ARMORY REMATCHES: Lights ready to rebound with RMC, Western

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

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For the first time this Frontier Conference season, the Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team will play two teams the Lights have already seen this winter. And make no mistake, both games will be interesting and exciting battles.

Tonight, Northern (2-4, 13-5) welcomes the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears into the Armory Gymnasium, and the Lights will wrap up their six-game Frontier home stand Saturday night with a rematch with UM-Western Bulldogs. Both games tip at 8 p.m. in the Armory.

And, as usual in the Frontier, both games will be difficult for as Lights’ squad which has been on a roller coaster of late, but has still managed to stay in the Frontier title chase. Northern is coming off last weekend’s rousing win over Montana Tech, but also a difficult loss at the hands of red-hot Lewis-Clark State. And while the Lights are just 2-4 in league play, head coach Shawn Huse knows his team is capable of playing and beating anybody.

“We’re still searching for our identity a little bit,” Huse said. “But I believe all the pieces are there. I still believe we have a really good team and all the pieces we need to compete every night in this league. We just have to keep grinding, keep working, and keep trying to put it all together for 40 minutes.”

Consistency has been the Lights’ Achilles heel thus far. Northern is still one of the top defensive teams in the Frontier, allowing just 65 points per game. The Lights also average 80 points per outing offensively, but making shots at critical moments, and getting the same defensive stops on the other end has kind of come and gone for the Lights.

MSU-N has also struggled at times to find balance in its scoring lineup. Warren Edmondson leads the Lights at 13 points per game, while Tyler Chandler comes off the bench to add 11. After that, the Lights are getting nine points per game from K.J. Rech, Trevail Lee and David Straughter. But MSU-N has also got a big lift the last two weeks from sophomore Ryan Reeves, who, at 6-10, was inserted into the starting lineup and made an immediate impact, and the Lights are hoping that continues this weekend.

Northern will need all hands on deck tonight, and Saturday night.

Tonight’s game with Rocky Mountain College (2-4, 11-7) is a rematch of the Dec. 4 showdown in Billings in which the Lights prevailed 81-79 in overtime. While RMC may have only won two games since losing to the Lights at home, Bill Dreikosen’s team is certainly dangerous and capable.

The Bears are especially potent on the offensive end, averaging 83 points per game, and they have the Frontier’s leading scorer in senior Rob Nyby (6-5, 20 ppg). Taylor Longo (6-1) and Zach Hinton (6-6) along with TerryLee Wedgeworth (5-11), Chad Kananan (6-1), Ben Moerkerke (6-7) and Derek Graves (6-3) give RMC one of the deepest and most balanced lineups in the league.

"We had a great battle with Rocky the first go-round,” Huse said. “We need to really defend their scorers if we are going to get them again. They have been shooting the ball very well."

Defense will also be key when the Lights renew their long-standing rivalry with the No. 25 UM-Western Bulldogs (5-2, 12-7) Saturday night. The Dawgs beat the Lights 72-57 last month in Dillon and have been on a roll ever since. Western also marks the third straight Saturday night that the Lights have hosted a nationally ranked conference rival.

While Northern will have to play well on the defensive end, in order to slow down a Western squad averaging 84 points per game and led by All-American forward Dexter Williams Jr. (6-4, 15 ppg) and rising star guard Shyke Smalls (6-2, 15 ppg), the Lights will need to be much better offensively than they were when the saw UM-W in Dillon back in December.

"We struggled with our shooting at Western, and I hope our shots fall much more consistently this time,” Huse said. “They are very good in the open floor and we want to limit their fast-break opportunities. Making shots really helps with that."

Of course, Western can make shots, too. The Bulldogs are a good inside-out team with help from Demetrius Balark (6-2) on the perimeter, while 6-10 center Quinn Smith and 6-5 forward Curtis Parsons give Western the inside presence the Dawgs have been known for over the years.

Of course, statistics don’t seem to mean too much when the Lights and Bulldogs hook up, and neither team has won two in a row in the series in some time. And with a lot riding on both games this weekend, as the Lights try to fight their way into the top half of the league standings, expect two great battles inside the Armory.

Tonight’s game between Northern and RMC tips off at 8, while Saturday’s showdown between the Lights and Bulldogs also tips off at 8 p.m. Northern will then head out on the road for its next six Frontier Conference games, starting with next weekend’s trips to UGF and Carroll College.