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Lights debut at home with a sweep

Northern men storm back to beat Warner-Pacific, blow out Portland Bible College

It was only late October, and it was only the Montana State University-Northern Lights’ first home game of the season. But, the Warner-Pacific Knights made it feel like a Frontier Conference showdown in February.

Friday night, inside the Armory Gymnasium, the Lights opened up home play with a thrilling, 87-80 win over the Knights, as part of a weekend sweep. Northern also took care of Portland Bible College Saturday afternoon.

But, while the home sweep, and the continued perfect start was a great thing for the Lights, Friday night’s game with the Lights was something special.

Northern trailed the Knights 52-40 at halftime, and, the Lights were behind by as much as 15 points in the second half. But then, thanks to a tenacious defensive effort, and huge shots by the likes of Warren Edmonson, Dylan Tatarka and David Straughter, everything changed.

“On one hand, I was pretty upset at halftime,” said MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse after the Knights shot a sizzling 78 percent in the first 20 minutes. “I thought our defense just wasn’t what it should be, in particular, our transition defense. That’s something we’re known for, we’re good at, that we prepped for all week long, and we looked like it was our first practice of the season. But on the flip side, I felt like we were in OK shape only to be down 12 at the half. Especially with how hot they (Knights) were. So, I felt like we could be much better in the second half, and we were.”

The Lights weren’t better in the second half, they were sensational. And they had to be considering how well the Knights, the No. 18 team in NAIA Division II and the team picked to win the Cascade Conference, was playing. In the first stanza, Franky Johnson and Taylor Young each hit a triple and the Knights went on a 12-3 run, and led by double digits the entire way.

But, Northern re-asserted itself defensively, and eventually, that led to a sparkling comeback. In a nine-minute stretch, Edmonson and Tatarka combined for four triples, while Straughter got tough offensive rebounds to keep Northern possessions alive. And when he put in a breakaway layup off a Trevail Lee steal, the Lights had come all the way back to the lead via a 14-0 run.

“I thought that was a big difference in the second half,” Huse said. “We started to play Northern defense. And our hustle and effort was tremendous. We had guys diving on the floor all over the place, we got some big steals and we got a bunch of boards that gave us second chances. And that sparked our offense.”

But, the talented Knights didn’t go away without a fight. The lead would change hands five times over the next five minutes, but when Straughter put in another bucket, and Edmonson nailed his fifth triple of the night, the Lights capped an 8-0 run and led 82-75 with just over a minute left. And from there, the Knights didn’t have enough left in the tank to come back.

“I’m really proud of our guys for fighting through some of the ugliness,” Huse said. “Warner-Pacific is an unusual team, and they play some unusual styles, and the game turns into a game you don’t like to play. But our guys held firm, our defense was great in the second half, and we had a bunch of guys make key shots and key free throws down the stretch.”

Indeed, down the stretch, the Lights were fantastic. They forced the Knights into 11 second-half turnovers, and they held them to just 29 percent shooting and a 1-of-11 performance from beyond the arc in the second half. Northern also won the battle of the boards, 37-34.

Individually, Straughter was enormous in the win, with 23 points and 14 rebounds. He also went 9-of-10 from the foul line, while Edmonson scored 21 and grabbed nine boards himself. KJ Rech also nailed timely shots in the second half and finished with 14 points, while Tatarka added 10.

“It was a really good game and a good win for our guys,” Huse said. “Warner-Pacific is a talented team and it was their first game, and they played with that energy and excitement of a first game, and we had to weather that storm. I thought a ton of guys gave us big moments on both ends of the floor, and I was really proud of the way we kept fighting. We never quit.”

In their first regular season game, the Knights got a game-high 26 points from Young, while Earl Jones added 17 and Johnson chipped in with 15. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak for Northern against its Cascade rival.

And while the win over the Knights was hard-fought, Northern had no such problems against Portland Bible College in a Halloween matinee Saturday. The Lights buried 10 3-pointers in the first half and never looked back in a 105-64 win.

