Lights beat NCAA DII power in Idaho

The Montana State University-Northern Lights are in the middle of a brutal and long stretch of games away from the Armory Gymnasium. And never was that more evident than this past weekend in Caldwell, Idaho.

But, life on the road wasn’t all bad for the Lights, as they took down a strong NCAA Division II team Friday night, before falling to one of the top NAIA DII teams on its home floor Saturday night.

Northern bested Northwest Nazarene 80-68 Friday night, before falling to College of Idaho 72-50 Saturday night. With the road split, the Lights are now 7-3 on the young season, and they will have nearly a month off before their next challenging trip.

And Northern had plenty to build off of Friday’s performance. MSU-N made 15 of 29 3-pointers against the Crusaders, including 11 in the first 20 minutes. That 3-point barrage was something the Crusaders could never overcome, as the Lights cruised to an impressive victory.

“We were in control from tip to finish,” MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. “It was a great team effort and a big win for us. I’m very proud of our guys.”

Huse should be proud. The Crusaders play in the difficult GNAC, the same league that houses Montana State-Billings. But the Crusaders were just no match for Northern, which raced out to a 46-38 halftime lead, and shot nearly 65 percent from the field for the game.

Trevail Lee buried four triples and scored a game-high 21 points, while Corbin Pearson added two treys and 16 points. Warren Edmonson hit three bombs and scored 15, while Dylan Tatarka added two threes as did Nick Blount.

But as well as Northern shot it in the first half of Friday night’s game, the shooting disappeared in the second half of Saturday night’s tilt against the host Yotes. C of I is unbeaten and ranked No. 7 in NAIA DII, but the Lights battled their way to a 28-28 tie in the first 20 minutes.

However, in the second half, MSU-N went stone cold from the field, and the powerful Yotes, behind 20 points and 20 rebounds from former University of Montana recruit Marko Kovacevic, pulled away from there.

“It was a back and forth game until the seven-minute mark,” Huse said. “From that point we went ice cold and they converted almost every time down. It was a disappointing finish to a really good weekend, but we learned a great deal overall. We knew this would be a tough game against an extremely good team on their home floor. We put ourselves in position despite the challenge, did not capitalize, but are pleased with where we are at thus far.”

In the loss to the Yotes, Pearson led the way with 14 points and three of Northern’s seven treys. Edmonson added nine points, and Vaughan scored five and grabbed six boards.

Northern will now have plenty of time to rest and regroup. The Lights don’t return to action until Dec. 18 when they head to Phoenix for a three-game affair at the Arizona Christian Tournament.

“Three more tough road games then we finally get back home, and then head into conference play,” Huse said. “We are definitely not satisfied, but we are also happy with our progress and how we are melding together.”

Lights 80, NW Nazarene 68

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 4-8 9-10 21, Corbin Pearson 4-8 6-9 16, Jesse Vaughan 1-2 3-3 6, Nicholas Blount 2-9 0-0 6, Jermaine Graves 2-3 0-0 5, Warren Edmonson 5-12 2-2 15, Dylan Tatarka 2-3 1-3 7, Damien Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Pat Jensen 1-2 0-0 2, KJ Rech 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-52 21-27 80.

NWN – Aubrey Ball 9-14 1-1 21, Erik Kinney 4-10 6-7 14, Mike Wright 6-9 1-2 14, Bouna N'Diaye 4-6 0-0 8, Carlos Garcia 1-5 2-2 4, David Schreck 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 26-53 12-16 68.

Halftime: Northern 46-38. 3-pointers: MSU-N 15-29 (Lee 4, Pearson 2, Vaughan 1, Blount 2, Graves 1, Edmonson 3, Tatarka 2), NWN 4-12 (Ball 2, Wright 1, Shedrick 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 25 (Vaughan 6), NWN 39 (Kinney 10). Fouls: MSU-N 17, NWN 22. Fouled out: None.

College of Idaho 72, Lights 50

MSU-N – Corbin Pearson 4-11 3-3 14, Jesse Vaughan 2-6 0-2 5, Nicholas Blount 2-10 0-0 5, Jermaine Graves 2-6 0-0 5, Trevail Lee 0-9 2-2 2, Warren Edmonson 3-6 2-2 9, KJ Rech 1-3 2-2 4, Dylan Tatarka 1-2 2-2 4, Damien Robinson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 16-54 11-15 50.

C of I – Marko Kovacevic 9-11 2-4 20, Joey Nebeker 4-12 5-7 14, Josh Wilson 4-12 2-4 10, DEmtrius Perkins 2-10 2-2 7, Sydney Donaldson 2-7 2-3 7, Jordan O'Byrne 3-4 0-0 7, Morgan Emmanuel 1-5 0-0 3, Curtis Brever 1-2 0-0 2, Marck Coffin 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 26-67 15-22 72.

Halftime: 28-28. 3-pointers: MSU-N 7-25 (Pearson 3, Vaughan 1, Blount 1, Graves 1, Edmonson 1), C of I 5-21 (Nebeker 1, Perkins 1, Donaldson 1, O'Byrne 1, Emmanuel 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 28 (Blount 6), C of I 57 (Kovacevic 20). Fouls: MSU-N 18, C of I 16. Fouled out: Vaughan.