Gameday 021712

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

Dual threat Western’s Tyler Hurley goes inside and out.

D3

Montana Tech at Western Friday, February 17 Women 5:30 p.m. ■ Men 7:30 p.m.

Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon A publication of The Montana Standard and Montana Tech

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D2 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

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THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 D3

Hurley powers ’Dogs Anaconda grad plays inside and out

BY PAT RYAN of The Montana Standard

I

t took some looking, but Tyler Hurley finally found where he wanted to be.

That place, as it turns out, is the Montana Western men’s basketball team, where Hurley is a senior power forward for the Bulldogs.

Hurley, a 2007 graduate of Anaconda, spent two seasons — one a redshirt — in Missoula at the University of Montana before making the difficult decision to move to the NAIA. “It was tough to leave Missoula,” Hurley admits. “I wanted to be there, but us making the (NAIA National) tournament the last two years has

helped. I don’t question my decision any more.”

Hurley said he was taken aback by the level of play in the Frontier Conference.

“The Frontier definitely surprised me,” Hurley said.

“There’s not much of a dropoff at all. There are Division I-caliber players in the Frontier who probably just didn’t get a look. There’s no nights off in the Frontier. Tech beat Northern right after us, and we know we can’t look past anyone.”

Hurley Though Western head coach Steve Keller recruited Hurley out of high school while he was an assistant coach at Carroll College, Hurley listed the main reasons for choosing Dillon as two friends — Jared Smithson and Layne Glaus.

“Knowing a couple of guys before I

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came here made it a lot easier,” Hurley said. “They played big in my decision, but I also thought coach Keller would be a great fit.”

Keller, who has been at the helm of the Bulldog program for nearly five years, has a reputation as a tough coach.

“Coach Keller is definitely the toughest coach I’ve ever played for, but he’ll tell you that himself,” Hurley said.

“He demands perfection and we try to give it to him every time we go out on the floor.

“You know, I liked coach Keller right away.”

For Keller, the proof of Hurley’s value shows up in his numbers and results.

“Tyler’s in his third year here, and we’re in our third 20-win season,” he said. “When Tyler Hurley plays well we’re pretty much guaranteed to play well as a team too.”

At 6-foot-5, Hurley has the size to play a strong game at the No. 4 spot, but

ON THE COVER

WALTER HINICK / THE MONTANA STANDARD

TYLER HURLEY blocks a shot by Montana Tech’s Brian Cummings during the two teams’ first meeting in January.

he’s got the finesse and the shot to be a dangerous force outside as well.

“Tyler’s a dual threat,” Keller said.

“He’s very solid on the block, but he’s also one of our best percentage 3-point

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D4 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

Hurley ...

Continued from Page D3 shooters. He’s developed to where he can play in or out.”

Tech coach Aaron Woliczko also complimented Hurley, keying on him defensively instead of Western leading scorer Brandon Brown in the teams’ last game in January.

“We want to limit Hurley’s touches against us,” Woliczko said.

In two and a half years at Western, Hurley has averaged almost 11 points per game with a high of 27. He has shot 47 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc, in addition to 77 percent of his free throws.

Hurley has also pulled down 5.3 rebounds per game with a high of 13.

As a senior, Hurley said it seemed natural to step into a leadership role.

“Brandon and I kind of took it upon ourselves last year after the seniors left,” Hurley said. “It was just something we needed to do.”

Hurley said he feels very at home with his teammates.

“This team is probably the closest one I’ve ever been on,” Hurley said. “We never have problems in practice and that’s really nice.

Winning makes it easier, but we’re all doing

TYLER HURLEY is pictured during a recent Montana Western game.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MONTANA WESTERN

stuff together outside of basketball too.”

Hurley describes his team as “a hardworking crew,” and he also gave a nod to the underclassmen on the team.

“The younger guys challenge us every day in practice,” he said. “We’ve got a good young nucleus. (Jake) Owsley and (Tyler) Miller are sophomores who will be returning starters, so I think the team’s in good shape to keep this run going.”

Though he’s made the transition from Missoula to Dillon, Hurley still keeps one strong tie to the Grizzly program. His sister Ali Hurley is a junior with the Lady Griz basketball team.

