Northern men split in Arizona

The fun in the desert didn't quite start out the way the Montana State University-Northern Lights were hoping it would. But MSU-N quickly turned things around.

The Lights started three days of games at the Phoenix Classic Sunday afternoon with a tight loss to Menlo College, but they quickly bounced back for a 67-52 win over Embry-Riddle University Monday night.

Northern, which plays again today in Phoenix, came out hot against the host Eagles Monday night, making eight 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. That good shooting helped the Lights stake a 34-26 halftime lead.

But the Lights weren't done. MSU-N buried seven more triples in the second half, and defensively, shut the Eagles down. Northern held ERAU to just 35 percent shooting and only 25 percent from beyond the arc, while also dominating the glass. The Lights out-rebounded ERAU 44-35.

While the Lights were clicking on all cylinders Monday night, no one was clicking more than junior Devin Bray. He pumped in a game-high 25 points and was a scintillating 7-of-10 from the 3-point-line. Mascio McCadney got into the act as well, making three treys, and scoring 13 points, while Adam Huse buried four threes for 12 points. Cedric Crutchfield also pulled down 12 boards for the Lights, who improved to 8-5 on the season.

“We got a great team effort tonight, on both ends," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Embry Riddle has had some big wins this year and has put up a great deal of points this season. I was really proud of our activity on defense and how well we found our shooters on offense. We still did not shoot the way we are fully capable, but did make some big ones ... and made plenty. I guess that’s the good news, that this team can still score better, yet we still got the sound win against a very quality opponent.”

Northern's start in Arizona was a bit of a struggle, as the Lights fell to GSAC power Menlo College, 70-64 Sunday.

Both teams played at a high level throughout the game, with the Lights hitting seven threes and only trailing 39-37 at intermission.

However, Menlo was able to keep a nose in front the entire second half, outscoring Northern 31-27 to hold on for the victory.

Justin Dunsmore had a big night for the Lights with 21 points and seven rebounds, while McCadney chipped in with 17, including five triples.

The Lights will play their last non-conference game of the season today when they battle another GSAC power, Vanguard University. Northern will then be off until the Lights resume Frontier Conference play Jan. 4-5 against UM-Western and Lewis-Clark State, respectively.

Menlo 70, Lights 64

MC - Anders Nymo 1-2 0-0 3, John Paine 6-13 1-2 14, Jared Wall 2-6 0-0 5, Jeremiah Testa 4-9 1-3 9, Henry Cornelious 5-8 0-0 10, N'Jai LeBlanc 4-8 7-10 17, Corey Le'aupepe 5-7 0-0 10, Petr Ropek 0-0 0-0 0, Ross Williams 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 28-58 9-15 70.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 6-16 6-6 21, Devin Bray 2-7 0-0 6, Adam Huse 2-9 1-2 5, James Fry 0-1 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 2-6 0-0 5, Cedric Crutchfield 0-4 1-2 1, Kavon Bey 4-6 0-0 9, Joe Fons 0-2 0-0 0, Mascio McCadney 6-12 0-0 17, Kamari Burnside 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 8-10 64.

Halftme: Menlo 37, Northern 37. 3-pt FG:Menlo (Calif.) 5-11 (Nymo 1-1, Paine 1-3, Wall 1-1, LeBlanc 2-4, Williams 0-2), Montana State-Northern 12-32 (Dunsmore 3-7, Bray 2-6, Huse 0-3, Fry 0-1, Bakalarski 1-5, Bey 1-1, Fons 0-2, McCadney 5-7). Rebounds: Menlo (Calif.) 33 (Paine 6, Cornelious 6), Montana State-Northern 42 (Crutchfield 10). Fouls Menlo (Calif.) 17, Montana State-Northern 14. Fouled out: none.

Lights 67, Embry-Riddle 52

ERAU - Calvin Carmichael 1-7 1-2 3, Marshall Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Wood 0-0 1-2 1, Logan Skurdal 0-5 2-4 2, Gilbert Ibarra 3-12 0-0 7, Trace Edmier 2-4 1-2 5, Nick Johnson 8-13 2-5 18, Carter Kosiak 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Herbert 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Skurdal 3-5 0-0 7, Conner Verdugo 2-6 1-2 7. Totals 20-55 8-17 52.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 0-6 0-1 0, Devin Bray 9-14 0-1 25, Adam Huse 4-13 0-0 12, James Fry 0-1 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 2-7 1-1 6, Cedric Crutchfield 2-4 1-1 5, Kavon Bey 1-3 0-0 2, Joe Fons 2-2 0-0 4, Mascio McCadney 5-12 0-1 13, Kamari Burnside 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 2-5 67.

Halftime: Northern 34, ERAU 26. 3-pt FG:Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 4-16 (Carmichael 0-1, Skurdal 0-4, Ibarra 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Herbert 0-2, Skurdal 1-2, Verdugo 2-2), Montana State-Northern 15-40 (Dunsmore 0-5, Bray 7-10, Huse 4-10, Fry 0-1, Bakalarski 1-6, McCadney 3-8). Rebounds: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 35 (TEAM 9), Montana State-Northern 44 (Crutchfield 12). Fouls Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 11, Montana State-Northern 14. Fouled out: Bey .