GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's basketball will enter postseason play this week when they take on Montana Western in the opening round of the Frontier Conference men's basketball postseason tournament. The game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22 in Dillon, Mont.

The Argos (11-17, 2-13) are looking to put together their best performance of the season on Tuesday in what is a win-or-go-home game. Though the team is the #6 seed in the tournament, the team has had close games with every opponent and feel like they have the talent to make a postseason run.

"We feel like we can put it together and make a run here," head coach Steve Keller said. "We have played everybody pretty close other than that last game. We've had a lot of adversity this season. Everybody has so it's no excuse. We just need to show up at Western and compete."

The Argos have gone 0-3 against the Bulldogs (18-12, 7-8) this season. Their first matchup was a Covid-19 forfeit, while the other two losses were only by single-digits. The Bulldogs are led by the dynamic duo of Jalen Hodges and Jamal Stephenson. Hodges is averaging 16.2 points on 52.2% shooting from the field while pulling down 5.2 boards a game. Stephenson is averaging 12.3 points, 3.2 assists and 2.7 boards a game.

"They have one of the best post players in the league and arguably the best point guard in the league," Keller said. "Their surrounding cast is extremely talented. They have three or four shooters that can make threes. They are a handful. They're tough to guard. We're going to have to do a better job guarding them than we did the last time we played them."  

However the Argos know they're pretty talented themselves. The team has two of the top three leading scorers in the conference – Brendan Howard is averaging a conference-high 21.1 points per game while Marcus Stephens is averaging 19.0 points per game. The coaching staff has also been impressed with some of their role players in practice this week, and is expecting some breakout performances.

"We just went into practice and worked hard this week," Keller said. "We had two productive practices. This could be their last game so it's time to step up and start playing."