Dickinson State turns the tables on the Lights

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team was no doubt looking forward to their two games in the Duck Inn Corporation Classic. After all, the Lights were coming off two very tough road games in the Frontier Conference. So, Northern was hoping the Armory Gymnasium would be just what it needed to get going again.

But Sunday afternoon in the Armory, the Dickinson State Blue Hawks had other ideas.

In what MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse called a concerning trend of late, the Lights watched a big first-half lead slip away in a 76-66 loss to the Blue Hawks. The loss dropped Northern to 6-4 on the season with just one home game left in 2018.

"Today was very reminiscent of our last three games," Huse said. "We play a good, if not great, first half, then we sputter late offensively. It was kind of the same thing that happened to us at Rocky and Carroll, and right now, I'm not really sure what it is. We have great weapons on this team, so, it's time to go back to the drawing board, make some adjustments and get this fixed before Monday's game and before we head to Phoenix."

The Lights did play a great first half, especially the second 10 minutes. Northern and DSU, which the Lights beat last month in Dickinson, traded leads 11 times before Kavon Bey capped an 8-2 MSU-N run to put the Lights ahead 23-16. Adam Huse would also drill two 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the first stanza to put the Lights in front 39-28 at intermission. And after Mascio McCadney opened the second half with a bucket, Northern had a 13-point lead, and it looked like the Lights would run away from the Blue Hawks for the second time in a month.

It wasn't to be, however.

DSU made four 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the second half, and even after Caulin Bakalarski hit one of his own, the Lights led by just three points at 51-48. Just minutes later, DSU took its first lead of the game, but McCadney tied it at 56-56 with a shot from downtown. From there however, the Blue Hawks, sparked by Melvin Collins, rattled off a 14-2 run, and eventually led by as many as 11 points, and the Lights just couldn't recover.

Collins led five DSU players in double figures with a game-high 21 points, while the Blue Hawks shot a scorching 60 percent from the field in the second half, and 50 percent for the game.

"We struggled to get stops on defense, and that hurt," Huse said. "They (Blue Hawks) made some adjustments, so credit to them. But when we weren't getting stops, and we weren't making shots down the stretch, the game just got away from us. So we've got to get those problems we're having late in games corrected."

The Lights did shoot 52 percent from the field but just 6-of-18 from three. Adam Huse led Northern with 17 points, while McCadney had 15 and Bey chipped in with 10.

Northern will look to rebound tonight when the Lights host Alberta-Augustana at 8 in the Armory.

"Our guys really wanted this game," Huse said. "After those tough losses on the road, they were hungry for this one tonight, so it's disappointing for sure. But, we've just got to pick ourselves up, watch the film, learn from this one and get ready to go again on Monday night."

Dickinson St. 76, Lights 66

DSU - Melvin Collins 7-11 7-8 21, Travon Hamilton 6-9 4-6 16, Donte Walker 4-9 2-2 13, Michael Vandall 4-4 1-2 12, Kenny Jackson 4-11 0-0 9, Shawn Holtz 1-3 0-0 2, Malcholm Hill 1-7 1-1 3, Nick Obazuaye 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-54 15-20.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 2-3 0-0 4, Cedric Crutchfield 3-5 0-0 7, Adam Huse 7-11 1-2 17, Mascio McCadney 6-12 0-0 15, Devin Bray 2-6 0-0 4, Kamari Brunside 0-0 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 2-5 2-2 7, Kavon Bay 5-10 0-0 10, Joe Fons 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 28-54 4-8.

Halftime: Northern 39-28. 3-pointers: DSU 7-16 (Walker 3, Vandall 3, Jackson 1), MSU-N 6-18 (Huse 2, McCadney 3, Bakalarski 1). Rebounds: DSU 27 (Jackson 7), MSU-N 24 (Crutchfield). Fouls: DSU 14, MSU-N 15. Fouled out: None.