Dawgs unleashed in Havre

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team was in good position to defeat Montana Western and end their final homestand on a high note. They had a 63-62 lead with under half a minute remaining in the game. However, the Lights turned the ball over and the Bulldogs' Jamal Stephenson hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in the game to give Western the 65-63 win, and a sweep of Northern this weekend in the Armory Gymnasium.

"They had to make a tough shot, they made it, you don't want it to ever come down to that but it is what it is now and we just got to pick ourselves up and keep moving forward because there's still season left," said MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse.

The Bulldogs came out of the gate hot, taking an 8-2 lead just under three minutes into the game. The Lights responded when Jomel Boyd scored six straight points to tie it up. The entire first half went along to the same beat as the Bulldogs would take a decent lead before the Lights would take the lead back but only for a short while. The Bulldogs took a 31-26 lead heading into halftime.

The Bulldogs looked to put the Lights away early in the second half as they built an 8-point lead. The main contributor for the Bulldogs during the run was Jalen Hodges, who scored nine points in the first four minutes of the second half. However, MSU-N battled back and a 3-pointer from C.J. Nelson tied the game at 49-49 with 10 minutes left.

"I was really proud of our guys, I thought they fought their tails off and I can't say enough good things about the character that they showed," Huse said.

The Lights and Bulldogs would exchange leads throughout the second half and were eventually tied at 60 with about two and half minutes left in the game. It seemed like MSU-N took control when Mascio McCadney made a basket along with a free throw off a foul to take a three-point lead with just over a minute remaining in the game. However, a layup from Hodges cut the Lights'' lead to one and a steal by Carlos Allen gave Western the opportunity to win the game. Stephenson hit the three to take the lead and the Lights could not get the inbound pass in to get a last-second shot.

The teams were close to even in most statistical categories such as shooting, rebounding, assists and turnovers. The main difference came in 3-point shooting as the Bulldogs shot 4-for-12 for percent from beyond the arc while the Lights at that range shot 1-for-13 for eight percent.

"It's a bummer because the way we played defensively, if we're shooting the ball anywhere near where we can, I think we would have been just fine. But that's the one thing in basketball that's tough, you can execute everything to perfection, but if those shots aren't falling in, it makes it awfully tough," Huse said.

On Saturday night, the Lights didn't play their best game when they fell to the Bulldogs 82-71 in the Armory.

The game was a wild shootout from start to finish, where Northern's David Harris, Mascio McCadney and T.J. Reynolds all made big threes only to see Western's Jalen Hodges and Max Clark proved to be almost unstoppable. Still, with a three from Aaron Collins, the Lights trailed just 45-41 at halftime.

The close game wouldn't last though, as Western outscored Northern 27-12 in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza to open up a double-digit lead. By the time the game hit the four-minute mark, Western was up 80-60, and though the Lights didn't go away, the game was too far out of reach.

The Lights got 20 points and four treys from Harris, while McCadney chipped in with 17. But they couldn't overcome the incredible performance by Clark, who poured in 39 points on 17-of-23 shooting to go with seven rebounds.

The losses dropped MSU-N to 6-10 and 5-10 in the Frontier Conference. The loss added to a tough stretch for the Lights as it was their sixth straight loss. Northern finishes the regular season at Montana Tech Saturday and Sunday.

"I just really encouraged our guys to keep their heads up and tell them how proud I was of them," Huse said. "They're disappointed. I hurt for them and they'll bounce back and we'll get after it again later this week."

Lights are 5-10 in Frontier, 6-10 overall; Next: at Tech Saturday-Sunday

Western 82, Lights 71

MW - Max Clark 17-23 3-3 39, Treyton Paxton 0-0 2-2 2, Tanner Haverfield 3-6 2-3 10, Carlos Allen 2-4 0-0 6, Jalen Hodges 4-5 0-0 8, Michael Haverfield 2-2 0-0 5, Jamal Stephenson 4-6 1-1 10, Jok Jok 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 33-49 8-9.

MSU-N - David Harris 8-13 0-0 20, Mascio McCadney 5-11 6-6 17, C.J. Nelson 2-6 0-0 5, Jesse Keltner 1-2 2-2 4, Jomel Boyd 1-4 1-4 3, Micaiah Hauser 1-2 0-0 3, Aaron Collins 2-4 0-0 6, Allen Sims 3-6 0-1 6, T.J. Reynolds 2-2 0-0 5, Zyare Ruffin 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 26-52 9-14.

Halftime: Western 45-41. 3-pointers: MW 8-14 (Clark 2, Haverfield 2, Allen 2, Haverfield 1, Stephenson 1), MSU-N 10-20 (Harris 4, Mccadney 1, Nelson 1, Hauser 1, Collins 1, Reynolds 1). Rebounds: MW 26 (Clark 7), MSU-N 21 (Sims 4), Fouls: MW 16, MSU-N 11; Fouled out: None.

Western 65, Lights 63

MW - Max Clark 8-14 2-3 19, Colter Miller 1-5 0-2 2, Tanner Haverfield 2-5 0-0 6, Carlos Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Jalen Hodges 13-18 3-3 29, Michael Haverfield 1-1 0-0 2, Jamal Stephenson 3-7 0-0 7, Jok Jok 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 5-8 65.

MSU-N - Nakyel Shelton 0-5 0-0 0, David Harris 2-6 2-2 6, Mascio McCadney 6-12 3-3 15, C.J. Nelson 2-5 2-2 7, Jesse Keltner 3-5 0-0 6, Jomel Boyd 10-15 2-2 22, Aaron Collins 3-7 1-2 7, Allen Sims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 10-11 63

Halftime: Western 31-36. 3-pt FG:Montana Western 4-12 (Clark 1-3, Haverfield 2-5, Stephenson 1-4), Montana State-Northern 1-13 (Shelton 0-3, Harris 0-3, McCadney 0-2, Nelson 1-2, Collins 0-3). Rebounds: Montana Western 25 (Allen 6), Montana State-Northern 27 (Boyd 10). Fouls Montana Western 10, Montana State-Northern 5. Fouled out: none.