Bears hold back Lights; Skylights romp in home finale

It was an up-and-down senior night in the Armory Gymnasium. And while the No. 22 Montana State University-Northern women's team raced past Rocky Mountain College, the Battlin' Bears men spoiled the party.

In front of a sold out Armory on Friday night, in what was billed as the NAIA Game of the Week, the No. 10 Bears defeated the No. 18 Lights 77-66. The win clinched the Frontier Conference regular season title for RMC, while the Lights finished the regular season with a 11-5 record in league play and 23-7 overall.

The game was a classic battle of the two best teams in the Frontier, but every time Northern got close, RMC seemed to answer. The Lights had a 22-19 lead midway throught first half, but a 10-1 RMC run left MSU-N trailing 34-30 at intermission. Northern again took the lead with 10:20 left in the game, but a 11-0 Rocky run would seal the Lights' fate.

RMC shot a blistering 60 percent from the field, while MSU-N shot just 37 percent and made only six 3-pointers. Corbin Pearson scored a game-high 21 points to lead MSU_N while RMC, which was an effecient 5-for-8 from three, got 17 points from Jeremy Nicholas.

Meanwhile, things were much easier for the Skylights, who beat the Bears 74-50 Friday night. The Skylights finished the first half on a 11-0 run and never looked back in the easy victory. A'Jha Edwards scored 17 points, while Megan Feldman had a double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Northern senior Kassie Barta added two three's and finished her senior night with 13 points.

The win left the Skylights with an outstanding 10-6 Frontier record and a third-place finish. Northern (20-8) will host Carroll College in a Frontier playoff game next Saturday in Havre.

The Lights don't know their fate yet. If Montana Tech beats Westminster Saturday night in Butte, the Lights finish second and have a bye until the Frontier semifinals. If the Griffins win in Butte, MSU-N finishes third and will host a quarterfinal playoff game next Friday night.

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