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Rocky Mountain College Athletics

Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears

Events and Results

Events and Results

Nesbit vs Tech '26
Gary Marshall
75
Montana Tech (MT) MT TECH 22-7, 15-7
76
Winner Rocky Mountain (MT) ROCKY MO 26-4, 20-2
Montana Tech (MT) MT TECH
22-7, 15-7
75
Final
76
Rocky Mountain (MT) ROCKY MO
26-4, 20-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Montana Tech (MT) MT TECH 35 40 75
Rocky Mountain (MT) ROCKY MO 33 43 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Brandon Stinson: Sports Information & Media Coordinator

Nesbit’s Three-Quarter Court Heave Sends Rocky Men’s Basketball to the Frontier Conference Championship Game

BUTTE, Mont.- Omari Nesbit left Butte, America, stunned with a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer to send Rocky Men's Basketball into the Frontier Conference Championship game. 

Nesbit was the star of the show all night, recording a game-high 26 points in a physical, back-and-forth matchup that featured a combined 54 free throws and 41 team fouls. 

How It Happened
Mekhi Jourdan and Omari Nesbit combined for a pair of three-pointers to open the contest to give Rocky an early advantage. The first ten minutes of the contest belonged to Nesbit overall, scoring 12 of Rocky's first 18 points of the contest as the Battlin' Bears held a 20-17 lead with ten minutes to play. There was no lack of intensity for either side throughout, as the final ten minutes were a physical, back-and-forth bout. Rocky's offense went quiet for the final five minutes of the half, giving the Orediggers a slim two-point lead at the break. 

The Battlin' Bears leaned into the physical nature of the game in the second half, finding success in drawing contact and earning trips to the free-throw line. Neither team had a comfortable lead throughout, as the largest lead by either side in the second half was a six-point Oredigger lead with six minutes to play. With under four minutes to play, Royce Robinson sank a midrange jumper, and Carter McCoy followed with a pair of free throws to tie the contest at 67-67. An Oredigger layup was quickly matched with an Omari Nesbit jumper to tie the game again with under a minute to go. Montana Tech split a pair of free throws with 20 seconds to go, handing the Battlin' Bears a two-point deficit. Omari Nesbit made his first crucial shot with a reverse layup to tie the game with seven seconds to go. Following a Rocky foul, Montana Tech would convert both free throws, leaving 1.9 seconds on the game clock and the full length of the court for the Battlin' Bears. Carter McCoy got a clean inbounds pass off to Omari Nesbit. From the opposite three-point line, Nesbit would bank in the game-sealing three-pointer, sending the Battlin' Bear faithful into a frenzy as the Rocky Men advance to Monday's Frontier Conference Championship. 
Notable Statistics
Omari Nesbit, on top of his late-game heroics, poured on a game-high 26 points, draining four of his six three-pointers. Royce Robinson added 15 points, converting seven of nine from the free throw line, along with seven rebounds. Jacob Bilodeau also finished in double figures with 11 points. 

The Rocky men shot 43.6% from the field and 50% from three-point range, sinking eight total on the night. They earned 26 trips to the free throw line, converting 20 of them for a 76.9% total. The Battlin' Bears outrebounded Montana Tech 30-to-21, snagging nine offensive boards and converting those into 13 second-chance points. 

Montana Tech's Asher Williams totaled a team-high 21 points, sinking seven of eight shots off the bench. 

Up Next
Rocky Men's Basketball (27-3, 20-2 conf.) will await the winner of the other semifinal matchup between third-seeded Carroll College and seventh-seeded MSU-Northern. The Frontier Conference Championship game will be played at 7:30 pm (MT) on Monday evening in the Butte Civic Center. 
 
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