DILLON, Mont. – Brayden Koch scored 31 points on 11 field-goal attempts and was the catalyst for an efficient No. 11-ranked Montana Tech men's basketball team as it pulled away from No. 14 Southern Oregon for an 84-65 win on Thursday afternoon at the Western Classic.

Koch, an All-Frontier Conference junior guard, hit 6-of-7 from 3-point range and didn't miss inside the arc, making his mark in just 19 minutes of play. After the Diggers ended the first half with seven unanswered points to take a 40-27 lead, they started the second on a 12-0 run as Koch hit three consecutive triples out of the gate.

Jacob Axmaker and Luke Wagstaff led the Raiders with 14 points apiece off the bench. Both knocked down three 3-pointers, but the rest of the Raiders combined to misfire on 21 of their 22 attempts from outside.

Joe Juhala scored all eight of his points in the first half for SOU (0-2), which shot 37% overall and was 8-of-28 in the first half.

The Diggers hit at 55% from the field despite a 1-of-5 outing for Hayden Diekhans, the reigning FC Player of the Year. They got 11 points, two blocked shots and two steals from Rhett Reynolds.

The game was a rematch of last season's NAIA Tournament first round, which SOU won 84-81.

The Raiders finish their stay at the Classic against host Montana Western at 2 p.m. PT on Friday.