Lights fend off Blue Hawks in wild opener

It's been a long time since the Armory Gymnasium was rocking for a men's basketball game. But the Montana State University-Northern Lights gave basketball-starved fans a reason to get rowdy the first time out.

In Northen's season-opener Tuesday night, the Lights built up a huge lead, only to see it all come undone in the second half, and then they were all of a sudden trailing rival Dickinson State 68-62 with three minutes to go.

And yet, Northern wasn't about to lose its first game in front of the home fans since 2019. Instead, the Lights rallied to outscore DSU 10-0 the rest of the way, including a game-winning shot by Mascio McCadney as the Lights won 72-68 in front of a raucous Northern crowd.

"I'm extremely proud of the guys for gutting out a close ball game," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Last year, it seemed like we lost so many of the close games, so it was nice to win one like that right off the bat, and I know our fans were a huge difference in this game. Our students were awesome, our fans were awesome, they pushed us, they gave us momentum when we needed it. We missed that so much, and it was great to have the atmosphere back in the Armory tonight."

Northern fans were going crazy, especially with two huge momentum swings.

After leading 34-26 at halftime, the Lights ripped off a 17-3 run in the first part of the second half, with David Harris, newcomer Tanner McCliment-Call and McCadney all burying 3-pointers during the run. And by the time the barrage ended, the Lights led 53-35 and seemed destined for a blowout win.

The Blue Hawks, however, had other ideas.

Led by a huge 24-point effort from Bryce Knox, the Blue Hawks outscored the Lights 23-2 over the next eight minutes and took a 68-62 lead with 2:22 to play, shocking Northern and the home faithful.

"Credit Dickinson State," Huse said. "They never went away. But I also think we made a lot of mistakes during that second half, that we can definitely correct. And it wasn't just our new guys, it was our veterans, our leaders, it was everybody. We just made some errors that helped the game change, but those are things we'll learn from. There were so many teachable moments in that game, and that's good for us."

Not only will Northern learn, but the Lights also still pulled off the win. After falling behind, Harris came out of a timeout and drilled a triple, which sparked a 10-0 Northern finish - a run that included McCliment-Call three, and a McCadney runner in the lane that put Northern back in front with :43 left.

"Very proud of our guys for hanging in there," Huse said. "Jesse (Keltner) was our leader tonight. He came up with huge plays, and I thought our team defense really carried us, as is often the case early in the season. And this team's character showed, too. They were really resilient."

While Northern's defense was stout, the Lights shot 49 percent from the field and only turned the ball over seven times on offense. They also made six threes and got a balanced attack, with McCliment-Call scoring 15 points off the bench, Harris adding 14, McCadney chipping in with 13 and Anthony Braggs Jr., provcing 12 more off the bench.

And while Huse said there's plenty to clean up as the Lights go forward, including traveling to Michigan for three games next weekend, he also said, opening night in the Armory couldn't have been anymore fun.

"It was a great game," Huse said. "Again, our fans were amazing. Our guys really fed off their energy. We have a lot of work to do, but I am really proud of our guys for the way they handled what turned out to be a really, really tough, but exciting first game."

Lights 72, Dickinson State 68

DSU - Travon Hamilton 3-3 0-1 6, Bryce KNox 9-18 2-2 24, Jalon Tinnin 2-6 2-2 6, John Evans 2-6 1-2 7, Troy Hladky 1-1 2-5 4, Jamal Alstrom 0-0 1-2 1, Ashanti Potts-Woods 1-8 0-0 3, Josiah Haaland 6-6 0-0 12. Totals: 26-53 10-16.

MSU-N - Immanual Anderson 0-1 3-4 3, David Harris 6-11 1-1 14, Mascio McCadney 6-17 0-0 13, CJ Nelson 2-8 1-2 5, Jesse Keltner 3-5, 2-3 8, Anthony Braggs Jr. 4-5 3-4 12, Micaiah Hauser 1-3 0-0 2, Tanner McCliment-Call 3-5 6-6 15, T.j. Reynolds 0-1 0-0 0, Zayare Ruffin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-56 16-20.

Halftime: Northern 35-26. 3-pointers: DSU 6-11 (Toskie 1, Knox 4, Potts-Woods 1), MSU-N 6-11 (Harris 1, McCadney 1, Braggs Jr. 1, McCliment-Call 3). Rebounds: DSU 27 (Tinnin 8), MSU-N 26 (Keltner 9). Fouls: DSU 15, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: None. Technical Foul: DSU Coach.