Northern loses close games at Western

Sometimes, a team just has another's number. That has certainly been the case in the three Frontier Conference doubleheaders between the Montana State University-Northern and UM-Western basketball teams this season.

Thursday night in Dillon, Western swept the Lights and Skylights for the third time this year. The night was especially heartbreaking for the Northern men.

Just over a month ago, the Lights led the nationally ranked Bulldogs at halftime, but came up short 79-77. Thursday night, it must have felt like deja vu for the Lights, who fell to the Dawgs 75-73 inside the Straugh Gymnasium.

For a half though, the Lights didn't look like they were going to leave Dillon with a third loss to Western. Northern buried eight 3-pointers and shot 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, taking a commanding 44-33 lead into intermission.

However, the second half was a different story. Western shot a sizzling 58 percent from the field, and while the Lights still played well, the Bulldogs overtook Northern down the stretch and the Lights couldn't get the shot they needed to fall, to win or send the game into overtime.

Northern also missed the services of star Ryan Reeves down the stretch, as he fouled out with 13 points and four blocks. Devin Bray and Caulin Bakalarski paced the Lights with 17 points each, combining for eight triples. Justin Dunsmore added 11 points, two of Northern's 11 threes and grabbed seven rebounds, while Brandon Jones and Dom Robinson combined for 33 points in leading five Dawgs in double figures.

The heartbreaking loss left the Lights at 6-7 in the Frontier standings and 16-9 overall heading into Saturday's game at Lewis-Clark State.

Skylights hang tough

In the first two meetings between the Northern women and UM-Western, the Bulldogs ran away and hid from the Skylights. But Thursday night in Dillon, Northern, which is injury-riddled right now, wasn't going to let that happen.

From start to finish, the Skylights didn't let the red-hot Bulldogs pull away, but it wasn't enough to get over the hump, as Northern fell, 62-57.

"We battled all night long against a very good Western team," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "It was a single possession right to the end. We had some untimely turnovers and they hurt us but we kept coming at them. We also put them to the free throw line far too much in the second half. We had much more inside-out balance tonight, and I thought we executed well. We just hurt ourselves at the wrong times with turnovers, fouls that led to points, and missed chances at defensive boards. Our kids came a long way tonight and grew in a lot of ways. We have to keep battling and moving forward. We got down six at one point in the fourth quarter and eventually took the lead back. Our kids were resilient all night."

The Skylights got off to an outstanding start and led the Dawgs 16-13 after 10 minutes, and 33-30 at halftime. But much like a game against Western in Havre last month, the third quarter was one where the Skylights struggled. Western outscored Northern 17-11 in the third stanza, and while Northern pulled right back to within a single possession several times in the fourth period, the Skylights just couldn't overcome on the road, falling to 1-12 in the Frontier Conference.

Freshman Tiara Gilham had her third straight strong outing for the Skylights, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds. Shiloh McCormick added 12 points, while Jessica Curl scored nine. But those numbers weren't enough to offset a big night from Western star Brianna King, who went 10-of-13 from the field and scored a game-high 24 points.

The Lights and Skylights have another challenging road test Saturday when they travel to Lewis-Clark State for the second time in a month. Northern is home for three straight after the trip starting with games against Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College next weekend.

Western 62, Skylights 57

MSU-Northern 16 17 11 13 - 57

UM-Western 13 17 17 15 - 62

MSU-N - Brandy Lambourne 3-7 0-0 7, Jessica Curl 4-4 1-1 9, Peyton Filius 2-9 1-2 7, Shiloh McCormick 5-14 2-2 12, Lily Hilderbrand 1-1 0-0 2, Kealani Sagapolu 2-5 2-2 6, Tiara Gilham 6-7 2-3 14. Totals 23-47 8-10 57.

UM-W - Alexa Welch 2-3 0-0 5, Paige Holmes 1-6 0-0 3, Sierra Bignell 0-0 0-0 0, Britt Cooper 2-8 5-6 9, Cierra Lamey 4-12 5-7 14, Shannon Worster 1-3 0-0 2, Brianna King 10-13 3-3 24, Tori Anderson 1-6 0-0 2, Savanna Bignell 0-3 3-4 3, Darby Schye 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 16-20 62.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 3-14 (Lambourne 1-2, Filius 2-5, McCormick 0-6, Gilham 0-1), University of Montana-Wes 4-22 (Welch 1-2, Holmes 1-5, Lamey 1-5, Worster 0-2, King 1-3, Anderson 0-3, Bignell 0-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 30 (TEAM 7), University of Montana-Wes 31 (Lamey 8). Fouls Montana State-Northern 15, University of Montana-Wes 10. Fouled out: none.

Western 75, Lights 73

MSU-N - Adam Huse 2-5 1-2 6, Caulin Bakalarski 7-10 0-0 17, Anthony Harper 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Bray 6-13 0-1 17, Justin Dunsmore 3-9 3-4 11, Charles Porter 4-7 1-2 9, Cayeveoon Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 6-10 1-2 13, Gabe Porter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 6-11 73.

UM-W - Warren Helligar 4-7 2-3 10, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 5-10 0-1 11, Brandon Jones 6-16 3-6 17, Dom Robinson 8-20 0-0 16, Troy Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Payne 3-4 2-2 8, Kooper Kidgell 6-7 1-3 13. Totals 32-64 8-15 75.

Halftime: Northern 43-33. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 11-24 (Huse 1-2, Bakalarski 3-4, Bray 5-10, Dunsmore 2-6, Porter 0-1, Porter 0-1), University of Montana-Wes 3-14 (Helligar 0-1, Darko-Kelly 1-2, Jones 2-3, Robinson 0-8). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 30 (TEAM 7, Dunsmore 7, Reeves 7), University of Montana-Wes 37 (Darko-Kelly 9). Fouls Montana State-Northern 17, University of Montana-Wes 12. Fouled out: Reeves.