“We talk just about every day,” Tyler Hurley said.

And he’s got a good contingent of fans and family who make the trek from the Smelter City to Dillon to see the former Copperhead in action. Just last week, Anaconda head boys’ basketball coach Jason Buell hauled the entire team to Straugh Gymnasium to watch a Western game, featuring an outstanding Anaconda alumnus.

Hurley, who is studying secondary education, said he’s come around to like the block system where students concentrate on a single subject at a time.

“It’s different, and with three straight

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THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 D5

Coaches: Anyone can win Tech-Western game

BY PAT RYAN

The Bulldogs got a huge weekend from 6-foot-4 senior Kyle Erickson, who earned national NAIA player of the week honors after scoring 63 points in Western’s wins over MSU-Northern and They’re miles apart, but oh-so-close together. the University of Great Falls.

Montana Tech and Montana Western are on opposite ends of Against Northern, Erickson scored a career-high 32 points, had the Frontier Conference men’s basketball standings. The Bulldogs 10 rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. He was 10 for 11 from the are atop the pile with an field, made his only 3-point attempt and went 11 of 12 from the 8-3 league mark, while Tech brings up the rear with a 3-8 mark.

Western head coach Steve Keller free throw line. Against Great Falls, Erickson had 31 points, 14 That’s one statistic both coaches throw out the window in rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He was 10 for 16 from the preparation for the teams’ latest meeting, slated for 7:30 p.m. field, 7 of 9 from 3-point range and 4 of 6 from the free throw line.

Friday at Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon.

Tech is coming off a pair of non-conference losses to Division I Utah Valley and “The standings don’t mean anything,” Western head coach Steve Keller Utah State, games that came on the heels of a Friday night loss to Great Falls said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve seen that anybody can beat anybody in and a Saturday win over Northern. the Frontier.”

“I’m happy with how the guys came together after the team meeting we The last time they met on Jan. 21 in Butte, Western opened a 30-17 lead only had after the Great Falls game,” Woliczko said, noting the stinging to see the Orediggers come back and pull within two points in the final seconds 70-41 loss suffered at the hands of the Argos. “We did a much before the final 65-61 Western advantage. better job playing together against Northern. We played with trust in each “Tech might be the best coached team in our league,” Keller said. “They other, and that carried over when we got on the bus to Utah.” compete with everybody. They just knocked off Northern, and any team that The Orediggers lost to the two Division I teams, but played well can beat Westminster three out of four times has to be doing something right.” enough in both games to draw praise from Woliczko.

Last time the teams met, Tech head coach Aaron Woliczko said his squad “Daniel Simon has really come on in the last half of conference keyed defensively on Tyler Hurley instead of standout point guard play,” Woliczko said. “He’s been a lot more comfortable in the style Brandon Brown. we’ve been playing lately and he’s finding his role. Tyree (Haynie) “We’re looking for ‘Allen Iverson numbers’ from Brandon Brown,” has been playing well and (Adam) Greger has teams trying to Woliczko said. “We want a lot of attempts for the points he scores.

But they have other role players who stepped up against us, and we need to See WIN, Page D9 find a way to stop them, too.” of The Montana Standard

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MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE 2012 January

6 7 13 14 21 27 28 February 2 4 10 11 13 14 17 23 25 March 1, 3, 5 14-20

Westminster College *& Lewis-Clark State College *& Montana State University-Northern *& University of Great Falls *& University of Montana-Western *& Rocky Mountain College *& Carroll College *& Lewis-Clark State College *& Westminster College *& University of Great Falls *& Montana State University-Northern *& Utah Valley University (Exhibition) Utah State University (Exhibition) University of Montana-Western *& Carroll College *& Rocky Mountain College *& Frontier Conference Tournament NAIA National Tournament

* Frontier Conference Games & Double Header with Women

All Game Times MST

2011-2012

2011-2012 Player Tyree Haynie Tanner Neumann Bryan Bock Cole Conway Chet Pannabecker Reid Baerlocher AJ Paine Roman Pruneda-Garza Adam Greger Brian Cummings Trent Thompson Brandon Rydberg Daniel Simon

