Dawgs bite Lights, Skylights in Dillon

The Montana State University-Northern Lights went into one of their longest road trips of the season tied for first place in the Frontier Conference standings. But the Lights ran into two NAIA national powerhouses this weekend and dropped a pair of tough, hard-fought games.

One of those games came Saturday night when the Lights came up two points short against the No. 16 UM-Western Bulldogs at Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon. The two bitter rivals fought right to the end, but the Bulldogs held on for a 79-77 win, dropping the Lights to 3-3 in the Frontier.

“It was a very tough one to swallow tonight,” Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. “I really thought we played the right game and executed the way we needed to.”

The Lights played especially well in the scintillating first half. Northern came out and drilled seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes on their way to a 46-39 lead. The lead was built up on some great shooting, as the Lights shot 52 percent from the field, while holding the high-scoring Bulldogs, who are second in the NAIA in scoring at 100 points per game, to just one 3-pointer.

Northern continued to play well defensively in the second half, but the Lights couldn’t hold the Bulldogs down for a full 40 minutes. Western ripped off a 14-4 run and led the Lights by nine points with eight minutes to play. From there, the Lights fought right back, battling hard, while cutting the lead down to two on several occasions, including in the final :40. But several attempts to tie or take the lead came up shot in the closing stretch, and the Lights were left with a tough loss.

“Western did a good job of making their runs, then our kids showed great road resilience clawing back,” Huse said. “We had some really tough breaks not go our way, but we hung in and responded. We had an opportunity in the end but came up short.”

The Lights did do a great job of fighting back, in spite of making just three shots from distance in the second half. Northern leads the NAIA in 3-point shooting. Sophomore Devin Bray led a balanced MSU-N attack with 17 points and a second-high five triples, while Charles Porter scored 14. Ryan Reeves added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Caulin Bakalarski added 10. Western, which hit four clutch threes in the second stanza, had four in double figures, led by Zach Darko-Kelley’s 17 points.

The loss was MSU-N’s second straight after the Lights had ripped off seven straight victories. Northern (13-5) will now look to regroup, as it heads to Great Falls for a Wednesday night showdown with the Providence Argos.

“Tonight it’s tough but we’ll get back to preparations for next week, tomorrow, that’s what this team does,” Huse said. “They keep preparing and fighting no matter what. There is still a lot of season left and all tough teams to get ready for.”

Dawgs pull away from

Skylights

The last two weeks have been pretty rough for the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team. And that included a rough ending to their Saturday night in Dillon.

Against the 10th-ranked UM-Western Bulldogs Saturday night, the No. 21 Skylights felt the sting of their fourth straight Frontier Conference loss, as the Bulldogs pulled away from the Skylights 78-58.

“Our kids came into this gym ready to go, they gave us great effort tonight,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “But the fact is we have to play better. We have dug ourselves a big hole right now, and we have to do something about it.”

The Skylights were once again in an early hole, as the Bulldogs got off to a quick start. But they did do something about it, catching fire in the second quarter, scoring 22 points and taking a 34-32 lead into halftime.

From there, however, things went south, as Northern struggled to shoot the ball well in yet another Frontier Conference matchup. Western went on a 16-8 run in the third quarter to overtake the Skylights, and the Bulldogs really got hot in the fourth stanza, scoring 30 points in the final 10 minutes, to win going away.

“Our shooting percentages, from the field, the three and the free-throw-line once again hurt us,” Mouat said. “We’re just not balanced enough right now. We weren’t able to get the ball inside, and when we did, we didn’t finish. We moved the ball well, but in the second half we didn’t make enough shots either.

“Credit Western, they played really well, and they made a lot of big shots in the second half,” he continued. “But we also shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers, getting beat on the board, and just missing too many good looks.”

