Rocky men beat The Master’s, head for KC

BILLINGS — The Rocky Mountain men cut down their own nets Saturday.

Jacob Bilodeau hit two free throws with 13 seconds left, and the host Battlin’ Bears escaped with a 67-66 win over The Master’s (Calif.) in NAIA Tournament action at the Fortin Center. 

Bilodeau’s heroics came after The Master’s (22-10) made up a 62-54 deficit in the final 3:36. The Mustangs took leads of 65-64 — their first lead since being up 3-0 — and 66-65 on single free throws from Avery Jackson.  

Jackson missed a last-second drive with five seconds left and Carter McCoy rebounded for Rocky. 

Rocky led 40-22 when Sherman Royal III scored 2:58 before intermission. 

Jackson scored 22 points to lead the Mustangs. Omari Nesbit scored 25 points to lead the Bears. Royal had 10 and Bilodeau, whose brother Tyler plays at UCLA, added nine. 

Rocky now heads to Kansas City, Mo., for the Round of 16 against Frontier rival Bellevue (Neb.) Friday. 

Northwestern (Iowa) 80, College of Idaho 62 

ORANGE CITY, Iowa — The reign is over for the defending NAIA champion Yotes, who trailed 50-23 at halftime. 

Jesse Van Kalsbeek was 13 of 17 from the floor and scored 29 points for Northwestern (28-5). which shot 61 percent. Jalen Langsy hit four 3-pointers on the way to 23 points for the Red Raiders. 

Utrillo Morris led C of I (21-11) with 17 points; Rey Johnston, a true freshman out of Missoula Loyola, hit 5 of 10 3-pointers and added 15. Dougie Peoples (Butte Central) had four treys and 12 points; Alex Germer (Sentinel) had two points in 19 minutes. 

Oklahoma Wesleyan 67, Montana Tech 46

BARTELSVILLE, Okla. — Humberto Kentish, Jr., scored 13 points in 20 minutes of action for the Eagles (30-3), who closed the first half on a 19-2 surge that put them 29-13. 

Hayden Diekhans was the only player in double figures for the Orediggers (23-9) with 13 points. Brayden Koch, Rhett Reynolds and Camdyn LaRance had four points each.  

WOMEN

Dordt, Iowa 85, Rocky 54

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Dordt, which beat Simpson (Calif.) 120-47 on Friday, got 18 points from Gracie Schoonhoven while building a 42-19 halftime lead. 

Schoonhoven finished with 26 points and eight boards for the Defenders (31-2). 

Isabelle Heggem scored 21 points for the Battlin’ Bears (21-10). 

Lewis-Clark St. 79, Montana Tech 67

LEWISTON, Idaho — Sitara Byrd scored 26 points, 10 coming in the fourth period as L-C State pulled away from a 55-51 lead. 

Payton Hymas added 20 points for the Warriors (25-8); Byrd pulled down 17 rebounds. 

Hadley Humphreys led the Frontier Conference champion Orediggers (26-5) with 16 points. and eight rebounds. Liv Wangerin added 13, Halle Haber 10 and Brooke Badovinac, eight.