MSU-Northern men blast Orediggers, succumb to Warriors' 3-point barrage

Having already swept the Montana Tech Orediggers and Lewis-Clark State Warriors once this season, and knowing they have to go back to Butte and Lewiston, Idaho, next month, the Montana State University-Northern Lights were trying to make sure they went four-for-four with their arch rivals.

And the Lights started that mission off right with a resounding 62-36 win over Tech Friday night inside the Armory Gymnasium. Northern, which leads the NAIA in scoring and field goal defense, put together one of its best defensive games in years, not only holding Tech to a mere 36 points, but holding the Orediggers without a 3-pointer, to just 28 percent shooting from the field, and without a double-digit scorer.

"Our defense set the tone and kept the tone tonight," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "I thought our guys just played so well on that end of the floor. They played with energy, they got the 50-50 balls, they got steals and rebounds. They just played a great defensive game.

"And I'm very proud of them for that," he continued. "Tech has shown the ability to score plenty of points this season. They have weapons. So for us to hold them down the way we did, that says a lot about our guys and the effort they gave tonight."

Northern did set the tone on the defensive end early on, holding Tech to just 16 first-half points. But the Orediggers played well on their end, too. The Lights struggled to make shots against Montana Tech's zone, and with big man Ryan Reeves in early foul trouble, offense was hard to come by for the Lights in the first 20 minutes, as they led just 24-16.

However, the second half was a completely different story. While Northern's defense continued to dominate, the Lights started cooking on offense. And just as Devin Bray had done in the first half, fellow red-shirt freshman Adam Huse provided a spark for the Lights in the second, knocking down two three's off the bench.

The 3-point-line was good to the Lights in the second stanza too, as David Straughter opened the half with a shot from distance, and when Cameron Epps drilled another one at the 15-minute mark, the Lights led 32-18. A few minutes later, Epps would nail bombs on consecutive trips down the floor, upping MSU-N's lead to 44-27, and when Huse made his second three of the night, the Lights led 57-34 as they handed Tech its 10th straight loss.

"I thought we started to finally figure some things out with their (Orediggers) zone," coach Huse said. "We found some spots, and started getting some much better looks than we had the past few games. And guys started making them. It was good to see those shots go in. And I thought, as they always are, our guys were really unselfish and did a great job of finding the open man."

In all, Northern outscored the Diggers 38-16 in the final 20 minutes. The Lights also outrebounded Tech 38-29 and forced seven second-half turnovers. Straughter led all scorers with 15 points to go with six rebounds, while Epps made three bombs and scored 11. Huse and Reeves each finished with six, while Bray, Kevin Oberweiser and Tyler Chandler also hits shots from downtown.

"This is a good win," coach Huse said. "It was important because, even in the loss to Western last week, I felt like we played well. So it was good to come right back out tonight and not only continue to play well, but play well enough to get another win, and in this conference, we all know how hard wins are to come by. So I'm proud of our guys for coming right back and getting it done."

Warriors shoot out the Lights

The MSU-Northern men have won a lot of Frontier Conference games with stingy defense and red-hot 3-point shooting. But Saturday night, the Lights got the tables turned on them by the Lewis-Clark State Warriors.

LC State hit 11 triples, including five on their last five shot attempts of the game in a 67-49 win over the Lights inside the Armory Gymnasium.

The loss dropped the Lights to 4-4 in Frontier Conference play, and also saw Northern fall despite making seven second-half threes of their own, but still shooting a season-low 29 percent from the field.

"It was a tough night for us," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Credit them for throwing us off with their activity on defense. Bottom line is we have to make shots and not squander possessions."

The first half was a particularly rough one for the Lights, as they scored just 19 points, even with early 3-pointers from David Straughter and Devin Bray. But on the other end, Northern was defending well and managed to go into halftime down just 27-19.

The start to the second half was even more difficult for MSU-N though as Ty Higbie hit back-to-back triples to push LCSC's lead into double digits. However, Northern would mount its best offensive rally of the night, as Cameron Epps and Tyler Chandler got the surge going with three's. Bray would also hit two more triples on back-to-back possessions, and when Chandler drilled his second shot from downtown, the Lights trailed just 45-41 with 10:18 to play.

