Armory Nights: Lights excited for LC, Western rematches

There's no doubt that Montana State University-Northern Lights like playing in the friendly confines of the Armory Gymnasium. In fact, the Lights have lost just once there all season long.

And they're hoping that trend continues when they host two of the Frontier Conference's best this weekend, starting tonight when the Lights (4-4, 14-6) take on No. 8 Lewis-Clark State (6-2, 17-3) and Saturday night when they host the No. 16 UM-Western Bulldogs (5-3, 15-4). Both games tip at 8 p.m. in the Armory and are rematches from just two weeks ago.

"We're excited to be at home," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Two very good opponents, like it is every night in the Frontier."

Home has indeed been good to the Lights, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a dominant win over Montana Tech last Saturday night.

However, home or away, to stay in the thick of the Frontier title race, the Lights need to do what they do best - shoot the ball, rebound and play stout defense. Northern comes into the weekend first in the NAIA in total assists, 3-pointers per game, 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage and first in total rebound margin. The Lights are also second in the nation in defensive rebounding, and those things are thanks to senior Ryan Reeves, who averages 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per night.

But the Lights also do it from beyond the arc, and they do it with balance. Gabe Porter, Adam Huse, Justin Dunsmore and Charles Porter all average between 14 and 10 points per night, while Caulin Bakalarksi and Devin Bray combine for 17 more, and Anthony Harper and Paco Jones have been giving the Lights a tremendous boost off the bench.

But as good as Northern has been, especially at home this season, the Lights are facing two teams ranked inside the NAIA Top 20, and Northern fell to both the Warriors and Dawgs on the road two weeks ago.

"Those were both really tough losses," Huse said. "We had the lead at halftime in both those games, and they just got away from us."

The Warriors come to Havre for the only times this season in first place in the Frontier standings, and they come in loaded with talent. Race Martin (6-6) leads a balanced LCSC squad in scoring at 14 points per night, but Andrew McCowan (6-4), David Shedrick (6-3) and Cory Dollarhide (6-0) all average over 10 ppg for a Warrior squad scoring 86 points per night. Veteran Trea Thomas (6-2) also leads an athletic and deep team that has 12 players who average more than eight points per game.

"This is a very talented athletic team that can put a lot of pressure on your defense and disrupt your offense," Huse said. "After an excellent first half last game, I felt we fell a little flat. We will need to sustain our attack if we expect to come out on top this time around."

While first-place LCSC will be a load for the Lights to handle tonight, Northern knows the challenge is just as great when Western comes to town Saturday night.

Steve Keller's Bulldogs lead the Frontier in scoring at a whopping 97 ppg, and they're led by the explosive Dom Robinson (5-5), who leads the Frontier at 19 ppg and 6 assists per outing. But like LC, the Dawgs have more bite than just one player. Transfer Brandon Jones (6-5) has given Western a strong inside presence alongside Zach Darko-Kelly (6-6), while veterans Kooper Kidgell (6-3), Marcus Payne (6-7) and Riley King (6-4) pack plenty of offensive punch as well.

"Western can score in multiple ways and slow down your scoring with their defense," Huse said. "It was a very good first half for us last time, they made some nice runs, then we came up just short when the final buzzer went off.  Playing good basketball on both ends, for 40 minutes, is a big key for us."

Indeed. The Lights will need to play 80 good minutes of basketball to hold serve at home. And that's important considering Northern goes back on the road for four more league games following this weekend's home stand, which includes a White-Out tonight and a Black-Out on Saturday night.

Tonight's game between the Lights and Warriors tips at 8, as does Saturday night's bout between Northern and Western. Tonight, fans are encouraged to wear white and Saturday night black as part of Northern's theme nights. At halftime of Saturday night's game, the Havre 10U All-Star team will be honored.

Lights vs No. 8 LCSC, tonight, 8 p.m.; vs No. 16 Western, Saturday, 8 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: msun.edu/athletics

Twitter: HavreDaily

Lights Projected Starters

G Gabe Porter 6-1, JR 15 ppg

G Devin Bray 5-11 SO 9 ppg

F Charles Porter 6-2 SR 13 ppg

F Justin Dunsmore 6-6 JR 13 ppg

C Ryan Reeves 6-10 SR 16 ppg