Battlin' Bears halt Lights' season in Billings

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team couldn't have been playing any better entering the 2016 Frontier Conference Playoffs. Unfortunately, they ran into a team that took their game to even another level.

The Lights, winners of four straight games to close the regular season, could only watch as Rocky Mountain College senior Rob Nyby led the Battlin' Bears to a 78-66 win Tuesday night inside the Fortin Center in Billings. The loss to the Bears was Northern's third this season, and it also ended the Lights' campaign at 19-12.

And from the onset, Nyby was the catalyst. He sparked a 10-0 run near the middle of the first half, putting the Bears up 20-12. Northern got going again with a 3-pointer by Trevail Lee and a 3-point play by Ryan Reeves. But Nyby struck again from deep just before half, and the Bears went into intermission leading 34-29.

Northern managed to stay close for the early part of the seconds stanza, thanks to triples by Lee and Warren Edmondson, but Nyby buried back-to-back bombs of his own, sparking a 13-0 RMC run, in a second half which saw the Lights fall behind by as many as 16 points. Northern did pull together a late rally which saw them creep back within seven with under two minutes to go, but in the end, the Lights were too far behind to complete a comeback and keep their season alive.

Nyby finished the game with a whopping 31 points and 13 rebounds, leading RMC into Friday night's semifinal against second-seeded Carroll College. On the other side, Northern struggled from beyond the arc, making just 8-of-33 treys. Lee did put together a stellar 22-point outing in his final game as a Light, while fellow senior, Edmondson added 15. But in the end, Nyby's night, coupled with the Lights shooting just 36 percent from the field, and Rocky's 45-24 edge on the boards, was just too much for the Lights to overcome and keep their season going.

"It's always tough to have the year come to an end," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "I am very proud of these guys, the hard work they put in all year, and the things they achieved. They fought hard together from (season) start to (season) end. They have a great deal to be proud of, and to build on for the future."

Tuesday night also saw sixth-seeded UGF upset UM-Western 67-64 in Dillon. The Argos will play Lewis-Clark State in one semifinal Friday night, while the Battlin' Bears advanced to face the Fighting Saints Friday night in Helena. The winner's of those games will meet in Monday night's Frontier championship game.

Rocky Mountain 78, Lights 66

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 8-15 2-4 22, Badhasa Margarsa 0-2 7-8 7, David Straughter 3-6 3-5 9, Warren Edmondson 5-17 2-3 15, Dylan Tatarka 0-1 1-2 1, Justin Dunsmore 1-1 0-0 2, Brett Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Chandler 1-8 0-0 3, William Walker 0-1 0-0 0, K.J. Rech 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Reeves 2-3 1-1 5. Totals: 21-58 16-23 66.

RMC – Chad Kananan 2-5 0-0 5, Derek Graves 5-9 1-3 11, Taylor Longo 2-7 8-10 12, Tiegan Johnson 1-4 0-0 3, Rob Nyby 10-16 9-11 31, Joe Stulc 1-6 2-2 4, Ben Moerkerke 4-8 4-8 12. Totals: 25-55 24-34 78.

Halftime: Rocky 34-29. 3-pointers: MSU-N 8-33 (Lee 4, Edmondson 3, Chandler 1), RMC 4-14 (Kananan 1, Johnson 1, Nyby 2); Rebounds: MSU-N 24 (3 with 4 each), RMC 45 (Nyby 13); Fouls: MSU-N 24, RMC 19. Fouled out: None.