Lights anxious to get back at it

The Montana State University-Northern Lights haven’t played a game since a Nov. 22 loss to mighty College of Idaho, so when the Lights finally get back on the court tonight, Northern head coach Shawn Huse expects some rust.

He also expects an even more difficult game than the one the Lights last played, when they lost 70-52 to the Yotes. In fact, all three games Northern plays at this weekend’s Arizona Christian Tournament in Phoenix will be rough — just as MSU-N’s road schedule has been rough all season long.

“We will be a little rusty,” Huse said. “I don’t see how you couldn’t be after not playing games for as long as we have. “But we’re excited. Not only for these challenges, but basically, we’re really glad that in three more games, this road swing will be over. We haven’t played a home game since October. We’ve played as tough a non-conference road schedule as anyone in the country. So we’re looking forward to that part of our season being over.”

Before the Lights (7-3) can come home for Christmas, and for their final three non-conference games, they’ll have to play some of the best teams in all of the NAIA this weekend in Phoenix — starting with ninth-ranked Concordia-Irvine tonight. Things get even more difficult Friday night as the Lights take on top-ranked Cal-State San Marcos, and the road trip concludes with a game against Canadian CIS power Grant MacEwan from Edmonton, Alberta.

“Three really good teams,” Huse said. “Two of the top teams in the NAIA, the number one team in the country right now, and both of those NAIA teams are headed up to (NCAA) DII next year. And for good reason. They’re both really good. But, one thing all these road games have shown us is, we know we can play with anybody. It will take a special effort each night, be we know we can play with these teams.”

Northern will indeed need to play well to knock off any of the three teams it will face in Arizona. Irvine is 10-1 on the season, including handing College of Idaho it’s a only loss, so Northern knows firsthand just how tough the Eagles will be today. Meanwhile, the No. 1 Cougars are 12-1, having already knocked off defending national champion Vanguard, while playing NCAA powers California and Nevada to 10-point games in exhibition losses. Grant MacEwan is more of an unknown, but one thing Huse said all three teams have in common is size.

“All of our opponents this weekend will be very tough, and we know we’re in for a big challenge,” Huse said. “But it won’t be anything we haven’t already seen. These are teams with great size, but we’ve gone up against big teams all year. So we know what that’s about. Again, it will take a special effort this weekend, but our guys are excited for the challenge. They’re excited just to be playing basketball again.”

The Lights should be excited, especially since they haven’t been in a real game in nearly a month. And when the Lights finally do hit the court today, they’ll be led by senior Corbin Pearson, who averages 15 points and six rebounds per contest. Pearson, along with fellow senior Jesse Vaughan and Damien Robinson, will also be key to the Lights’ success this weekend, as they’ll all be counted on to play defense in the paint against three big, athletic teams.

In the backcourt, Northern gets 13 points from junior Warren Edmonson and another 11 from junior point guard Trevail Lee. Senior Nick Blount chips in with nine points a game, and that foursome combines to help MSU-N shoot better than 41 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Red-shirt freshman Dylan Tatarka has also played well so far this season, and he is averaging two threes per night.

But against two of the best teams they’ve seen all season, and with Frontier Conference play looming, the Lights will need to put it all together in Phoenix. They’ll need to shoot the ball well and play tough, hard-nosed defense against a pair of extremely talented squads. But like Huse said earlier, it’s nothing the Lights haven’t already seen this season.

“We’re playing against quality teams,” Huse said. “And I do expect us to be a little rusty early on. But we’ve also had some great practices. We usually always take this extended break at this point in the season, and we’ve had the best stretch of practices during that break as we’ve had since I’ve been here. The guys have done a great job of working hard to get ready for these games.”

The Lights play Concordia-Irvine this afternoon, followed by their game with No. 1 San Marcos at 5 p.m. Friday. Northern wraps up the tournament, and its road schedule with Grant MacEwan Saturday at 4 p.m. MSU-N will then return home to close out the non-conference season with three games in the AmericInn Classic Jan. 2-4. Frontier Conference play starts Jan. 9 against Montana Tech, also in the Armory Gymnasium.