“Do to difficult circumstances, Portland Bible has had to go with a lot of young guys and inexperienced guys who are also undersized this season,” Huse said. “And sometimes, playing a team like that can be very difficult. So, I’m really proud of our guys for staying focused, and for playing good basketball. I thought we were really solid on both ends of the floor, and we didn’t have any letdowns from the night before. So I’m proud of the guys for how well they played.”

And Northern did play well, especially its bench. Brett Thompson came in and buried three triples early in the first half, while Justin Dunsmore, Kevin Oberweiser and Tyler Chandler also got into the act, and that helped MSU-N roll to a 57-24 halftime lead — a lead the Wildcats just couldn’t overcome.

In all, Northern made 17 triples, and got 78 points from its bench. Dunsmore led the way with 19 points and three treys, while Chandler hit five bombs and scored 17. Thompson nailed four triples and scored 14, while William Walker scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds, Nikola Ivanovic added eight and Oberweiser and Ryan Reeves combined for 11 more off the bench. Straughter also chipped in with 13 points as the Lights improved to 4-0 on the season.

Northern will be right back in the Armory Gymnasium this Saturday when the Lights take on Dickinson State.

Lights 87, Warner-Pacific 80

WPC – Keaton Bankofier 2-5 0-1 5, Charles Honest 4-8 0-0 8, Taylor Young 7-10 11-11 26, Earl Jones 6-11 3-4 17, Franky Johnson 6-14 2-3 15, Collin Malcolm 1-4 0-0 2, Adam Westfall 2-5 2-2 7. Totals: 28-58 18-21 80.

MSU-N – David Straughter 7-13 9-10 23, KJ Rech 5-10 4-6 14, Trevail Lee 1-8 3-4 6, Warren Edmonson 6-11 4-6 21, Dylan Tatarka 4-10 0-2 10, Badhasa Margarsa 0-1 3-5 3, Kevin Obewesier 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Dunsmore 0-4 2-2 2, Tyler Chandler 3-9 0-0 8, William Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-66 25-35 87.

Halftime: Warner-Pacific 52-40. 3-pointers: WPC 6-18 (Bankofier 1, Young 1, Jones 2, Johnson 1, Westfall 1), MSU-N 10-28 (Lee 1, Edmonson 5, Tatarka 2, Chandler 2). Rebounds: WPC 34 (Honest 6, Young 6), MSU-N 37 (Straughter 14). Fouls: WPC 34, MSU-N 27. Fouled out: Malcolm.

Lights 105, Portland Bible 64

PBC – Lue 2-10 3-6 8, Hurlie 3-6 2-2 8, Williams 4-7 6-7 15, Martin 4-11 10-12 20, Flanagan 1-3 0-0 2, Rowley 3-4 0-0 7, Lee 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 19-45 21-27 64.

MSU-N – David Straughter 4-5 5-5 13, KJ Rech 2-4 0-0 5, Trevail Lee 1-4 2-2 5, Warren Edmonson 0-3 0-0 0, Dylan Tatarka 1-2 1-2 4, Badhasa Margarsa 0-2 0-0 0, Kevin Oberweiser 2-5 0-0 6, Justin Dunsmore 7-9 2-2 19, Brett Thompson 5-7 0-0 14, Tyler Chandler 5-7 2-2 17, Nikola Ivanovic 4-6 0-1 8, William Walker 4-7 1-1 9, Ryan Reeves 2-6 2-2 5. Totals: 37-67 14-16 105.

Halftime: Northern 57-24. 3-pointers: PBC 5-12 (Lue 1, W illiams 1, Martin 2, Rowley 1), MSU-N 17-35 (Lee 1, Rech 1, Tatarka 1, Oberweiser 2, Dunsmore 3, Thompson 4, Chandler 5). Rebounds: PBC 20 (Lue 3), MSU-N 35 (Walker 8). Fouls: PBC 18, MSU-N 24. Fouled out: Reeves.

 

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