Lights battle surging Saints, hungry Bears

Last weekend's Frontier Conference road trip was an agonizing one for the Montana State University-Northern Lights, as they lost by two points at UM-Western and three at Lewis-Clark State. In both games, the Lights had leads that slipped away from them late.

Now, Northern is hoping its last home stand of the regular season will help relieve some of that agony. MSU-N (6-8, 16-10) starts the final stretch of the season tonight against No. 6 Carroll College tonight, then the Lights battle Rocky Mountain College Saturday night. Both games are set to tip at 8 p.m. in the Armory.

And both games are big for the Lights, who are sitting in the fifth place in the Frontier but are only two games from being tied for third. But one thing the Lights must do in order to catch up in the Frontier is find ways to finish games.

Northern is getting a monster effort from senior Ryan Reeves, who averages 16 points, nine rebounds and a whopping four blocked shots per game. Gabe Porter, Charles Porter and Justin Dunsmore also average in double figures, while defensively, MSU-N has been extremely good the last two weeks. But as good as the Lights have played, the results they want have been hard to come by at times.

"I just feel we have worked very hard, have a great group of guys, have a very complete team with Ryan inside and our guards on the perimeter," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "We have to believe that some of these tough breaks we had will go our way moving forward."

The Lights have had their share of tough luck this season, and tonight, reversing that trend won't be easy. Carroll (10-4, 22-4) brings a five-game winning streak into tonight's contest, and the Fighting Saints own two wins over the Lights already. They also own one of the best players in the country, in senior Ryan Imhoff, who averages 20 points and seven rebounds per game.

But the Saints, who average 80 points per game and only give up 66, aren't just about one man. They have matchup nightmares in wings Matt Wyman and Match Burnham, a lockdown point guard in Ife Kalejaiye, a standout guard in Lorel Johnson and a deep bench that includes former Havre Blue Pony Dane Warp and big man Oliver Carr among others.

Northern, though, will certainly battle the Saints, and the Lights know it's hard for anyone to beat them three times, just as they'll try to do Saturday night against RMC.

Northern opened Frontier play in December with a thrilling overtime win over Rocky (7-7, 16-10), and the Lights started February off with a win over the Bears in Billings. And still, the Lights are trailing Rocky by one game in the Frontier standings so Saturday's game will be a big one.

Rocky comes to Havre having lost two to the Lights, but the Bears, led by forward Jared Samuelson, who averages 18 points and eight rebounds a game, have plenty of big wins in conference play. They also have a stellar point guard in Latrelle Franklin, a veteran guard in Chad Kananan and quality inside play from Danny Betcher and Austin Payne.

So, with two very talented and hungry teams coming into the Armory, it goes without saying that it's not only going to be a big weekend for the Lights but a testing one, as well.

"Both teams present challenges at the forward positions and with their production from their guards," Huse said. "We have to slow them down if we expect success at home this weekend. Our team has come a long ways, time is running short, but we know if we finish just a little stronger and continue starting well in these conference games, we can put ourselves in good position coming down the home stretch."

The home stretch begins tonight when Northern takes on Carroll at 8, followed by Saturday's game with RMC. The Lights are also home Wednesday night to face the University of Providence.

Lights vs No. 6 Carroll tonight, 8 p.m.; vs RMC Saturday, 8 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

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Lights Projected Starters

G Gabe Porter 6-1, JR 13 ppg

G Devin Bray 5-11 SO 9 ppg

F Charles Porter 6-2 SR 11 ppg

F Justin Dunsmore 6-6 JR 13 ppg

C Ryan Reeves 6-10 SR 16 ppg