Third time is the charm for surging Lights

There's no getting around it. The Montana Western Bulldogs had been a thorn in the side of the Montana State University-Northern Lights this season. In fact, it was only two weeks ago that the Bulldogs swept the Lights in Havre.

But, when the postseason comes, everyone gets a clean slate, and the Lights took advantage of that when they finally got a little payback against Western with a 67-54 victory in the opening round of the Frontier Conference playoffs Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

The win was huge for the Lights, who had lost three out of four to Western during the regular season. But, bigger than that, it also gave Northern yet another berth in the semifinals under head coach Shawn Huse, who was extremely proud of his team.

"I am just so proud of our guys and impressed with their resolve and improvement," Huse said.

The Lights did have to battle, though for a time, it looked like it was going to be a wire-to-wire blowout. Early three-pointers from Mascio McCadney and David Harris gave the Lights an 18-10 edge, and another three by Harris would cap an 11-0 run. But the Lights weren't done, as they got triples from Allen Sims, Harris and McCadney in a one-minute span, which were part of a 13-0 run to finish the first half, and send the Lights into the lockerroom with a 36-20 lead.

Northern wasted little time widening the gap in the second stanza, too, and when McCadney nailed yet another three, the Lights were up 47-27 with under 14 minutes left. Western, though, had no intentions of going quietly into the night, and the Dawgs ultimately whittled the lead all the way down to nine points with five to play.

The Lights responded, though. Jesse Keltner made a bucket, and Sims threw down a massive putback dunk to put the Lights up double digits again, and from there, they finished the Dawgs off for good.

It was a strong finish for the Lights, who had 15 points and eight rebounds by Harris, 14 points apiece from McCadney and Jomel Boyd and an added 10 by Keltner. The Lights also shot an outstanding 51 percent, were efficient from beyond the arc, and limited the damage on the other end, as the Bulldogs are one of the highest-scoring teams in the Frontier.

"Western is a team that can put up points in a hurry," Huse said. "I thought our defense was exceptional tonight, and we shared the ball extremely well. It was a great total team effort."

Something else the Lights did was build some momentum. They improved to 8-11 on the season as they head to top-seeded Providence for a semifinal showdown Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Great Falls. The Lights were one of only two teams to beat the Argos during the regular season, and they're hoping to pull the upset again Saturday in the McLaughlin Center. The winner of that game will advance to Tuesday's championship against either Carroll College or Montana Tech.

"It's no secret what Providence is capable of," Huse said. "We have to shift gears quickly and prep for another team with the ability to get stops and turn them into points in a hurry. We respect them for sure, but we also feel we are a team capable of great things."

Lights are 8-11

overall; Next: at

Providence Saturday

Lights 67, Western 54

MW – Max Clark 11-25 0-0 25, Tanner Haverfield 1-3 0-0 3, Jalen Hodges 4-9 0-0 9, Michael Haverfield 2-2 0-0 4, Jamal Stepenson 4-13 1-3 10, Carlos Allen 1-1 0-0 3, Jok Jok 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-57 2-5.

MSU-N – David Harris 5-12 2-4 15, Mascio McCadney 5-11 2-2 14, C.J. Nelson 2-6 0-0 5, Jesse Keltner 5-6 0-0 10, Naykel Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Collins 1-4 0-0 2, Allen Sims 3-5 0-0 7. Totals: 28-55 4-7.

Halftime: Northern 36-20. 3-pointers: MW 6-17 (Clark 3, T. Haverfield 1, Stephenson 1, Allen 1), MSU-N – 7-18 (Harris 3, McCadney 2, Nelson 1, Sims 1). Rebounds: MW 17 (Hodges 8), MSU-N 30 (Harris 8). Fouls: MW 12, MSU-N 9. Fouled out: None.