Yr RSSr RSJr So Sr RSFr RSFr Sr Jr Fr RSJr RSFr Fr RSJr

Ht/Wt 5-9/170 6-2/200 6-3/190 6-3/215 6-3/185 5-11/175 6-0/185 6-1/175 6-6/195 6-2/180 6-8/235 6-3/195 6-6/215

Position PG G/F G F G G G PG G/F G F/C G/F F

Head coach: Aaron Woliczko, 2nd season Associate head coach: Patrick O’Herron, 1st season Assistant coach: Chris Stetzner, 1st season

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

8 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

8:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

TBA 7:05 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

8 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

TBA TBA

Western men’s roster

Tech men’s basketball roster # 1 3 4 5 20 21 22 23 30 33 34 40 44

Butte, MT Butte, MT Havre, MT Great Falls, MT Butte, MT Butte, MT Butte, MT Lewiston, MT Salt Lake City, UT Butte, MT Butte, MT Orem, UT Logan, UT Dillon, MT Helena, MT Billings, MT TBA Kansas City, MO

Hometown Chico, Calif.

Butte Rialto, Calif.

Butte Choteau Florence Billings Othello, Wash.

Florence Brooklyn, N.Y. Plains Bozeman Ephrata, Wash.

# 3 5 11 12 14 15 21 23 24 25 32 33 34 35

Player Brandon Brown Cedric Clarington Levi Simon JC Isakson Gabe Rucker Jake Owsley Tyler Miller Jordan Overstreet Austin Mailey Kyle Perry Tyler Hurley Bridger Chambers Vince Turk Kyle Erickson

Yr SR JR SO JR SO SO SO FR FR SR SR SR SO SR

Ht/Wt G G G G G P G/P G G P G/P P P G

Head coach: Steve Keller, 5th season Assistant coach: Brett Morehouse, 1st season Assistant coach: Lowell Peterson, 2nd season Assistant coach: Ray Wanty, 2nd season Student assistant: Trent Harrison, 1st season

Position 5-10 6-3 6-0 6-1 6-1 6-8 6-5 6-2 6-0 6-9 6-5 6-6 6-8 6-4

Hometown Tacoma, Wash.

Seattle, Wash.

Whitehall Augusta Bozeman Bozeman Chandler, Ariz.

Three Forks Twin Bridges Riverside, Calif.

Anaconda Stevensville Whitehall Broadview

THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 D7

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2012 January

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February 2 4 10 11 17 23 25 March

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5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

6 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

Lewis-Clark State* Westminster College* University of Great Falls* MSU – Northern* Montana Western* Carroll College* Rocky Mountain College*

Lewiston, ID Salt Lake City, UT Butte Butte Dillon Helena Billings

7 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

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2011-2012 ROSTER

# Player

Yr

Pos.

Ht/Wt

Hometown

# Player

Yr

Pos.Ht/Wt

Hometown

3 4 5 10 11 12 15 23 24 42 50 52

FR SO SO JR FR FR JR JR SR FR JR FR

G G G G G G F G G C C C

5-3 5-10 5-8 5-5 5-3 5-5 5-9 5-11 5-9 6-0 6-2 6-2

Port Orchard, WA Helena,MT Bigfork, MT Burley, ID Bozeman, MT Winnemucca, NV Missoula, MT Helena, MT Lincoln, MT Helena, MT Dillon, MT Bremerton, WA

2 Jessica Sturm 3 Bryn Hasquet 4 Ivana Lacmanovic 14 Dannielle Devenny 20 Brianne McClafferty 22 Lisa Laslovich 23 Kelsey DeWit 24 Shaye Murphy 32 Mandy Machinal 33 Laini Kalumbi 34 Tabitha Tomlinson 44 Erika Jenkins

So So So So Sr So So Jr Fr So Sr Jr

G G G F F G C C G G G C

Roy Missoula Belgrade, Serbia Perth, Australia Butte Anaconda Columbia Falls Riverton, Utah Richland, Wash.

Provo, Utah Puyallup, Wash.

