Lights ready to rebound

The Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team picked up a huge Frontier Conference home win last Thursday night when the Lights beat the UM-Western Bulldogs. Unfortunately, the Lights suffered a setback just two nights later.

Now Northern (3-2, 15-4) will look to rebound from a bitter home loss to the Westminster Griffins, but rebounding won’t be easy. MSU-N visits high-scoring Montana Tech tonight in Butte, then travels to arch rival Carroll College Saturday night in Helena, in what is an ultra-important two-game road trip.

“Our kids came back Monday with an intense focus,” MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. “A lot of that has to do with how hard they took a home conference loss against Westminster. I think they believe they can beat anybody in this league, and they’re capable of more than what they showed last Saturday night. And they were ready to move on to Montana Tech right away.”

Tonight’s tilt in Butte will be the first meeting between the Lights and Orediggers this season. MSU-N brings the NAIA’s second-best scoring defense into a battle with a Tech squad which is averaging nearly 80 points per game and has broken the 100-point barrier twice in conference play already. The Diggers (2-3, 9-7) have scored nine more points in four of their last six games, so they will present a big challenge to MSU-N’s stellar defense, which allows just 60 points per contest.

Tech also brings a two-game winning streak into the meeting. The Orediggers beat Rocky Mountain College 100-91 last Thursday, than took down Dickinson State two days later. The key to the Diggers’ potent offense is 6-6 swingman Adam Greger, who averages 19 points per night. But he has plenty of help around him. In all, five Diggers average double figures, with Bryan Block scoring 15 per game, Antonio Snow averaging 12, Travis Peevey scoring 11 and Brandon Rydberg chipping in with 10.

“Tech had a huge weekend last weekend,” Huse said. “They have shown they can put up a lot of points in a lot of different ways. They have a lot of weapons, they share the ball well and they have really good depth. So our challenge is to combat all of that on both ends of the floor. It’s going to take a very focused and determined effort from our guys to have success against Tech this weekend.”

The Lights can indeed combat the explosive Orediggers, and not just with defense. Northern is also second in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage. As a team, MSU-N shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc, and they are also second in threes made at 177. Alfie Miller continues to pace the Lights at 15 points per game, while Corbin Pearson adds 10 and Gabe Finley and Roshawn West chip in with nine points apiece.

The Lights should also be back at full strength this weekend, and that will be a blessing. Will Perry, who returned from a knee injury two weeks ago, was forced to miss last Saturday night’s game with an illness, but he should be ready to go tonight in Butte. His presence is key on both ends of the floor, as is Damian Robinson’s. He’s been sidelined with an ankle injury, but should also be ready to play on the road this weekend.

And the Lights will need to be at full strength, not only tonight, but Saturday night in Helena.

Northern and Carroll (0-5, 5-12) meet for the second time this season, and though the Fighting Saints are winless in the Frontier, and have won only one conference game since the end of the 2012 season, the Lights know first-hand just how much of a handful Carroll will be. The two teams opened Frontier play in Havre back in November, and the Lights had to come back to beat the Saints in the final minutes, 60-57.

Carroll is led by senior guard Chris McGrath, who averages 15 points per game and is one of the best outside shooters in the conference. Senior forward Dennis Mikelonis adds 12 points per game, while Zack Taylor and Jake Hollifield combine for 20 more. But the addition of senior Nick Jones, who missed much of the non-conference season with an injury, should really give the Saints a boost when the Lights come calling Saturday night. Jones is a 6-5 guard who can shoot, post up and rebound, and his presence certainly gives the Saints another weapon on both ends of the floor.

And, despite Carroll’s struggles again this season, the Saints will certainly be up and ready for the Lights, and Huse fully expects his team to be engaged in a hostile environment come Saturday night.

“I look at Carroll’s record and I just don’t get it,” Huse said. “Carroll is not your typical 0-5 team, and we know that first hand. We have already seen just how good they are. So maybe their record speaks to how good our league is right now, because I highly doubt they’d have that record in any other league in the country.

“Having said that, we know how talented they are,” he continued. “They have a lot of weapons, too. They defend really well, they play hard and they are very tough to defend. It’s going to take a huge effort from our guys to come out on top in their gym, that’s for sure.”

And the Lights need a big effort this weekend. MSU-N is in a four-way tie for third place in the Frontier standings, and even the teams behind the Lights are only one or two games back. With how tight things are, wins in Butte and Helena, especially with two games against rival UGF coming up, would go a long way toward staying in the Frontier title race.

Tonight’s game between MSU-N and Montana Tech tips off at 7:30 in Butte. Saturday’s game in Helena also tips off at 7:30 p.m. The Lights are back home next Friday to host the Great Falls Argos.