Lights, Skylights swept at Lewis-Clark State

Life on the road in the Frontier Conference is anything but easy. And not that they needed it, but the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams got a stark reminder of that Thursday night.

Playing at Lewis-Clark State, both the Skylights and Lights dropped close games to the Warriors, with both Northern squads nearly pulling off big comebacks.

The women's game saw the No. 18 Skylights fall to the No. 25 Warriors 57-54. It was Northern's third straight loss in conference play, as the Skylights fell to 2-3 on the young season.

It almost wasn't that way however. Northern trailed the Warriors 15-10 at the end of the first quarter, and 33-25 at halftime. However, a 13-10 run in the third helped the Skylights get close, and they got even closer in the fourth, including grabbing the lead with just over three minutes left.

It wasn't to be, though, as the Warriors rallied for a three-point win, in what was Northern's fourth straight loss to LCSC by less then single digits.

The Skylights were once again outstanding defensively, holding the Warriors to just 33 percent shooting. Northern also won the battle of the boards, and shot 41 percent fro the field, getting 15 points from Allix Goldhahn, including three triples, as well as 14 by McKenzie Gunter and a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double from Hailey Nicholson.

And yet, 23 turnovers and a couple of huge shots by the Warriors down the stretch proved costly, as MSU-N fell to 13-4 overall.

Later Thursday night, the MSU-N men almost pulled off a dramatic comeback against the juggernaut Warriors, but like the women's game, it wasn't to be.

The Lights dropped their fourth straight Frontier game, falling to the No. 12 Warriors 83-73. The loss dropped Northern to 1-4 in Frontier play, and for a time, it felt like the Lights might get crushed for the second straight road game, as they trailed LC State 43-30 at halftime, and trailed by 28 points midway through the second stanza.

From there, however, Northern came alive. The Lights went on a couple of big runs, and even cut the Warriors' lead down to single digits. But, it was a case of too little, too late, as LCSC improved to a sparkling 16-1 overall on the season.

The game was an outstanding offensive display, as both teams cracked the 50 percent mark from the field, but the Warriors out-did the Lights from distance, and that proved to be the difference. LCSC made 13 3-pointers, while Northern bombed in a solid nine.

Offensively, the Lights had four score in double figures with Mascio McCadney scored a game-high 21 points with five trey's, while David Harris scored 17 points and Adam Huse chipped in with 15. Kavon Bey added a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, as the Lights fell to 11-6 overall.

Now, both Northern teams will have tonight off before returning to league play Saturday night when they visit Montana Tech. Northern is back in the Armory Gymnasium next Wednesday for a rematch with Carroll College.

LC State 57, Skylights 54

MSU-Northern 10 15 13 16 - 54

Lewis-Clark 15 18 10 14 - 57

MSU-N - Peyton Kehr 1-6 0-0 3, Tiara Gilham 0-2 1-2 1, Sydney Hovde 3-4 0-0 6, Hailey Nicholson 5-10 0-0 10, Allix Goldhahn 6-11 0-0 15, Petra Sellin 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Mckenzie Gunter 6-19 1-2 14, Ryley Kehr 2-2 1-1 5, Kenya Lorton 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 3-5 54.

LCSC - Rachel Schroeder 3-6 0-0 8, Peyton Souvenir 3-7 1-2 10, Hannah Burland 3-8 2-2 9, Abby Farmer 0-2 0-0 0, Jansen Edmiston 1-5 1-2 4, Sara Muhelhausen 1-1 0-0 2, Jamie Nielson 3-10 1-2 9, Abbie Johnson 1-11 1-1 3, Kiara Burlage 5-12 2-2 12. Totals 20-62 8-11 57.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-20 (Kehr 1-4, Gilham 0-1, Goldhahn 3-8, Gunter 1-6, Lorton 0-1), Lewis-Clark State College 9-27 (Schroeder 2-5, Souvenir 3-4, Burland 1-4, Farmer 0-2, Edmiston 1-3, Nielson 2-7, Johnson 0-1, Burlage 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 42 (Hovde 15), Lewis-Clark State College 35 (Burlage 11). Fouls Montana State-Northern 13, Lewis-Clark State College 7. Fouled out: none.

LC State 83, Lights 73

MSU-N - Devin Bray 2-4 0-0 4, Adam Huse 7-10 0-0 15, Cedric Crutchfield 3-6 0-0 6, Kavon Bey 4-12 1-4 10, Mascio McCadney 8-14 0-0 21, Jesse Keltner 0-1 0-0 0, David Harris 6-11 3-4 17, Gio Jackson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 4-8 73.

LCSC - osiah Westbrook 6-11 0-1 16, Khalil Stevenson 3-7 1-2 7, Hodges Bailey 1-2 3-4 5, Damek Mitchell 2-6 6-9 12, Conner Moffatt 1-1 0-0 3, Travis Yenor 3-7 1-1 8, Trystan Bradley 7-11 0-0 19, Jake Albright 5-8 1-3 11, Jaxon Hughes 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 28-55 14-22 83.

HalftimeL LCSC 43-30. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 9-22 (Bray 0-2, Huse 1-3, Bey 1-3, McCadney 5-8, Harris 2-4, Jackson 0-2), Lewis-Clark State College 13-23 (Westbrook 4-6, Bailey 0-1, Mitchell 2-3, Moffatt 1-1, Yenor 1-4, Bradley 5-7, Hughes 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 30 (Bey 10), Lewis-Clark State College 35 (Yenor 9). Fouls Montana State-Northern 17, Lewis-Clark State College 8. Fouled out: none. Technical: none.