THREE BALL: Lights upset Saints

There have been nights over the years, and plenty this season, in which the Montana State University-Northern Lights have bombarded an opponent with some red-hot shooting from the 3-point line.

That happened in reverse to the Lights in a loss to Rocky Mountain College Friday night in Havre.

One night later, though, the Lights did the same thing to the second-ranked Carroll College Fighting Saints. Northern made 15 3-pointers in a 82-71 win over the Saints, in what was MSU-N's first victory over a No. 2 team in the NAIA in more than 10 years.

"I was just proud of our guys hanging in there," Huse said. "Carroll came out great. The start wasn't as good as we would have wanted it to be. But we played with a lot of energy on both ends and I think we wore them down a little bit.

"Again, just proud of these guys," he continued. "Anybody can turn it on and beat anybody. If you're not hitting shots, anybody can get anybody, and tonight, we came out and turned it on and made a lot of shots, and that was big for our guys. I was just really proud of the way we responded."

Both Northern and Carroll came into the game wounded. The Lights suffered a tough loss to Rocky, while Carroll was upset at Providence Friday night, and in the process, lost stars Match Burnham and Matt Wyman. And still, the Saints jumped out to a 24-14 lead in the first half, led by a strong start from former Havre Blue Pony Dane Warp.

That's when things changed. Warp had sparked a 12-1 run for the Saints, but Adam Huse hit three threes and scored 15 points in the final nine minutes of the first half. As a team, Northern finished the half on a 14-2 run, with Devin Bray making a long-range bomb before time expired.

And the Lights never let up.

Justin Dunsmore opened the second half with a three, and as a team, the Lights buried eight triples in the final 20 minutes. Caulin Bakalarski went on an 8-0 run by himself, and Northern never truly let the short-handed Saints back into the game.

"Our guys shot it really well," Huse said. "We were down early, but shooting is a strength of ours, and we showed that tonight. The guys were finding each other tonight. Guys were really unselfish, and we got our shooters clean looks and they knocked them down. The three was big for us."

MSU-N did shoot it well indeed. The Lights were 15-of-32 from deep, and Huse, Bakalarski and Dunsmore all hit threes in the final 20 minutes, which countered every punch Carroll tried to throw. The Lights were also balanced. Huse scored a game-high 21 points, with five treys, while Dunsmore added 20, with five more bombs. Bakalarski dropped 16 and Mascio McCadney scored 12.

Defensively, Northern also held the Saints to just 48 percent shooting, with Warp leading the way by scoring 19 points.

"It's a big win," Huse said. "I'm just really proud of our guys because it's so tough to win in this league, and especially against a really good team like Carroll. So this is a big one for us, and I'm just excited for our guys."

Rocky shoots down the Lights

As good as Northern shot the ball Saturday night, the Lights were on the receiving end of a 3-point barrage Friday night. In a 79-65 home loss to No. 22 Rocky Mountain College, the Lights watched as the Bears sank 10 threes in the second half, and seven in the last nine minutes. And that kind of shooting was just too much for Northern to overcome in its return to the Armory Gymnasium.

"Give Rocky credit," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "They simply got hot, and especially after we felt like we played really good basketball in the first half. Craig Wilmore specifically, shot it really well. Simply, they made the shots and we didn't."

Northern made plenty in the first 20 minutes. Adam Huse buried an early try, and Kavon Bey and Mascio McCadney helped Northern to a 9-0 run with three straight transition buckets. And when Devin Bray knocked down a triple of his own, the Lights were headed to the locker room leading 35-26.

As coach Huse noted, though, Rocky didn't go away. The Bears started the second half on a 10-2 run, capped former Box Elder star Brandon The Boy's floater in the lane. Northern responded to the run by a big bucket from Cedric Crutchfield, and by the nine minute mark, the Lights were down just one. And things were fine as Joe Fons hit a clutch 3-pointer. But what happened next essentially ended the game. Clayton Ladine answered Fons' three with one of his won, and in the next two minutes, Ladine and Jared Samuelson would each hit another triple, and over the course of the next five minutes, Wilmore would knock in four more. By the time Danny Betcher added a triple, the Lights trailed by 14 points, and Rocky was able to leave Havre with a second win over the Lights this season.

All told, the Bears shot 51 percent for the game, and a sizzling 70 percent in the second half. Rocky also went an incredible 10-of-14 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, while Wilmore poured in a game-high 25 points.

"It's disheartening because I felt like we played really well at time tonight," Huse said. "But at other times, we just went ice cold. We have great shooters on this team, but tonight we didn't make them, and we were unable to capitalize on the opportunities we got."

Northern shot 44 percent on the night, but just 31 percent in a second half that saw the Lights go just 4-of-11 from downtown. Adam Huse led Northern with 16 points, while McCadney scored 12 and Crutchfield chipped in with nine points and nine boards.

"I thought Cedric had a really good game," Huse said. "He was a big factor for us tonight. Again, credit to Rocky because they played very well in the second half. And for us, it was just one of those nights when the ball just didn't go enough."

The Lights will stay home to host the University of Providence Wednesday, followed by a home game with Montana Tech this Friday.

Lights are 6-6 in Frontier, 14-10 overall; Next Up: vs Providence Wednesday

Rocky Mountain 79, Lights 65

RMC - Danny Betcher 4-6 3-4 12, Jared Samuelson 6-14 4-4 18, Brandon The Boy 3-10 0-0 6, Craig Wilmore 8-11 2-2 23, Lukas Vining 2-6 0-0 6, Clayton Ladine 2-3 0-0 6,. Grant Wallace 2-3 0-0 5, Satchel McDonald 0-0 1-2 1, Austin Payne 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 28-55 12-14.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 1-3 0-1 4, Cedric Crutchfield 4-5 1-2 9, Adam Huse 4-12 6-8 16, Mascio McCadney 6-11 0-0 12, Devin Bray 3-6 0-0 8, Kamari Burnside 0-0 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 2-6 1-4 6, Kavon Bey 2-9 2-3 6, James Frey 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Fons 2-4 1-3 6. Totals: 24-56 11-21.

Halftime: Northern 35-26. 3-pointers: RMC 11-25 (Betcher 1, Samuelson 2, Wilmore 5, Ladine 2, Wallace 1), MSU-N 6-17 (Huse 2, Bray 2, Bakalarski 1, Fons 1). Rebounds: RMC 36 (Betcher 7), MSU-N 26 (Crutchfield 7). Fouls: RMC 15, MSU-N 11. Fouled out: None.

Lights 82, Carroll College 71

CC - Jovan Slijivancanin 4-8 0-0 8, Thomas Austerfjord 2-6 0-0 5, Dane Warp 8-18 2-2 19, Shamrock Campbell 5-9 0-0 10, Ife Kalejaye 5-8 6-6 18, Eetu Villa 4-7 0-0 10, Chase Burnham 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 28-57 9-10.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 6-9 3-4 20, Cedric Crutchfield 1-1 0-0 2, Mascio McCadney 5-16 0-0 10, Adam Huse 8-14 0-0 21, Devin Bray 2-4 1-2 7, Caulin Bakalarski 6-11 1-2 16, Kavon Bey 1-2 0-0 0, Joe Fons 2-3 0-0 4. 31-60 5-8.

Halftime: Northern 38-34. 3-pointers: CC 6-18 (Austerfjord 1, Warp 1, Kalejaye 2, Villa 2), MSU-N 15-32 (Dunsmore 5, Huse 5, Bray 2, Bakalarski 3). Rebounds: CC 25 (Warp 5), MSU-N 32 (Bakalarski 6). Fouls: CC 13, MSU-N 8. Fouled out: None.