Northern hangs on for a thrilling win over Western

In the rivalry between the Montana State University-Northern Lights and Montana Western Bulldogs, it's rare that a game doesn't go down to the wire. So it should have been to no one's surprise that the 2019-2020 Frontier Conference opener between the Lights and Dawgs was no different.

Thursday night in the Armory Gymnasium, the No. 17 Lights held off a charging Western team in a 67-65 nail biter that saw Northern lead big midway through both the first and second halves, only to see Western refuse the fight.

"They (Bulldogs) just didn't go away," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "They really put the pressure on us to close the game out. So credit to them because that was really tough. But, at the same time, credit to our guys for hitting some huge free throws, for staying poised down the stretch, and for doing what it takes to finish the game. I'm proud of our guys for that, because it was by no means easy."

Western didn't make it easy - not at all.

Leading 30-23 at intermission, Northern opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Mascio McCadney. However, Western would storm right back, via a 12-1 run, and with just 3:37 left in the game, the Lights lead was down to 53-51. Kavon Bey would hit a big shot to push the lead back to four, but, Max Clarke's running floater answered the shot by Bey, and again, the Lights led by just two points with 2:06 left. Huse called a timeout after Clarke's make, and when play resumed, McCadney would nail the biggest shot of the night, a cold-blooded three from the top of the key to put Northern back up five.

The Dawgs still didn't go away, but free throws from Gio Jackson, Devin Bray and Adam Huse helped the Lights hold on.

"That was a huge shot by Mascio," coach Huse said. "And it came on a night when he really struggled shooting the ball, so for him to come back and make that one, it shows a lot of character. And I thought a lot of our guys stepped up and made some really pressure free throws as the end of the game, and that was huge for us because we needed all of them."

Northern needed all the makes it could get because, for much of the night, the game was a defensive battle. And that was to be expected because the Lights lead the NAIA in scoring defense. However, Western was up to the task defensively, too, and though Bey got the Lights off to a hot start, Northern shot just 36 percent in the first half and 38 for the game. The Lights also made just four 3-pointers, and held a one-rebound edge over the Bulldogs on the boards.

"I thought our defense was really good for the most part," Huse said. "Offensively, a lot of credit goes to Western for really playing tough defense, but I also think we didn't shoot as well as we could, we didn't capitalize on opportunities, and you just can't do that in games like this. No matter how well you play on defense, you have to put the ball in the hole, and we didn't do that well enough again tonight."

Bey led three Lights in double figures with 17 points, while Jackson scored 12 off the bench and McCadney added 12, Cedric Crutchfield also made some key shots, scoring six points and pulling down 11 boards, while Adam Huse chipped in with nine. On the other end, Cedric Boone and James Jones combined for 41 points, but the Lights still held Western to more than 20 points below its season average.

"It felt like we played well enough to walk out of our own gym with a comfortable win tonight," coach Huse said. "Except that we didn't put the ball in the hole and, because of that, this game turned into a real grind. So we need to shoot better. But, at the same time, I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there, for showing so much poise and for being tough enough to find a way to get the job done tonight."

The Lights (1-0, 6-0) will be back not he floor Saturday night when they take on Rocky Mountain College in another Frontier Conference game in the Armory.

Lights are 1-0 in

Frontier; Next Up: vs RMC Saturday

Lights 67, Western 65

UMW - Derrek Durocher 1-1 0-0 3, Connor Burkhart 2-4 2-2 6, Carter Kearns 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Haverfield 1-2 0-0 2, Cedric Boone 10-25 0-1 21, Cole Lake 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Howell 2-9 1-2 5, James Jones 8-17 3-6 20, Davonte Eason 2-2 0-3 4, Max Clark 2-8 0-0 4. Totals 28-68 6-14 65.

MSU-N - Gio Jackson 4-5 5-6 13, David Harris 2-5 1-1 5, Mascio McCadney 4-15 2-2 12, Adam Huse 2-5 4-5 9, Jesse Keltner 1-2 1-1 3, Kavon Bey 7-18 2-3 17, Devin Bray 0-1 2-2 2, Cedric Crutchfield 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 23-60 17-20 67.

Halftime: Northern 30-23. 3-pt FG:Montana Western 3-12 (Durocher 1-1, Boone 1-6, Howell 0-1, Jones 1-1, Clark 0-3), Montana State University- 4-12 (Harris 0-2, McCadney 2-6, Huse 1-2, Bey 1-1, Bray 0-1). Rebounds: Montana Western 38 (Burkhart 8), Montana State University- 39 (Crutchfield 11). Fouls Montana Western 20, Montana State University- 12. Fouled out: none.