Great Falls

Kelsey Callaghan Sammi Bignell Roxy Thurman Kassi Kerbs Jenna Banks Morgen Thacker Brittney Leibenguth Alecia Wilson Nicole Tams Kaci Matthies Hayley Pettit Breyenne Mosey

Head coach: Cara Cocchiarella, 3rd season Assistant coach: Syd Crosser, 1st season Assistant coach: Lauryn Lynch, 2nd season Student assistant: Alyssa Ladenburg, 1st season

5-9 6-0 5-8 6-0 6-0 5-7 6-2 6-1 5-7 5-8 5-7 6-1

Head coach: Kerie DePell, fifth season Assistant coach: Lindsie Wilson, first season

D8 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

TECH-WESTERN

Third meeting the charm for women The Bulldogs and Orediggers women’s basketball teams have a little score to settle.

In the preseason run, Montana Western posted a 63-40 win over a young and developing Montana Tech team. In the first go-round of the Frontier slate, however, Tech posted a big 84-71 win over the Bulldogs.

Something’s got to give, and both teams are banking on it being the other.

Neither team is in the Frontier Conference group sitting above .500, as Tech is 4-7 and Western is 3-8. Both are coming off losses to teams the other defeated last weekend.

After Montana Tech used a strong overtime performance to defeat the University of Great Falls 68-65 on Friday, the last-place Argos (2-8) went to Dillon and posted a 79-74 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Similarly, after Western registered a 80-72 victory over MSU-Northern (5-5) Friday, the Skylights came in to Butte and nipped the Orediggers 42-41.

The Orediggers saw a nice weekend performance from center Kelsey DeWit, who came up big in the win over Great Falls with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks, and again Saturday with 10 points in the loss to Northern.

“She played as hard as she could, and that’s what we’ve been working on,” Tech coach Kerie DePell said. “That shows what her potential is.”

Danni Devenny and Brianne McClafferty put up nice numbers on Friday, while senior point guard Tabby Tomlinson did the same Saturday.

Freshman Mandy Machinal leads the Orediggers in scoring with an average of more than 14 points per game, while DeWit is the rebound leader with nearly seven per game, and also has the most Bignell blocks. Tomlinson paces her team in assists and steals.

Western enjoyed a 27-point output from Sammi Bignell in Friday’s win over Northern, while teammate Hayley Pettit contributed 21 points and 11 Pettit rebounds from the post.

“I thought our girls did a really good job bouncing back from the last couple weeks,” Western head coach Cara Cocchiarella said.

Pettit, a 6-foot-3 post out of Dillon, leads the Bulldogs in scoring (17 points per game), rebounds (12.17 per game), steals (1.6 per game) and blocks, while Alecia Wilson dishes 4.6 assists per game.

The Bulldogs are third in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (30.4) and 11th in total rebounds per game (44.4).

Tipoff for Friday’s game is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Straugh Gymnasium on the Montana Western campus in Dillon.

NAIA Divsion I Women’s Basketball Top 25 Poll Team Vote Pts. 1. Oklahoma City (12) 23-1 312 2. Union (Tenn.)

24-2 302 3. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)

21-4 292 4. Lee (Tenn.)

25-1 282 5. Cumberlands (Ky.) 23-1 272 6. Westmont (Calif.)

23-2 262 7. Lubbock Christian (Texas) 19-4 248 8. Lewis-Clark State 23-3 244 9. Shawnee State (Ohio) 22-4 226 10. Langston (Okla.)

23-2 225 11. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 23-3 212 12. Vanguard (Calif.)

17-5 205 13. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)

18-6 194 14. St. Xavier (Ill.) 19-6 183 15. Southern Nazarene (Okla.)

19-7 165 16. Belhaven (Miss.)

20-6 153 17. Georgetown (Ky.) 17-8 152 18. Westminster 17-7 151 19. Loyola (La.) 21-2 130 20. Campbellsville (Ky.) 18-9 121 21. Xavier (La.) 18-8 115 22. Shorter (Ga.) 20-5 101 23. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 18-8 90 24. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 18-8 87 25. Columbia (Mo.) 18-8 68 Others receiving votes — Lyon (Ark.) 46, William Woods (Mo.) 40, Louisiana State-Shreveport 34, Rogers State (Okla.) 32, Avila (Mo.) 23, San Diego Christian (Calif.) 18, Talladega (Ala.) 5, Robert Morris (Ill.) 3, Central Methodist (Mo.) 1, St. Gregory’s (Okla.) 1, Rocky Mountain 1, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 1.