Shooting was a key. The Skylights shot just 30 percent from the floor and 23 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs also won the rebounding battle 43-34. Junior Peyton Filius did have another strong game for the Skylights, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 19 points. Shiloh McCormick and Jacy Thompson each pitched in with 13 points, while Thompson grabbed eight rebounds.

But in the second half, there was no slowing down Western, a Sweet 16 team from a year ago. The Dawgs shot 40 percent and better from both the field and beyond the arc, while five players landed in double figures, with Cierra Lamey leading the way with 15.

The loss dropped Northern to 1-5 in the Frontier and 9-8 overall, and the Skylights will have little time to regroup, as they travel to Great Falls to take on Providence Wednesday night.

“I’m proud of the grit and toughness we showed tonight,” Mouat said. “We fought back and took the lead. Unfortunately, we’re just not finishing games right now. It’s a process, and we’re going to keep working at it. These kids have a lot of pride in this program, and I believe in them. They’ll work hard to keep improving, and we just have to dig ourselves out of this hole step-by-step.

UM-Western 78, Skylights 58

MSU-Northern 12 22 8 16 – 58

Western 17 15 16 30 – 78

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 2-13 9-11 13, Brandy Lambourne 4-12 1-2 9, Naomi Terry 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 0-0 2-2 2, Peyton Filius 5-12 5-5 19, Peyton Kehr 0-0 0-0 0, Shiloh McCormick 4-9 4-7 13, Lily Hilderbrand 0-2 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 1-4 0-0 2, Tiara Gilham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 21-27 58.

UM-W - Alexa Welch 2-7 0-0 6, Dani Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Holmes 4-7 0-0 10, Brandy Bookout 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Bignell 1-3 0-0 2, Theresa Mac-Dangosu 1-2 1-2 3, Britt Cooper 4-10 3-3 11, Frankie Bignell 0-1 0-0 0, Cierra Lamey 6-9 1-2 15, Shannon Worster 1-4 0-0 2, Jill Jacobs 1-1 0-0 2, Brianna King 4-14 5-5 13, Tori Anderson 4-6 2-2 12, Darby Schye 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-66 12-14 78.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-21 (Thompson 0-4, Lambourne 0-4, Filius 4-8, McCormick 1-4, Gilham 0-1), University of Montana-Wes 8-20 (Welch 2-5, Holmes 2-3, Bignell 0-1, Lamey 2-3, Worster 0-1, King 0-3, Anderson 2-4). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 34 (Thompson 8), University of Montana-Wes 43 (Cooper 16). Fouls Montana State-Northern 13, University of Montana-Wes 22. Fouled out: none.

UM-Western 79, Lights 77

MSU-N - Gabe Porter 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Huse 3-7 0-0 7, Caulin Bakalarski 3-5 2-2 10, Anthony Harper 1-4 0-0 2, Devin Bray 6-10 0-0 17, Justin Dunsmore 3-6 1-3 7, Charles Porter 5-10 4-8 14, Cayeveoon Jones 0-0 2-4 2, Ryan Reeves 4-11 4-9 12, Gabe Porter 2-5 0-0 6. Totals 27-58 13-26 77.

UM-W - Warren Helligar 2-5 6-7 10, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 7-13 2-3 17, Brandon Jones 6-11 3-6 15, Dom Robinson 5-15 2-4 15, Troy Scott 2-2 1-2 6, Marcus Payne 4-5 0-0 8, Kooper Kidgell 3-8 2-3 8. Totals 29-59 16-25 79.

Halftime: Northern 46-39. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 10-20 (Huse 1-3, Bakalarski 2-3, Bray 5-7, Dunsmore 0-1, Porter 0-1, Porter 2-5), University of Montana-Wes 5-19 (Darko-Kelly 1-2, Jones 0-2, Robinson 3-11, Scott 1-1, Kidgell 0-3). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 42 (Reeves 10), University of Montana-Wes 30 (Jones 6). Fouls Montana State-Northern 19, University of Montana-Wes 18. Fouled out: none.