Through the ringer: Lights still standing

The road to the postseason isn’t a breeze, for any college basketball team, at any level. But make no mistake, the road to the 2014 Buffalo Funds NAIA national men’s basketball tournament has been more like a roller coaster for the Montana State University-Northern Lights.

Northern, which faces the Freed-Hardeman Lions in the first round of the national tournament Thursday morning in Kansas City, went a sparkling 23-8 overall this season, the Lights’ eighth straight 20-win season under head coach Shawn Huse. And while there were some mighty impressive wins in the early part of the year, the ride through Frontier Conference proved to be as difficult as it has ever been.

And that’s why this Lights team, which went 11-5 in league play and is ranked No. 23 in the NAIA heading into Thursday’s game, has to be proud of what it has achieved this season.

“This league could have gone a number of different ways this year,” Huse said. “It was so tough, and I think at one point, there was like a five-way tie for second and all of those teams were only one game out of first. So even through early February, a lot of different things could have happened.

“And that’s why I’m so proud of this team,” he continued. “They were determined to make sure people didn’t forget about them. I think with all the great teams and talent in this league, there were times when people probably counted us out of it this season. But our guys just didn’t care about that. They were determined to be there at the end and they won a lot of big games to put themselves in that position. So I’m extremely proud of what we’ve already accomplished this season.”

The Lights have accomplished a lot and want more. Northern had some great early-season wins, including beating Montana State-Billings in Havre, and two wins over a very good Lethbridge squad.

However, the first speed bump came by way of a Will Perry injury just before MSU-N was set to play a league game against Carroll College. Northern got by Carroll, and reached the new year in good shape, having lost just two games. But the first road trip of league play was a sign of things to come. MSU-N lost on a Thursday night in January at Rocky Mountain College, then had to go to overtime to win at Dickinson State. The next week, Northern beat arch rival Western at home but lost the next night to Westminster. Another up-and-down trip followed. The Lights beat Montana Tech on a running shot by Roshawn West in double-overtime, but were upset the next night at Carroll. That loss left MSU-N in a jumbled mess in the league standings as the most critical juncture of its season approached.

After the loss in Helena, the Lights were set to play at home against rival UGF, then at UGF, at Lewis-Clark State, then return home to face Tech and LCSC again. It was make or break time for the Lights, and what they did during that stretch was a big reason why they’re heading to the national tourney now.

“I think that win at Tech in double-overtime was a really big game for us,” said junior Jesse Vaughan. “We did lose at Carroll after that, but that game really sticks out because it was such a huge road win against a tough team. That win really got us going, and we won some more really big games after that.”

After the Butte/Helena road trip the Lights won six in a row. Two 54-50 wins in one week against UGF was big, but a dominating win at LC State was even bigger. Then the Lights came home and beat the Orediggers 77-72 in overtime, in a game they were down by five points in the final minute. And one night later, MSU-N beat the Warriors in the Armory Gymnasium after being down by as many as 17 points in the second half.

It was a series of dramatic wins, and it put the Lights in a position to stay in the NAIA rankings the rest of the season. A win at Western in late February was also big, and though the Lights would fall in three of their last four games, their toughness and resiliency got them through a brutal Frontier schedule with more than enough wins to be considered one of the 32 teams to be in the NAIA national tourney field.

“We have a team that has a lot of chemistry,” said senior Allan Brown. “We have a great bond with this team, and it shows on the court. We have full trust in each other. We trust that every guy on this team will have each other’s backs and that each one of the guys on this team can go out and get the job done and make plays when their number’s called. I think that camaraderie and chemistry has been big for us this whole season. We’ve been through some tough games, but we stick together and we believe in each other, and that’s helped us through some really big games.”

“This team is a great group, it has great character,” added junior Corbin Pearson. “We stick together and play our butts off together, and that’s why we are where we are now. This has been a grinder of a season, but we won all the games we absolutely needed. We stuck together and won a lot of really tough games.”

And tough games, big wins and a tough team with chemistry has the Lights back in the Municipal Auditorium for the fourth straight season and the fifth time in the last six years. Northern also takes an experienced group, many of which have played at the national tournament before, and all of whom have played through one of the most difficult Frontier Conference seasons in recent history.

And that rough ride through a Frontier, which saw Rocky Mountain College win both the regular season title and tournament title, Westminster reach the national tourney, and Western, Lewis-Clark State, UGF and Montana Tech all finish with winning overall records, will have the Lights more than prepared when they face Freed-Hardeman, and hopefully beyond.

“This all really started pretty much in the locker room after we lost to Evangel last year,” Huse said. “The guy’s mind set switched to this season, but at that time, you also realize how challenging it is to start all over and go through it again. You go through recruiting and the summer, and preseason conditioning and practice and the non-conference season and then this really tough Frontier schedule. It’s an awfully big mountain to climb, and our guys did it. They climbed it again, and now we’re here, going back to the national tournament with a chance to do something special. They should be very proud of that. I know I’m very proud of them for doing all the things it takes to get to this point.”

“It’s all about staying focused,” Brown added. “We’re ready for this tournament, and this first game. We’ve been well prepared. Not that we weren’t prepared last year, but I think we’re even better prepared this time around. We have a lot of seniors, a lot of veteran players on this team. The team has been focused from day one, and with all of the tough games we’ve played this year, we feel like we’re ready for this and we’re confident. We are also going down there knowing what to expect more. We’re focused and we’re excited to get down there and play this game.”

Northern faces Freed-Hardeman at 9:45 a.m. MDT Thursday morning. For more Lights’ coverage, see Tuesday and Wednesday’s Havre Daily News.

Follow the Lights with the Havre Daily News

All week, and right through Thursday's game in Kansas City, the HDN will have in-depth coverage of the Lights' trip to the national tournament. Look for features on and a full game preview in Wednesday' and Thursday's HDN.