Lights look to make strides in Phoenix

Christmas is almost here, and when it's over, it will be time for Frontier Conference basketball. But, before the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team gets to January, and the Frontier, the Lights have a little business left to take care of.

Northern (7-4) will close out non-conference play Sunday-Tuesday at the Phoenix Classic. There, the Lights will take on three NAIA powers in as many days, and, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said the timing couldn't be better.

"Our schedule worked out really well in that, we get to go play three teams that will be very much like conference opponents," Huse said. "And then, we'll have our Christmas break, before getting back to work for conference play. So this trip will be really good for us in a number of different ways."

Without question, the next three games will have a conference feel to them for the Lights, who are heading to Phoenix following a home split in the Duck Inn Classic.

Northern's starts the trip with a Sunday afternoon game against Menlo College, a member of the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lights play Embry-Riddle on Monday, and close out the trip with Vanguard University on Tuesday night, another GSAC member.

"These will be three very challenging games," Huse said. "All three teams have good players, a lot of talent and size and athleticism, so all three games will present some great challenges for our team."

And Northern wants to be challenged.

MSU-N is a relatively young team, with a mix of returners and newcomers, and the Lights are still in the growing process. That has been evident in recent weeks, where they have played at an extremely high level but have fell short in a couple of those contests.

"We're still learning, we're still growing," Huse said. "But, the thing is, this team is hungry, they work hard, they want to keep getting better, and we'll use this trip to continue that process."

The Lights have been an offensive stalwart so far this season, averaging well over 90 points per game. Mascio McCadney, Adam Huse, Justin Dunsmore, Kavon Bey, Cedric Crutchfield and Devin Bray all average in double figures for the Lights, with McCadney and Huse each averaging 15 points per night.

Northern has also been stout on defense at times, but, now, Huse says, it's about putting it all together, and the next three games will certainly help do that before the Lights resume conference play Jan. 4 against UM-Western.

"It's nothing glaring," Coach Huse said. "We just have to fix little things, little mistakes here and there that we're making at critical times in games. The things that might be holding us back a little, they're all fixable. I believe we have a very good basketball team. We have a lot of talent on this team, we have depth and we have a group of guys who are focused and who work hard. So we just need to continue to make strides, to keep getting better with every game, and these next three games will help us do that."

The Lights open the Phoenix Classic Sunday against Menlo at 12 p.m. Northern faces ERAU Monday at 6 p.m. and Vanguard Tuesday at 12 p.m.