Bombs Away: Lights stun Warriors

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 home stand. And those fortunes came against one of the 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 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 threes 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 threes from Bray and an offensive spark by Joe Fons to build the lead back to double digits. Then, the Lights went on 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 point 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 by 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 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."

Dawgs bite Lights

In basketball, sometimes, the ball just doesn't go in the hole. And that was the case for the Montana State University-Northern Lights in their first Frontier Conference game of 2019.

Friday night, inside the Armory Gymnasium, the ball just didn't go in enough for the Lights, including a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in a 66-63 loss to the UM-Western Bulldogs.

The final attempt was the culmination of a wild comeback in which the Lights nearly erased a 16-point deficit in the final six minutes. But it wasn't to be as Northern shot just 44 percent from the field and made a season-low five 3-pointers, while the Bulldogs shot 53 percent and a sizzling 57 percent in the first half.

"Credit Western," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said, "They came in here and played really well tonight. They did a great job.

"Credit to our guys, too," he added. "They battled back on what was a tough night. It kind of looked exactly like it was our first game back from Christmas break, particularly with the way we shot the ball. But I am very proud of the way our guys fought, and we gave ourselves a great chance at the end."

Northern was forced to fight all night long. Behind 3-pointers from Kooper Kidgell and Collin Achenbach, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-1 lead and eventually led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Conversely, Northern started the game icy cold from the field. The Lights shot just 36 percent in the first 20 minutes, but a late spurt got the game to within 10 points at the half, 35-25.

Early in the second half, Western again distanced itself. But, a triple from Caulin Bakalarski, and a breakout performance from junior Joe Fons brought the Lights roaring back. Fons scored 12 of Northern's last 17 points, and when he and Devin Bray went back-to-back from deep, the Lights had pulled to within five. But Fons wasn't done either. He scored two more buckets to pull Northern to within 64-63 with :32 left, and after two Western free throws, the Lights had the ball with a chance to send the game to overtime.

"Statistically, we looked very good tonight, except for the part where the ball needed to go in the basket," Huse said. "It wasn't for a lack of effort. Our guys played hard, and offensively, we got great looks all night, with the guys we wanted shooting those shots. But we just didn't make enough of them, and it felt like we were fighting uphill all night long."

Indeed, the Lights never led against Western, and the game was an uphill battle. But Fons certainly led that charge with a season-high 18 points to go with seven rebounds. He was the only Light in double figures, while Kidgell paced the Dawgs with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

"Joe Fons really gave us a spark tonight off the bench," Huse said. "I was really proud of the way he played. He made some huge shots, some big rebounds and great passes, including the last one that got us a great look to tie. He just did a great job tonight."

With the home split, the Lights are now 1-3 in the Frontier and 9-7 overall. Northern travels to Providence Tuesday before returning home to host Montana Tech Saturday.

Lights are 1-3 in Frontier, 9-7 overall; Next Up: At Providence Tuesday

UM-Western 66, Lights 63

UM-W - Jaycob Payne 4-6 0-0 8, Tanner Haverfield 4-6 0-0 8, Collin Achenbach 4-7 0-0 9, Derrek Durocher 2-3 0-0 6, Kooper Kidgell 6-10 2-3 15; Cedric Boone 3-9 1-2 8, Troy Scott 4-9 2-3 10, Trey Edwards 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 27-51 7-10.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 3-7 1-1 7, Cedric Crutchfield 3-5 1-4 7, Adam Huse 3-7 0-0 6, Mascio McCadney 3-11 0-0 6, Devin Bray 1-7 1-1 4, Kamari Burnside 1-1 1-1 3, Kavon Bey 3-7 0-0 7, James Fry 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Fons 8-10 0-0 18. Totals: 27-62 4-7.

Halftime: Western 35-23. 3-pointers UM-W 5-16 (Achenbach 1, Durocher 2, Kidgell 1, Boone 1), MSU-N 5-19 (Bray 1, Bakalarski 1, Bey 1, Fons 2). Rebounds: UM-W 29 (Kidgell 11), MSU-N 26 (Fons 8). Fouls: UM-W 12, MSU-N 12. Fouled out: None.

Lights 99, LC State 95

LCSC - Race Martin 3-8 1-2 7, Josiah Westbrook 3-5 0-0 8, David Shedrick 5-9 0-0 13, Cordel Hankerson 1-4 0-0 3, Damek Mitchell 14-23 5-7 39, Derrick White 4-6 1-2 9, Andre McCowan 1-3 0-0 2, Cory Dollarhide 2-9 2-2 6, Dana Abe 1-4 2-2 5, Trystan Bradley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 35-72 12-17.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 7-10 2-4 18, Cedric Crutchfield 1-3 0-0 2, Mascio McCadney 6-13 3-4 17, Caulin Bakalarski 6-12 1-2 16, Devin Bray 5-6 10-11 24, Kavon Bey 4-6 3-4 11, Joe Fons 4-5 0-0 9, Mamari Burnside 1-3 0-0 2, James Fry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 34-59 19-25.

Halftime: Northern 48-38. 3-pointers: LCSC 13-29 (Mitchell 6, Shedrick 3, Westbrook 2, Hankerson 1, Abe 1), MSU-N 12-17 (Bray 4, Dunsmore 2, McCadney 2, Bakalarski 3, Fons 1). Rebounds: LCSC 20 (Abe 4), MSU-N 38 (Bey 10). Fouls: LCSC 18, MSU-N 16; Fouled out: None.