Brandon Stinson

Men's Basketball 2/23/2023 5:30:00 PM Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

Rocky Basketball Prepares for Frontier Conference Tournament Starting Sunday

BILLINGS, Mont.- Rocky Men's and Women's Basketball will play back-to-back on Sunday afternoon with the women taking on MSU-Northern at 3:00pm and the men playing Carroll College at 5:00pm at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

Battlin' Bears Recap: Rocky women's basketball (18-9, 10-5 conf.) ended their regular season with a 68-45 defeat against #15 ranked Montana Western in Dillon. The Battlin' Bears go into the conference tournament losing two straight to top-25 ranked teams. This losing streak narrowly dropped the Rocky women out of the top-25 in the most recent NAIA coaches poll. Senior Kloie Thatcher finished the regular season averaging the third most assists (3.1) and steals (1.8) per game in the conference, while averaging the most minutes per game of any player in the conference (34.4).

The Rocky men (14-13, 6-9 conf.) finished their regular season on a high note with a 77-73 victory over Montana Western. The Battlin' Bears head into the tournament winning four out of the last six of their games in the regular season and securing season series wins over three of their five conference opponents. Maxim Stephens finished the regular season in the top-five in the conference points per game (5th, 13.7) and rebounds per game (5th, 6.6). The Rocky men boasted three of the top five three point percentage shooters in the conference in Elliott Brooks (2nd, 47.1%), Beau Santistevan (3rd, 43.8%), and Tayshawun Bradford (5th, 43.0%).

Sunday, February 26th vs MSU-Northern
WBB @ 3:00pm

Scouting the Skylights: The Skylights of MSU-Northern (8-20, 1-14 conf.) enter the Frontier Conference tournament as the six seed coming off of their first conference victory last Saturday over Montana Tech. Senior forward Ryley Kehr was named Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player of the Week last week after scoring 26 points in the win against Montana Tech.

The Battlin' Bears won all three matchups this season against the Skylights by an average margin of 20.3 points. Morgan Baird found a great deal of success against the Skylights this season, averaging 12.3 points per game against MSU-Northern this season on 60% shooting from the field. Kloie Thatcher contributed heavily on both ends against MSU-Northern this season, swiping 10 total steals over the three victories, while also averaging 13.6 points per game.

If the Battlin' Bears are able to secure a victory against the Skylights, they will take on Montana Western as the highest seed remaining on Monday afternoon. If the Skylights pull off the upset, they will take on top-seeded Carroll College as the lowest seed remaining.

Sunday, February 26th vs Carroll College
MBB @ 3:00pm

Scouting the Fighting Saints: The Fighting Saints of Carroll College (13-13, 7-8 conf.) enter the Frontier Conference tournament as the fourth seed after defeating University of Providence last Saturday. The Carroll men are led by two of the conference's top three scorers in sophomore Andrew Cook (19.2 ppg) and senior Jonny Hillman (14.9 ppg).

The Battlin' Bears dropped all three matchups against the Saints this season by an average margin of 18 points. Beau Santistevan scored a career high 24 points against the Saints in Helena in the teams' second meeting this season.

The winner of Sunday's matchup will have to wait until the following 7:00pm matchup of MSU-Northern and Montana Western to decide who the next opponent will be. The highest seed remaining will take on second-seeded University of Providence, while the lowest seed remaining will take on top-seeded Montana Tech.

Social Media: Follow @BattlinBears on Twitter for live updates as the games go on.

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