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THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 D9

TECH

Simon

Paine

Greger

Win ...

Continued from Page D5 figure out how to guard him.”

Keller said he has been pleased with Brandon Brown’s “solid” play, while sophomore Tyler Miller has been tough on defense while displaying flair in hitting the open shots.

The coach also lauded two-sport athlete Bridger Chambers for tough play off the bench. Chambers also competes in rodeo for the Bulldogs.

Montana Tech gets 12.18 points per game on 48 percent shooting from

Erickson

Brown

Adam Greger, while A.J. Paine paces the Orediggers in assists (2.6 per game), and steals (1.46), while Simon has eight blocks on the season. Cole Conway paces Tech in rebounding with 5.8 per game.

Brown leads the Bulldogs in scoring (21.5 points per game), assists (4.6 per game) and steals (2.33 per game), while Anaconda senior Tyler Hurley is the team leader in rebounds with 6 per game. Kyle Perry blocks 1.5 shots per game.

“We know this is going to be a tough game,” Keller said. “We can’t overlook anyone.”

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D10 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Top 25 Poll

Hurley ...

Continued from Page D4 hours of class, it can make you want to pull your hair out,” he said. “But now I like it. I can take one class at a time and get it out of the way.”

He added that he felt more of a connection to the community, and noticed pronounced support from the faculty.

“A lot of the teachers come out and watch us,” he said. “They really seem to care about sports and things outside the classroom.”

Hurley said his goal is to become a basketball coach at the collegiate level, and he may even give former coach Wayne Tinkle a call to land a possible graduate assistant position after earning his degree at Western.

For now, Hurley and the rest of the Bulldogs have their sights set on goals that seem closer every day.

“The Frontier Conference championship is something we’d definitely like to get back to,” Hurley said.

“But our goal from day one has been to advance to the national tournament. Last year we almost beat the No. 1 team, and Rocky Mountain won it a few years back.

“All you’ve got to do is get there, and anything can happen.”

MONTANA WESTERN’S TYLER HURLEY jumps for a basket in a game against Carroll College.

Team 1. Shorter (Ga.)(10) 2. Oklahoma Baptist (1) 3. Robert Morris (Ill.) (1) 4. Southern Poly (Ga.) 5. Rogers State (Okla.)

6. Martin Methodist (Tenn.)

7. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 8. Westmont (Calif.)

9. Mountain State (W.Va.) 10. Georgetown (Ky.) 11. Concordia (Calif.)

12. Texas Wesleyan 13. John Brown (Ark.) 14. Lee (Tenn.)

15. UM Western 16. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 17. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)

18. Tougaloo (Miss.)

19. LSU-Shreveport 20. Columbia (Mo.) 21. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 22. MSU-Northern 23. Southern Nazarene (Okla.)

24. Cumberlands (Ky.) 25. Xavier (La.)

Vote 24-1 22-3 23-2 20-4 20-4 20-5 20-5 18-5 20-6 19-6 20-5 20-4 21-5 18-5 20-7 16-8 20-6 21-5 18-6 20-6 19-7 20-6 18-8 15-9 18-7

Pts. 311 302 292 281 268 259 252 235 231 220 212 202 197 167 155 152 149 144 141 130 115 98 97 63 57

Others receiving votes — St. Xavier (Ill.) 50, Evangel (Mo.) 35, Campbellsville (Ky.) 29, Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 22, Cumberland (Tenn.) 19, Union (Tenn.) 18, Southern Assemblies of God (Texas) 13, Westminster 8, Biola (Calif.) 8, Cal State San Marcos 7, Baker (Kan.) 3, St. Thomas (Texas) 1, Oklahoma Christian 1, Pikeville (Ky.) 1, Great Falls 1, Science & Arts (Okla.) 1, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 1, Missouri Baptist 1, Voorhees (S.C.) 1, St. Catharine (Ky.) 1.

NOTE — First-place votes in parentheses).

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D12 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

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