Lights knock off 10th-ranked Warriors; Skylights fall just short

What a difference 24 hours can make. And that was certainly the case for the Montana State University-Northern Lights.

After a tough night shooting against the UM-Western Bulldogs, the Lights' fortunes quickly turned around in the second game of a two-game Armory Gymnasium homestand. And those fortunes came against one of the very best teams in the NAIA.

Saturday night in the Armory, the Lights buried eight 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes, sparking them to a 99-95 victory over 10th-ranked Lewis-Clark State. The win was Northern's first in Frontier Conference play, and came on the heels of a dismal shooting night against the Bulldogs just one night earlier.

"It's funny how much better everything looks, how much more energy you have, how much more excitement you have sometimes, just by the ball simply going in the basket," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "I'm not shocked by the way we shot the ball tonight though, because we have the guys to shoot it like we did. We are a very talented basketball team, and we had lost so many games where we shot it well, had a nice lead, and it got it away from us. But we didn't let that happen tonight. All the credit goes to our guys for that. They just weren't going to be denied."

After making just five three's against Western Friday night, the Lights flipped the script on the talented Warriors. Without one of their top shooters, Adam Huse, who suffered an injury Friday night, Northern came out and got two 3-pointers from Caulin Bakalarski, two more from Devin Bray and another from Justin Dunsmore in a first half that saw the Lights build a 48-38 edge.

And the fun was just beginning. LC State made a run early in the second half to pull within three points, but Northern answered with two more three's from Bray and an offensive spark by Joe Fons to build the lead back to double digits. Then, the Lights went a 13-0 tear capped by another three from Bray and one more by Dunsmore, and it appeared the game had been broke open, as Northern led 79-64 with seven minutes to play.

The Warriors though, had other ideas. They responded with a 13-2 run, sparked by a herculean effort from points guard Damek Mitchell, who finished with 39 points, and by the end of the run, Northern's lead was down to 85-82 with less than three minutes to go.

But, as Huse said, Northern wouldn't be denied, and Mascio McCadney answered the call with a triple to put the Lights back up big six points, and while Mitchell kept making shots, the Lights kept making free throws, ultimately putting the big win on ice."

"I feel like Devin Bray really led us tonight," Huse said. "Not just because of all his big shots, but because of his ability to handle their pressure. They pressure your guards so well, and with Devin in the lead, all of our guards, Mascio, Caulin and Kamari (Burnside), did such a great job handling it, and that was a big key for us."

No question, Northern not only withstood LC''s pressure defense, and Mitchell's barrage at the end of the game, the Lights also exploded offensively. They shot 58 percent from the field and an incredible 71 percent from beyond the arc. Bray was a perfect 4-for-4 from downtown and finished with 24 points, while Dunsmore added 18, McCadney had 17, Bakalarski finished with 16 and Kavon Bey came off the bench to give Northern a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

But, it wasn't just Northern's offensive prowess that impressed Huse. It was their ability to handle adversity, after a gut-wrenching loss to Western on Friday night.

"Our team has a ton of character, and that showed tonight," Huse said. "To come back and battle a team that's loaded with weapons, a great team in LC State, that shows so much heart and character in our guys. I'm extremely proud of them for that. It was a really big win for us, but, it also shows just how much our guys are willing to fight, how hard they've worked, and how much they believe in each other. I'm just very, very proud of them."

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights knew their first two Frontier Conference home games of the season were going to be daunting. And they were, because they had to play two rivals ranked in the NAIA Top 25.

However, Saturday night, Northern gave one of those rivals all it could handle. Inside the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights lost a heartbreaker to No. 16 Lewis-Clark State, 51-49.

Northern battled the Warriors down to the wire, and with just :03 left, Peyton Kehr's driving layup, which just rimmed out, would have sent the game to overtime. Instead, the Skylights were left with a heartbreaking loss.

"There are no moral victories right now," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "The bottom line is, we had a chance to put away a very good team tonight, and we didn't do it. So that's disappointing. But our kids played extremely hard for 40 minutes. They played really well. I was really proud of the way they competed. The only thing we didn't do is finish it off. But it wasn't for a lack of effort or heart. Our kids really showed up tonight after a tough one to swallow last night."

Northern got off to a great start, especially after its struggles with UM-Western on Friday night. Kehr drilled to first-quarter 3-pointers to help the Skylights stake a 16-15 lead.

LCSC picked up the intensity in the second stanza, going inside to Jossilyn Blackman, but a Sabin Keo three helped the Skylights hang tough, trailing just 28-26 at the break.

But the first half was just a prelude to a wildly entertaining final 20 minutes. Northern started the second stanza ona 6-0 run, and five straight points at the end of the period by Tiara Gilham gave the Skylights a 41-38 lead with 10 minutes left.

Then, in the first five minutes of the final period, things really tightened up. Peyton Souvenir hit a trey to lift LC to a one-point lead, but Kehr answered with two straight buckets to give Northern a 46-45 edge with under two to play. It wouldn't be enough though, as Delaney Henerey buried a triple with :41 left, and the Skylights missed three critical free throws on their next two trips down the floor. Those misses would prove costly, but, Northern's heart and grit also was the reason the Skylights had a chance to tie or win the game in the final nine seconds.

"I thought or defense was really good tonight," Mouat said. "Our kids executed it perfectly. They (Warriors) hit some really big shots, but we did too. I thought we had a number of kids step up big for us tonight. There were some things that, had they gone differently, we would have been able to get over the finish line. But again, I was proud of the great effort our kids gave us tonight."

MSU-N played phenomonal defense on the potent Warriors, who came in averaging nearly 85 points per night. The Skylights held LCSC to just 31 percent shooting, but, LC also hit seven three's and won the battle of the boards. On the other end, Northern got 18 points from Kehr, while Gilham scored nine in her first signifigant action in two months.

"We just have to learn from this one," Mouat said. "This is a performance we can build off of and grow from, and that's what we'll do moving forward."