Lights begin postseason at home

The 2019 Frontier Conference regular season, and an opportunity to host a postseason game came right down to the wire for the Montana State University-Northern Lights — literally. But thanks to a Caulin Bakalarski 3-pointer, the Lights ended the regular season on the highest of highs, and now, they get to play at home at least one more night.

Bakalarski's three in the final seconds of last Saturday night’s Northern win over Montana Western vaulted the Lights into a fourth-place tie with the Providence Argos in the final regular season standings, and since the Lights had the tiebreaker over the Argos, Northern gets to host the quarterfinal game between the two bitter rivals.

And that game comes tonight when the Lights (17-13) and 23rd-ranked Argos (18-11) meet inside the Armory Gymnasium. The game, which tips at 7, will see the winner advance to the semifinals Saturday night, while the loser’s season could be over.

“We are ecstatic to be hosting a first-round game this year,” Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. “I firmly believe this is the toughest this league has ever been, across the board. It was a battle to accomplish this, and I am very proud of the guys. We are hungry to do everything we can to capitalize on the opportunity, and hopefully advance towards the next round and ultimate goal.”

The ultimate goal would be winning the Frontier championship and reaching next month’s NAIA national tournament. For the Lights, they’ll only get to Kansas City via the Frontier championship, and while they’ve had their ups and downs this season, Northern certainly has a team capable of making a run in the Frontier playoffs.

Over the last two months, the Lights have beaten everybody in the Frontier except for Rocky Mountain College, while blossoming into a top defensive squad. In league play, Northern allows just 70 ppg. Offensively, the Lights are as dangerous as anyone in the field, too. They have six players in double figures, led by Mascio McCadney’s 14 ppg. Bakalarski and veteran Justin Dunsmore have also picked up their scoring in the last half of the season, as they combine to scoring 23 points per night, while Adam Huse, Devin Bray and Kavon Bey also average 10 or more points per game.

As mentioned before, the Lights have also proven they’re capable of beating anyone in the Frontier, and that includes the Argos, who Northern beat twice in their three meetings this season. The rivals have played three memorable games this year, with Northern winning the rubber-match in the series earlier this month in the Armory. But Huse also knows just how good Providence is, and the three games in the regular season won’t mean much tonight.

“Great Falls (Providence) certainly can light up the scoreboard,” Huse said. “It takes a great deal of defensive work to slow them down. We will need to do that first and foremost if we expect to get them and move on. It’s do or die time for most teams now ... and it comes down to players making the plays at this point.”

The Argos are outstanding offensively, led by the talents of Jalen Shepard, Austin Starr and the inside double-double they get from former Montana State football player Jaxen Hashley. The Argos, of veteran head coach Steve Keller are also deep, as they have 11 players who average six more points per night, and offensively, they average 89 points per game which is second best in the Frontier. So, as Huse mentioned, slowing them down will be paramount if the Lights want to advance to the semifinals.

And yet, Northern may just be the team to slow down the Argos, and they get to try in front of their home crowd tonight. The Lights, who started out 1-4 in conference play, are certainly excited about how far they’ve come this winter and excited to get at least one more night in the Armory.

“One has to think it will most likely be an action-packed evening in our awesome Armory environment ... and that is the nice thing about this playoff format (which lends towards these exciting opportunities and atmospheres for all the teams),” Huse said.

Tonight’s Frontier quarterfinal between the Lights and Argos tips at 7 inside the Armory Gymnasium. The winner will advance to the semifinals Saturday. The 2019 Frontier Conference men’s championship game is set for next Tuesday night at the site of the highest remaining seed.

Lights (17-13) vs #23 Providence Argos (18-11) tonight at 7 p.m in

Frontier Conference Quarterfinals

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Twitter: HavreDaily

Lights Projected Starters

G Devin Bray, 5-10, Jr., 10 ppg

G Adam Huse, 6-1, Jr., 12 ppg

G Mascio McCadney, 6-3, So., 13 ppg

F Justin Dunsmore, 6-6, Sr. 13 ppg

F Cedric Crutchfield, 6-8, Jr., 6 ppg