Lights drops a tough one to Vanguard in Phoenix

The Montana State University-Northern Lights’ non-conference schedule ended on a tough note.

Tuesday afternoon in Phoenix, the Lights lost a 72-68 heartbreaker to Vanguard University to finish three days of games at the Phoenix Classic. The loss dropped Northern to 8-6 heading into the holiday break.

And according to MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse, the game was there for the taking.

The Lights led 40-34 at halftime, and only fell behind the Lions in the final few minutes. MSU-N had a couple of looks to tie or regain the lead, but the shots just didn’t fall.

“Extremely proud of the guys today,” Huse said. “Up six at half, led most of the second half, had a shot to win or tie, and just came up short.

“We certainly have a ton of positives to take away from taking one of the top teams in the country, to the wire,” he continued. “Of course we are frustrated and would like to have that one back, but just need to learn from it and move on to the new year. Our guys are hungry to get back to conference play after getting their rest and individual workouts in over the break.”

Joe Fons led a balanced Northern offense with 13 points against the Lions. Mascio McCadney added 11 points and Devin Bray and Caulin Bakalarski each scored 10. Bray was hot from the three again, as well, with three of Northern’s 10 triples.

The Lights will return to action Jan. 4 when they host UM-Western and Jan. 5 when Lewis-Clark State comes to the Armory Gymnasium.

Vanguard 72, Lights 68

VU - B. Brothers 6-10 0-0 15, M. Hoosein 1-10 0-0 3, C. Kennedy 1-3 0-0 3, G. McKay 5-8 4-5 14, J. Tolmaire 1-3 0-0 3, I. Gentry 8-10 2-3 22, J. Moore 3-4 0-0 6, D. Riley 2-6 0-0 4, K. Wilborn 1-6 0-0 2. Totals: 28-64 7-10.

MSU-N - Devin Bray 3-7 1-2 10, Cedric Crutchfield 2-4 2-3 6, Justin Dunsmore 3-10 0-0 8, Adam Huse 2-5 1-2 6, Mascio McCadney 5-14 0-1 11, Caulin Bakalarski 4-6 0-0 10, Kavon Bey 1-1 0-0 2, Joe Fons 5-5 2-2 13, James Fry 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 26-53 6-10.

Halftime: Northern 40-34. 3-pointers: VU 9-19 (Brothers 3, Hoosein 1, Kennedy 1, Gentry 4), MSU-N 10-20 (Bray 3, Dunsmore 2, Huse 1, McCadney 1, Bakalarski 2, Fons 1). Rebounds: VU 36 (McKay 11), MSU-N 27 (McCadney 6). Fouls: VU 16, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: Dunsmore.