Argos surprise Lights in Frontier quarterfinal

The Montana State University-Northern Lights don't lose home games very often. They don't lose in the Frontier Conference quarterfinals often either. And lately, the don't lose to the UGF Argos. But all three things happened Friday night as the No. 18 Lights fell to the Argos 64-54 at the Armory Gymnasium.

The loss eliminates the Lights (23-8) from the league playoffs, while UGF will travel to No. 1 seed Rocky Mountain College for a semifinal game next Friday. Westminster hosts Lewis-Clark State in the other semifinal game.

It was also the second straight loss for the Lights, who collapsed in the second half after Alfie Miller buried six 3-pointers and carried Northern to a 33-39 halftime edge. But in the final 20 minutes, Northern mustered just 21 points, Miller didn't even attempt a shot, and the Lights turned the ball over on six of their final eight possessions of the game. Meanwhile, Northern also watched helplessly as UGF senior Marcel Towns poured in a game-high 30 points. Corbin Pearson finished with 18 and Miller had 18 for the Lights.

Now, MSU-N will have to play a nearly two-week waiting game before it finds out if it has done enough to earn an at-large berth to the NAIA national tournament.

For full story, see Monday's Havre Daily News.