MSU-Northern men cage the Bears; Skylights fall just short

The road has been a source of near misses for the Montana State University-Northern Lights in Frontier Conference play.

But Thursday night in Billings, the Lights didn't let another big road win get away from them.

Northern traveled to Rocky Mountain College to start a four-game road trip Thursday night, and the Lights came away with an 80-71 victory, improving to 6-5 in the Frontier ahead of a big game with Carroll College Saturday night.

"The guys played outstanding tonight ... came in on a mission and just were not going to be denied," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Credit Rocky as they took charge of the game at several moments and gave us all we could handle on both ends. During key stretches our guys stepped up the defense and executed extremely well and made big shots and free throws on offense.”

The Lights did make key shots, especially in the second half. Northern, which came in tied with the Bears for fourth in the Frontier standings, held a slim, 37-36 lead at halftime, and while Rocky surged ahead a couple of times in the second, MSU-N's timely shooting and free throws in the final minutes proved to be the difference.

The Lights made 10 3-pointers and had five players reach double figures, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Gabe Porter hit four triples and matched RMC's Jared Samuelson with a game-high 20 points. Ryan Reeves was his usual self, scoring 17 points and blocking two shots, while Justin Dunsmore scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Adam Huse hit key threes and scored 11, while Caulin Bakalarski came off the bench to add 11 as well, as the Lights beat Rocky for the second time this season. Defensively, MSU-N also held the Bears to 14 points below their season average.

Northern (16-7) will now look for more success on the road when the Lights travel to Helena to battle Carroll Saturday night.

Rocky holds off Skylights

While the Lights pulled off a triumphant win in Billings, the surging Rocky Mountain College women just wouldn't allow the MSU-Northern Skylights to do the same thing Thursday night.

Inside RMC's Fortin Center, Rocky, ranked 15th in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll, led nearly wire-to-wire in a 58-46 win over the Skylights. It was Rocky's fourth straight victory and kept the Battlin' Bears in first place in the Frontier Conference heading into the weekend.

On the other side of the coin, Northern lost its ninth straight Frontier game, succumbing to the powerful Bears for the second time this season.

But the Skylights did show a lot of grit on defense. Rocky is one of the highest-scoring teams in the Frontier, but Northern held the Bears to 47 percent shooting, and a slim 25-22 edge on the boards.

But as well as the Skylights defended, Rocky's six first-half 3-pointers were too much for Northern to overcome. The Bears made three triples in the first 10 minutes to lead 17-12, and added three more in the second period, to take a 33-23 lead into halftime. Northern really buckled down defensively, in the second half, but the Skylights struggled shooting in the final 20 minutes, especially in the third period, and, they just couldn't get over the hump.

Peyton Filius paced Northern with three threes and 11 points, while Brandy Lambourne and Shiloh McCormick each scored nine. Tiara Gilham, making her first-career start for MSU-N, added eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

Mikayla Jones scored a game-high 16 points for the Bears, who improved to 8-3 in the Frontier and 18-3 overall.

Northern (9-13) will now have to try and break its recent streak in another tough environment, when the Skylights travel to No. 13 Carroll College Saturday night.

Rocky Mountain 58, Skylights 46

MSU-Northern 12 11 8 15 - 46

Rocky Mountain 17 16 12 13 58

MSU-N - Peyton Filius 4-6 0-0 11, Brandy Lambourne 2-9 4-4 9, Jacy Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 1-4 1-2 3, Shiloh McCormick 3-6 2-2 9, Lily Hilderbrand 1-2 0-0 2, Peyton Kehr 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 2-2 0-0 4, Naomi Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Tiara Gilham 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 17-37 7-8 46.

RMC - Alexi Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Hailee Farstveet 6-13 0-0 14, Kiana Corpus 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Deaton 0-0 0-0 0, Mikayla Jones 6-11 0-0 15, Riana Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Eboney Jackson 2-3 0-0 4, Alecia Chamberlin 4-6 0-0 9, Brooke Jones 3-4 4-4 10, Justyn Juhl 0-2 0-0 0, Markaela Francis 3-10 0-0 6, Lorianne Stulc 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 4-4 58.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-10 (Filius 3-4, Lambourne 1-3, McCormick 1-2, Gilham 0-1), Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6-15 (Smith 0-2, Farstveet 2-5, Jones 3-4, Chamberlin 1-1, Juhl 0-1, Francis 0-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 22 (Sagapolu 4, McCormick 4, Gilham 4), Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 25 (Francis 8).

Lights 80, Rocky Mountain 71

MSU-N - Ryan Reeves 6-9 5-6 17, Justin Dunsmore 4-7 4-5 12, Charles Porter 0-6 0-0 0, Devin Bray 3-7 0-0 8, Adam Huse 3-5 2-2 11, Cayeveoon Jones 0-0 1-2 1, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Harper 0-2 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 4-7 2-2 11, Gabe Porter 6-9 4-6 20. Totals 26-52 18-23 80.

RMC - atrelle Franklin 1-8 2-2 5, Chad Kananen 2-6 0-0 6, Joe'l Towers 2-6 0-0 5, Colin May 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Satchel McDonald 2-5 3-3 7, Danny Betcher 4-8 2-3 10, Craig Wilmore 3-5 2-2 8, Tiegan Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Samuelson 9-18 2-3 20, Austin Payne 4-7 0-0 10. Totals 27-64 11-13 71.

Halftime: Northern 37-36. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 10-22 (Dunsmore 0-1, Porter 0-2, Bray 2-6, Huse 3-5, Bakalarski 1-2, Porter 4-6), Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6-19 (Franklin 1-1, Kananen 2-5, Towers 1-4, Betcher 0-1, Samuelson 0-4, Payne 2-4). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 34 (Dunsmore 9), Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 35 (Betcher 10).