Lights go 1-2 at tough Arizona tourney

Going into this weekend's Scottsdale Chandler-Gilbert Classic in Arizona, Montana State University-Northern head coach Shawn Huse knew the sledding was going to be tough, even without any snow.

After all, the Lights were coming off a month-long break, and they were going up against two of the top teams in all of NAIA basketball, as well as a CIS powerhouse from Canada. And things were very bit as tough as advertised as Northern dropped their games against nationally ranked Concordia-Irvine and Cal-State San Marcos, before finishing the weekend with a much-needed win over Grant MacEwan University.

The weekend started with Thursday's game against Irvine, the No. 9 team in the country. And for the Lights, it started well. Behind some hot shooting early on, and some stellar defense, the Lights found themselves leading 33-25 at intermission.

But things changed dramatically in the final 20 minutes in what turned out to be a 72-62 loss for MSU-N. The Eagles opened the second half on a 15-3 run, taking a 40-36 lead six minutes into the stanza. Northern kept the pace close for much of the second half, but never got closer than a basket, and the Lights were never able to wrestle the lead away.

MSU-N made nine 3-pointers and shot better than 44 percent from the floor for the game, but the second half spurt by the Eagles, foul trouble and a 20-point effort by Irvine's Matt Scott was too much for the Lights to overcome.

Nick Blount paced the Lights with 15 points, while Corbin Pearson added 14 points and six rebounds and Trevail Lee scored 11.

"It was a tale of two halves," Huse said. "We played great in the first stanza, then blew too many possessions in the second. Concordia is a great team with great personnel that forces you to play a tough style of basketball."

Things got even more complicated and tough for the Lights Friday night. Going up against the No. 1 team in the country, Cal-State San Marcos, the Lights were not only unable to bounce back from Thursday's loss, but they had no answers for the powerful Cougars. In the end, the Cougars ran away from the Lights, 88-46.

The San Marcos defense held Northern to a dismal 26 percent shooting Friday night, MSU-N's lowest output of the season. Included in that was the Lights going just 5-of-24 from the 3-point-line. Coming into the tourney, MSU-N was the No. 5 3-point shooting team in the country. The Lights also struggled at something else they're good at. Northern couldn't slow down the Cougar offense, as San Marcos shot 58 percent from the field, and overwhelmed the Lights right from the start.

While San Marcos had five players score in double figures, the Lights had none. Lee and Edmonson led the way for Northern with nine points each, while Jermaine Graves chipped in with seven.

And things didn't get any easier for Northern Saturday night, but the Lights did find a way to play well and come home with a victory. Northern bested Grant MacEwan 66-59 in the last road game of the non-conference season.

"We played very well tonight," Huse said. "It felt good for the guys to end this tough, 10-game road swing with a win. It's especially good for us going into our last break. I am very happy for them."

In Northern's final game of 2014, the Lights made 11 3-pointers and got a game-high 15 points from Lee. Pat Jensen and KJ Rech each scored 11, while Edmonson added 10 Pearson scored nine point and grabbed five rebounds.

With the victory over Grant MacEwan, the Lights improved to 8-5 on the season. Northern has just three non-conference games left, and those will come when the Lights host the AmericInn Classic Jan. 2-4 at the Armory Gymnasium. Northern opens up Frontier Conference play at home on Jan. 9 against Montana Tech.

Concordia-Irvine 72, Lights 62

MSU-N – Nicholas Blount 6-11 0-0 15, Corbin Pearson 4-6 4-6 14, Trevail Lee 4-11 1-2 11, Warren Edmonson 2-9 2-2 7, Jermaine Graves 0-1 1-2 1, KJ Rech 0-1 6-6 6, Damian Robinson 2-2 0-0 4, Pat Jensen 1-1 0-0 3, Dylan Tatarka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-43 15-21 62.

Halftime: Northern 33-25. 3-pointers: 9-22 (Blount 3, Pearson 2, Lee 2, Edmonson 1, Jensen 1). Rebounds: 29 (Pearson 6). Foluls: 22; Fouled out: Rech, Robinson.

Cal San Marcos 88, Lights 46

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 4-14 0-0 9, Warren Edmonson 2-13 4-4 9, Jermaine Graves 2-6 3-4 7, Corbin Pearson 2-4 1-3 6, Nicholas Blount 2-6 0-0 5, Dylan Tatarka 2-2 0-0 4, Pat Jensen 1-5 0-2 3, KJ Rech 1-4 0-0 2, Brett Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Damian Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Nikola Ivanovic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-61 9-18 46.

Halftime: San Marcos 38-21. 3-pointers: 5-24 (Lee 1, Edmonson 1, Pearson 1, Blount 1, Jensen 1); Rebounds: 31 (Graves 6); Fouls: 22; Fouled out: None.

Lights 66, Grant MacEwan 59

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 4-6 3-4 15, Pat Jensen 4-9 1-1 11, KJ Rech 4-6 3-4 11, Warren Edmonson 2-3 4-4 10, Corbin Pearson 2-7 3-6 9, Nicholas Blount 2-14 3-3 8, Damian Robinson 1-2 0-0 2, Jermaine Graves 0-5 0-0 0, Dylan Tatarka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-54 17-24 66.

Halftime: N/A. 3-pointers: 11-30 (Lee 4, Jensen 2, Edmonson 2, Pearson 2, Blount 1); Rebounds: 32 (Pearson 5); Fouls: 16; Fouled out: None.