Lights lose a heartbreaker at Rocky Mountain College

The Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears are the favorite to win the Frontier Conference men's basketball title this season. But, the Montana State University-Northern Lights had a golden opportunity to deliver a season-opening statement that they shouldn't be overlooked.

With less than seven minutes to play in Thursday night's Frontier opener between the Bears and Lights in Billings, Northern held a 12-point lead. Ultimately though, it got away from Northern as No. 14 Rocky made a huge push down the stretch to edge the Lights 78-74.

Leading 68-57 with seven minutes to go, the Lights looked like they were in great shape to spring the upset. From there, however, Rocky outscored Northern 17-6, including Jared Samuelson tying the game at 70-70 with three minutes to go. Eventually, Danny Betcher would make two clutch free throws with :09 left to lift the Bears to the close win.

The loss was a heartbreaking one for the Lights because they played so well. Northern shot 50 percent in the first half and made seven 3-pointers on its way to a 38-28 lead at intermission. MSU-N didn't cool off for much of the second half either, shooting 47 percent and making four more triples. But behind late surges from Samuelson and Satchel McDonald, the Bears clawed their way back and overtook the Lights late.

The loss came despite a huge night from Adam Huse, who poured in a game-high 25 points, including five threes. Devin Bray and Kavon Bey added 12 points apiece, while Justin Dunsmore scored 12 and grabbed nine rebounds. Rocky finished with four players in double figures, while former Box Elder star Brandon The Boy scored nine in his first game against the Lights.

Now, the Lights (0-1, 6-2) will go from one tough nationally ranked team to another. On Saturday night, Northern faces off against No. 22 Carroll, which brings a perfect 10-0 mark into the first of three meetings between the two rivals this season.

Carroll returns a host of stars, including Match Burnham and Matt Wyman, and the Fighting Saints graduated just one player from last year's Final Four squad. But the emergence of former Blue Pony Dane Warp, and his 22 points per night, has given Carroll even more firepower and has helped soften the blow of the loss of 2018 NAIA national player of the year Ryan Imhoff.

So without question, Saturday night's game in Helena will be yet another tough one for the Lights.

"Carroll is a very experienced team, that creates multiple challenges with their size and length on the floor," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "Somehow we have to defend and rebound on defense, and find ways to score on offense. This will be a very tough test this early in the season, on their floor."

Saturday night's game between the Lights and Saints tips at 7:30 p.m. in Helena.

Rocky Mountain 78, Lights 74

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 5-8 0-0 12, Devin Bray 5-7 0-0 12, Adam Huse 10-14 0-0 25, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 2-7 0-0 5, Cedric Crutchfield 1-4 1-2 3, Kavon Bey 5-8 2-2 12, Joe Fons 0-1 0-0 0, Mascio McCadney 2-14 0-0 5. Totals 30-63 3-4 74.

RMC - Clayton Ladine 2-8 0-0 5, Brandon The Boy 4-4 0-0 9, Issac Martel 1-3 1-1 3, Grant Wallace 1-3 0-0 2, Satchel McDonald 5-8 2-3 12, Danny Betcher 4-9 5-6 13, Austin Payne 0-1 0-0 0, Craig Wilmore 2-8 3-4 8, Jared Samuelson 5-11 4-4 15, Ragen Shein 5-8 1-3 11, De'Andre Bryant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 16-21 78.

Halftime: Northern 38-28. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 11-24 (Dunsmore 2-3, Bray 2-4, Huse 5-8, Bakalarski 1-5, McCadney 1-4), Rocky Mountain College 4-15 (Ladine 1-4, The Boy 1-1, Martel 0-1, Wallace 0-1, Wilmore 1-2, Samuelson 1-4, Shein 0-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 33 (TEAM 9, Dunsmore 9), Rocky Mountain College 36 (Samuelson 9). Fouls Montana State-Northern 16, Rocky Mountain College 11. Fouled out: none.