Lights earn a big Armory win over rival UGF

Forget the fact that the Montana State University-Northern Lights were coming off a brutal six-game road trip, and a two-game road sweep last weekend. Forget that the Frontier Conference playoffs are right around the corner. No, no matter what scenario was drawn up in front of them, the Lights just needed a win, for themselves.

And Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium, the Lights did get that win they coveted, as they beat rival UGF 73-65. The win did a lot for the Lights, including avenge a rare home loss to the Argos last month, as well as move Northern to 5-10 in the Frontier Conference, and a full three games ahead of the Argos in the league standings.

But in the end, the win just felt good, regardless of what happens going forward.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. “When you’re not having your best season, it can be hard to still find the confidence to go out and win a big game. It can be hard to trust and believe in each other still. And tonight, that’s exactly what our guys did. They fought hard, together, and got a win we really needed.”

For a while it looked like the win would come easy for the Lights, who beat UGF by double-digits at the end of January in Great Falls. Leading 32-25 at halftime, and after a first half which saw Argos go on a 9-2 run, Northern responded with a 11-0 run, and UGF come back with a 9-2 run, the Lights broke the game wide open.

Back-to-back buckets by David Straughter sparked an MSU-N offensive onslaught that they haven’t seen in a while. Trevail Lee got in on the act with two hoops of his own, and then Northern did big damage with two 3-pointers from Tyler Chandler, and back-to-back bombs from Chandler and Badhasa Margarsa. And by the time UGF answered, Northern was up 59-43 with seven minutes left, and Warren Edmondson would add a three of his own to make the lead grow.

“I thought we did a really good job of playing and converting through the ugliness,” Huse said. “UGF really wants to speed you up and make you play a little ugly. And we were guilty of that at times tonight. But I’m proud of the way we continued to make shots and get stops in spite of the mistakes we might have been making. Our guys did a really good job of converting when we needed it most, on both ends of the floor.”

Things did get ugly for Northern at the end, as the Argos refused to go quietly. UGF turned on a full-court press in the final five minutes, and, through some big shots and a few steals, the Argos quickly trimmed Northern’s lead down to 66-60 with 1:37 left, via a 13-2 run. But, a steak and a big offensive rebound by Dylan Tatarka, and a late layup by Straughter helped Northern stay in front for good, and beat the Argos for the second time this winter.

Defensively, MSU-N was stingy, holding UGF to just two 3-pointers and 29 rebounds. Offensively, the Lights were balanced. They made 10 triples, including four by Chandler, who scored a game-high 19 points. Straughter added 15 and seven rebounds, Edmondson scored 14, hitting on four trey’s of his own, and Lee chipped in with 10. Ryan Reeves also had six points and two blocks off the bench, while UGF got 16 points from Malik Barnes.

And with not only a win over their biggest rival, but just their second home win in Frontier Conference play, in the books, the Lights will turn their attention to tonight’s battle with No. 15 Carroll College, which tips off at 8 inside the Armory. Carroll has beaten Northern in two close games, but the Lights hope to turn the tide tonight.

“I’m just proud of what we were able to do tonight,” Huse said. “UGF is really hard to play because they are so quick and so athletic and when they press like they did against us at the end, that makes it very challenging to finish a game. So I’m proud that our guys went ahead and finished it off. And hopefully, we will come right back, on short rest, and play good Northern basketball against Friday (tonight).”

Lights are 5-10 in Frontier, 16-11 overall; Next Up vs No. 15 Carroll tonight

Lights 73, UGF 65

UGF - Daniel Arcau 0-3 0-0 0, John Makker 4-8 4-4 12, Sigman Farmer III 2-5 0-0 4, Darren Lockett 1-4 2-2 4, Sergio Berkley 6-12 1-4 13, Issac Howard 2-5 0-0 4, Michael Harris 3-5 2-2 9, Jarred Burr 1-1 1-3 3, Malik Barnes 5-7 5-8 16, Jarrett Givens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 15-23 65.

MSU-N - Trevail Lee 2-5 6-6 10, Badhasa Margarsa 1-1 0-0 3, David Straughter 6-7 3-5 15, Warren Edmondson 4-11 2-2 14, Dylan Tatarka 1-3 1-3 4, Justin Dunsmore 1-2 0-0 2, Tyler Chandler 7-14 1-2 19, KJ Rech 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 25-49 13-18 73.

Halftime: Northern 30-25. 3-pointers: UGF 2-5 (Howard 0-2, Harris 1-2, Barnes 1-1), MSU-N 10-23 (Lee 0-3, Margarsa 1-1, Edmondson 4-7, Tatarka 1-1, Chandler 4-11). Rebounds: UGF 29 (TEAM 5), MSU-N 28 (Straughter 7). Fouls: UGF 18, MSU-N 18. Fouled out: Burr.