However, things changed in a hurry. Doug McDaniel made a layup off a steal, and that ignited a furious LC run, one that included another Higbie trey at 4:05 mark. That put the Warriors back ahead 58-46, and from there, they closed the game with four more bombs.

"I felt we did not do a very good job of getting the looks we wanted," Huse said. "Then the dam broke a little on defense at the worst time, which was just as disappointing."

MSU-N is one of the top teams in the NAIA in scoring defense, field goal defense and defending the three, but the Warriors were too hot in the second half, shooting 50 percent from distance. Higbie and David Shedrick led the way with 14 points each.

On the other side, only Epps found double figures for the Lights, with 12 points. Bray and Straughter each scored nine, while Reeves grabbed nine boards on a night when Northern shot just 29 percent from the floor, 33 percent from three and 57 percent from the foul line.

"Hopefully it was just one of those nights and hopefully we will respond well," Huse said. "We will find out very soon."

Northern (15-5) gets right back on the floor Thursday when the Lights host arch rival UGF. MSU-N is also home to play nationally-ranked Carroll College this Friday.

Lights are 4-4 in Frontier, 15-5 overall; Up Next: vs UGF Thursday

Lights 62, Montana Tech 36

MT - Kale Guldseth 2-3 1-1 5, John Chapman 2-8 0-1 4, Tanner Laws 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Pannabecker 1-11 1-2 3, Carson Dummer 1-3 0-0 2, Sadiq Inuwa 2-8 0-2 4, Flemming Okeke 2-2 0-0 4, Wyatt Harwood 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Jones 2-4 1-5 5, John O'Donnell 0-0 0-0 0, Sione Tuai 0-0 0-0 0, Chris O'Neill 3-9 1-2 7, Lukas Vining 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 15-52 6-15 36.

MSU-N - Cameron Epps 3-7 2-2 11, Adam Huse 2-2 0-0 6, Badhasa Margarsa 0-2 0-0 0, Kevin Oberweiser 1-2 0-0 3, Devin Bray 1-2 0-0 3, David Straughter 5-10 4-4 15, Dylan Tatarka 0-1 2-3 2, Justin Dunsmore 1-3 0-0 2, Charles Porter 2-4 1-1 5, Tyler Chandler 2-6 0-0 5, Seth Christiaens 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 2-3 2-3 6, William Walker 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 20-45 13-15 62.

Halftime: Northern 24-16. 3-pt FG: MT 0-4 (Chapman 0-1, O'Neill 0-1, Vining 0-2), MSU-N 9-25 (Epps 3-7, Huse 2-2, Oberweiser 1-2, Bray 1-2, Straughter 1-3, Tatarka 0-1, Dunsmore 0-2, Porter 0-1, Chandler 1-5). Rebounds: MT 29 (TEAM 7), MSU-N 38 (Straughter 6). Fouls: MT 16, MSU-N 15. Fouled out: none.

LC State 67, Lights 49

LCSC - Trea Thomas 2-3 0-0 5, Derrick White 0-2 0-0 0, Zavon Jackson 2-5 0-0 4, Doug McDaniel 4-12 0-2 9, Christian Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Omamogho 4-9 0-0 11, Ty Higbie 4-8 2-2 14, Anthony Sullen 4-8 2-3 10, David Shedrick 5-7 2-2 14. Totals 25-54 6-9 67.

MSU-N - Cameron Epps 4-13 1-2 12, Badhasa Margarsa 0-4 1-1 1, Kevin Oberweiser 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Bray 3-6 0-0 9, David Straughter 3-6 2-2 9, Dylan Tatarka 1-2 2-2 4, Justin Dunsmore 0-4 0-0 0, Charles Porter 1-3 1-5 3, Tyler Chandler 3-11 0-0 8, Ryan Reeves 1-6 1-2 3, William Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 8-14 49.

Halftime: LC State 27-19; 3-pt FG: LCSC 11-23 (Thomas 1-1, White 0-1, McDaniel 1-5, Omamogho 3-5, Higbie 4-7, Shedrick 2-4), MSU-N 9-27 (Epps 3-7, Margarsa 0-2, Bray 3-5, Straughter 1-1, Dunsmore 0-3, Porter 0-1, Chandler 2-8). Rebounds: LCSC 36 (Thomas 7, McDaniel 7), MSU-N 33 (Reeves 9). Fouls: LCSC 18, MSU-N 10. Fouled out: none.