Lights get revenge at Western, Skylights fall

If the Montana State University-Northern Lights were going to keep their winning streak in Frontier Conference play going, they would need to beat the last team to beat them. And Thursday night in Dillon, that's exactly what the Lights did.

Northern avenged a home loss to Montana Western two weeks ago in Havre by besting the Bulldogs 81-63 Thursday night in Dillon. The victory was Northern's fourth straight, pushing its record to 4-3 in conference play.

Northern beat the Bulldogs by turning the tables on them. The last time the two rivals faced, Western held the Lights to a season-low shooting percentage, but Thursday, MSU-N shot a stellar 54 percent from the floor, and while the Lights only made five 3-pointers, they hit four of them in the first 20 minutes on their way to a commanding 42-25 lead at halftime.

Western was able to climb to within 10 points midway through the second half, but the Lights wouldn't be denied and they ripped off a 9-0 run to put the game away.

Northern's efficient offense was paced by four Lights in double figures. Kavon Bey scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the way, while Adam Huse added 16, Mascio McCadney scored 13 and Caulin Bakalarski reached double digits for the fourth straight game with 10. MSU-N also out-rebounded Western 43-26, and played stout defense, with Cedric Crutchfield recording two blocks.

The Lights (12-7) will now turn their attention to the team they beat to start their winning streak when they travel to Lewiston, Idaho, to take on #16 Lewis-Clark State Saturday.

Dawgs shut down Skylights

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights had trouble with the Montana Western defense just two weeks ago in Havre. Thursday night in Dillon, the Bulldogs were just as stingy.

Northern fell in its rematch with third-ranked Western, 64-47, dropping the Skylights to 1-6 in Frontier Conference play.

Western came into the game leading the Frontier in scoring defense, allowing just 44 points per game. And from the onset, it was obvious just how good the Dawg's defense was, as they held the Skylights to just six points in the first 10 minutes, while jumping out to a 32-19 lead at halftime.

Northern played much better on both ends of the floor in the second half, but Western still outscored the Skylights 32-28 the rest of the way, improving to 6-1 in conference play.

One big difference in the game was turnovers, as Western forced Northern into 16 miscues. The Bulldogs also held an advantage on the boards, though MSU-N did shoot 42 percent from the field, and got 14 points from Peyton Kehr as well as 12 by Sabin Keo. Brianna King led three Bulldogs in double figures with 19 points, including three of Western's six 3-pointers.

Northern (9-10) will look to regroup Saturday when the Skylights travel to Lewiston, Idaho, to take on the No. 18 Lewis-Clark State Warriors. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

Western 64, Skylights 47

MSU-Northern 6 13 14 14 - 47

Montana Western 19 13 18 14 - 64

MSU-N - Gokce Aslan 0-3 0-0 0, Sabin Keo 5-8 2-4 12, Petra Sellin 0-0 0-0 0, Allix Goldhahn 3-6 0-0 7, Jada Nicholson 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 2-2 0-0 4, Hailey Nicholson 1-8 2-2 4, Peyton Kehr 6-10 0-0 14, Lily Hilderbrand 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Hovde 0-0 0-0 0, Tiara Gilham 3-10 0-0 6. Totals 20-48 4-6 47.

UM-W - Paige Holmes 1-7 1-2 4, Britt Cooper 1-2 2-2 4, Cierra Lamey 7-11 2-3 17, Shannon Worster 5-7 2-4 12, Brianna King 8-18 0-0 19, Tori Anderson 1-8 1-2 3, Savanna Bignell 2-2 0-0 5, Darby Schye 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 8-13 64.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 3-11 (Aslan 0-1, Goldhahn 1-3, Kehr 2-4, Gilham 0-3), Montana Western 6-22 (Holmes 1-5, Lamey 1-2, Worster 0-2, King 3-10, Anderson 0-2, Bignell 1-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 31 (Nicholson 7), Montana Western 33 (Lamey 10). Fouls Montana State-Northern 11, Montana Western 7. Fouled out: none.

Lights 81, Western 63

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 2-4 4-4 8, Devin Bray 2-3 4-5 9, Adam Huse 5-8 4-4 16, James Fry 0-1 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 3-9 2-2 10, Cedric Crutchfield 0-2 0-0 0, Kavon Bey 9-12 4-5 22, Joe Fons 1-1 0-0 2, Mascio McCadney 6-12 1-1 13, Kamari Burnside 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 28-52 20-23 81.

UM-W - Cedric Boone 9-22 3-4 26, Tanner Haverfield 3-7 0-0 7, Darrien Garcia 0-0 0-0 0, Troy Scott 1-5 1-3 3, Trey Edwards 0-0 1-3 1, Carter Kearns 0-2 0-0 0, Collin Achenbach 1-4 0-0 2, Derrek Durocher 1-2 0-0 3, Connor Burkhart 0-0 0-0 0, Kooper Kidgell 6-13 6-11 19, Jaycob Payne 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-58 11-21 63.

Halftime: Northern 42-25. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-16 (Dunsmore 0-1, Bray 1-2, Huse 2-3, Bakalarski 2-6, Bey 0-2, McCadney 0-2), Montana Western 8-26 (Boone 5-11, Haverfield 1-3, Scott 0-3, Kearns 0-1, Achenbach 0-2, Durocher 1-2, Kidgell 1-3, Payne 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 43 (Bey 9), Montana Western 26 (Scott 7). Fouls Montana State-Northern 17, Montana Western 18. Fouled out: Haverfield .