Montana Tech hits the road this weekend for a pair of conference contests. The Diggers will be in Havre Friday night to take on the Lights and Great Falls on Saturday to face the Argos.
The Oredigger Men (9-4, 1-1) will have their hands full with The Lights. Northern moved to No. 13 in the NAIA Division I Top 25 Poll this week after being ranked No.19. The Lights (15-2, 2-0) jumped six places after defeating the University of Great Falls last Friday 63-62.
The Orediggers are averaging 68.9 PPG and shooting 43.1% from the field. As a team, they are hitting 33.9% from beyond the arc. Tech hits 73.4% from the line and is ranked second in the Frontier and 10th in Division I.
Tech is giving up 64.5 PPG and ranks third in the Frontier and 21st in all of NAIA in that category. The team is 4-0 when holding the opposing team to less than 60 points. Tech is averaging 33.2 defensive rebounds a game and ranks 39th in Division I. They have a turnover margin of 1.53 which ranks them 35th.
Freshman Adam Greger is leading the Orediggers in scoring this season with 12.4 PPG. Greger averaged 16.5 PPG last weekend in his first two conference games.
Senior guard AJ Paine is leading the Orediggers in steals (1.69) and assists (3.2). The Billings native is shooting 92.3% from the line and ranks first in Division I.
Senior Cole Conway is leading Tech in rebounds and averages five boards a game currently.
Northern tends to shoot the long ball and is currently ranked 3rd in NAIA Division I in three-point field goals per game (10.2). Tough on defense, Northern is leading the conference in scoring defense with 59.9 points allowed per game. Northern is undefeated at home so far this season with a (6-0) record.
Senior guard Shaun Tatarka is leading the Lights in scoring this season with 13.6 PPG. Tatarka is averaging 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and also leads the team in steals with 1.6 per game.
The University of Great Falls Argos (12-4, 0-1) fell to Northern to start out conference play with a loss.
Guard Marcel Towns is leading the Argos in scoring this season with 11.1 PPG. Towns also pick up 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
The Lady Diggers (5-9, 0-2) will try to pick up their first win in conference play this weekend. The Skylights (14-1, 1-0) won their first contest last weekend against the UGF Argos 55-47. Northern is knocking at the door of the NAIA Top 25 receiving votes in the poll released this week.
The Lady Diggers are scoring 65.1 PPG and shooting 38.6% from the field. From three-point range,Tech is shooting 29%. Tech is bringing down 43.9 boards a game and is ranked fourth in the Frontier and 18th in all of NAIA.
On defense, the Lady Diggers have held their opponents to 67.6 PPG. Pulling in 28.3 defensive rebounds a game, the Diggers are ranked fourth in the conference and 21st in Division I.
Freshman Mandy Machinal is having a presence her first year with the team. Machinal is the leading scorer for the Lady Diggers averaging 15 PPG on 38% shooting.
Sophomore center Kelsey DeWit is leading the team in rebounds (7.8) and blocks (1.5). The Columbia Falls native also averages 10.5 PPG.
The Skylights are holding opponents to 53 PPG which is leading the Frontier Conference. Shooting a solid long ball like their counter parts, the Skylights are ranked first in NAIA Division I in three-point field goal percentage (40%).
Guard Nikki Tresch is leading the Skylights in scoring with 15 PPG. The junior has been hitting 45% of her three-point shots and leads the team in assists (2.2) and steals (1.8).
The Argos (6-8, 0-1) is also looking for their first conference win this weekend.
Junior center Kindra Jones leads the Argos into action this weekend. From Richmond, CA, Jones is leading the Argos in points (11.5), rebounds (8.8) and blocks (2.0).
All of the games can be viewed as they happen at www.godiggers .com. The first game starts in Havre Friday night at 6 PM MST and Saturday at 5:30 PM MST.
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