Lights, Jimmies rough up Canadian schools

After a three-week layoff from games, Montana State Univeristy-Northern men's basketball coach Shawn Huse knew his team would show a little bit of rust in its return to the floor.

After a few early sluggish moments, Northern worked out the rust and cruised to a 106-63 win over Red Deer College in the opening game of the Super 8 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Sunday night at the MSU-Northern gymnasium.

"It was about what I expected," Huse said of his team's performance. "We were a little sluggish in the first half. We turned it over too many times, but we played much better in the second half."

Although Northern's play was far from awe-inspiring early on, it was still good enough to put away an undermanned Red Deer squad.

Northern rolled to a 22-5 lead to open the game and never looked back.

At one point, Red Deer trimmed the lead to single digits at 29-20 on a basket by Jordan Brown. The Lights answered with a pair of free throws from Reid Stovall, a three-pointer from Zach McLean and a pretty move inside by Lamar Morinia to push the lead back to 16 points.

"We were shorthanded tonight and then we got in foul trouble," Huse said. "There were a few uneasy moments there, but we overcame it."

Huse sat forward Dustin Sawejka and Travis Moran in the first half after they missed practice on Saturday due to the recent spate of bad weather.

"It was not so much a punishment for those two, but a reward to other players who made all the practices," Huse said.

Larry Morinia led five players in double figures with a game-high 24 points. Despite only playing in the second half, Sawejka scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Reid Stovall added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Lamar Morinia and Landen Grant scored 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Northern shot a 56 percent from the field and outrebounded RDC 37-28. The Lights also forced Red Deer into 29 turnovers, many leading to easy baskets in transition.

After the long layoff, Huse was happy to have some game experience.

"There's no practice that is better than a game," Huse said. "It's a nice advantage to come back and play some nonconference games to work out some kinks and clean things up."

Red Deer was led by Nathan Tratechaud with 13 points, while Chris Girvan and Joel Bancroft added 12 points each.

Northern will face Grant MacEwen College tonight at 8 to round out the tournament.

RED DEER COLLEGE (63)

Josh Bibbs 1-4 0-0 2, Jesse Osterman 1-4 0-0 2, Kalem Edlund 0-1 0-0 0, Nathan Tratechaud 4-6 1-2 13, Chris Girvan 5-8 2-7 12, Joel Bancroft 4-9 2-2 12, Brock McMillian 1-4 1-3 3, Jordan Brown 4-8 0-0 9, Jeremy Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Dan Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Lee Sprunger 0-7 4-5 4; Mark Salked 0-3 2-3 2. Totals: 21-56 14-24 63.

MSU-NORTHERN (106)

Larry Morinia 9-15 4-7 24, Zach McLean 2-5 0-0 5, Leo Bullchild 2-4 3-4 8, Reid Stovall 4-5 8-12 16, Lamar Morinia 6-10 0-2 15, Landen Grant 3-9 4-5 12, Travis Moran 0-1 1-2 1, Dustin Sawejka 7-10 5-6 19, Trenton Harbaugh 2-4 2-2 6. Totals: 35-63 27-40 106.

Halftime: MSUN 53, RDC 35. Three-point goals: RDC 7-20 (Tratechaud 4-5, Girvan 0-1, Bancroft 2-3, McMillian 0-1, Brown 1-4, D. Smith 0-1, Sprunger 0-5), MSUN 9-20 (Larry Morinia 2-5, McLean 1-2, Bullchild 1-2, Lamar Morinia 3-5, Landen Grant 2-6). Rebounds: RDC 28 (Girvan 6); MSUN 37 (Stovall 7, Grant 7) Assists: RDC 10 (Sprunger 2, Edlund 2); MSUN 25 (McLean 9). Total fouls: RDC 25, MSUN 24. Fouled out - none; Technicals - none.

JAMESTOWN 136, GRANT MACEWEN 67

The Jamestown College Jimmies are the top-ranked team in NAIA Division II for a reason and it showed Sunday night. The Jimmies crushed Grant MacEwen College 136-67 in the second game of the Super 8 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic tournament.

Jamestown never trailed in the game, cruising to a 58-33 halftime lead. The Jimmies only got hotter in the second half, shooting a blistering 80 percent from the field and scoring 78 second-half points.

Jamestown sank 19 three-pointers in the game and forced Grant MacEwen into 35 turnovers.

Brandon Wilkens led nine Jimmies in double figures with a game-high 25 points. Charles Jones added 15 points and 11 rebounds in the win.

Grant MacEwen was led by Nathan Coughlin with 19 points and Michael Gardiner with 18 points.

Jamestown will face Red Deer College tonight at 6 to round out the tournament.

GRANT MACEWEN COLLEGE (67

Jordan Fownes 3-7 1-2 7, Nathan Coughlin 7-15 4-5 19, David Brimacombe 1-3 0-0 2, Anthony Lange 1-3 0-0 2, Carlos Martinez 1-6 0-1 2, Brendon Bjarnsan 1-2 0-0 3, Daniel Duke 0-1 2-2 2, Jeffrey Stork 1-2 2-3 4, Michael Gardiner 6-10 5-6 18, Andrew Simpson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 24-55 15-21 67.

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE (136)

Imran Sufi 2-4 0-0 5, Benny Fragela 4-10 0-0 12, Charles Jones 7-12 0-0 15, Brandon Wilkens 9-12 2-5 25, Eric Holmstadt 4-6 3-4 6, Randy Randle 4-6 3-3 11, Boe Meredith 4-4 0-0 18, Bill Schaffan 6-7 0-0 18, Robbie Redekopp 0-1 0-0 0, Jamil Moore 5-5 2-2 12, Jonathan Castillo 6-9 1-1 13, Jeremy Wiesler 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 53-78 11-15 136.

Halftime: JC 58, GMC 33. Three-point goals: GMC 4-13 (Coughlin 1-7, Brimacombe 0-1, Bjarnsan 1-2, Steele 1-1, Gardiner 1-1), JC 19-30 (Sufi 1-3, Fragela 4-7, Jones 1-2, Wilkens 5-7, Randle 0-2, Meredith 2-2, Schaffan 6-7). Rebounds: GMC 19 (four tied with 3); JC 40 (Jones 11). Assists: GMC 9 (Coughlin 3); JC 32 (Moore 8, Sufi 7). Total fouls: GMC 20, JC 20. Fouled out - none; Technicals - none.