over the Argos, holding Providence to 46 points or lower in the past three matchups.Â
The Argos are coached by Bill Himmelberg in his 12th season.
The University of Providence men (13-10, 7-3 conf.) also split their weekend matchups, falling in overtime to #12 Montana Tech, while defeating Carroll College at home in overtime. The Argos' victory over Carroll last Saturday gave them their seventh conference victory and tied them with #12 Montana Tech for first place in the standings after the Orediggers loss to MSU-Northern. Davien Harris-Williams was named Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player of the Week after averaging 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and two assists per game last weekend. The Argos are a prolific offensive unit, with five players currently averaging over 10 points per game, including two players in Harris-Williams and Marcus Stephens who are averaging over 20 points per game this season, pacing the Argos to an average of 81 points per game as a team. After a 2-2 start in conference play, the University of Providence men have won five out of their last seven conference games, with their only two losses being to #12 Montana Tech.Â
The Argos are coached by Steve Keller in his fifth season.
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Saturday, February 4th at Montana Tech
WBB @ 2:00pm
MBB @ 4:00pmÂ
Scouting the Orediggers: The Montana Tech women (7-13, 3-7 conf.) split their matchups last weekend, as they fell to University of Providence at home, then defeated MSU-Northern on the road in Havre. Sophomore Soda Rice scored a career high 19 points in Havre last Saturday, while junior Tavia Rooney has scored 12 or more points in seven straight games as she sits third in the Frontier Conference averaging 14.1 points per game. The Battlin' Bears have won seven straight games over the Orediggers and are 17-1 since 2018.Â
The Orediggers are coached by Jeff Graham in his first season.
The Montana Tech men (19-4, 7-3 conf.) also split their matchups last weekend, defeating University of Providence in overtime, then falling to MSU-Northern in Havre.Â
The Orediggers had dominated up until this point, but have lost two of their last three in conference play. Calleb Bellach is still making his case for Frontier Conference player of the year, as he has scored at least 25 points in six of their last nine games, including a season high 27 points in Tech's loss to Carroll. Bellach goes into the weekend tied with Carroll's Andrew Cook for the scoring title, averaging 18.9 points per game.Â
The Orediggers are coached by Adam Hiatt in his seventh season.
Social Media: Follow @BattlinBears on Twitter for live updates as the game goes on.
