Lights rebound with home win over Argonauts

After a close loss to Carroll College to end their seven-game winning streak, the Montana State University-Northern Lights were looking to rebound against University of Providence Saturday night. The Argonauts came into Armory Gymnasium with a 7-2 record, so they were no pushover. Yet, the Lights were able to bounce back from their loss to control most of Saturday's game and hold on to defeat UP, 73-65.

"For the most part, I thought we played really well," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "Make no mistake about it, that's a Providence team that's been playing really well and they put up a lot of points on a lot of good teams this year. It's no easy task to handle all their different driving and wrinkles that they have."

Both teams came out ready to compete. On the Lights' opening possession, Jesse Keltner made a layup for the lead. But the Argonauts quickly responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead. The Lights and Argonauts would go on to exchange scores to a 7-7 draw five minutes into the game.

Starting with a 3-pointer from Dawson Fowler to take the lead, the Argonauts went on a 7-2 run to build a five-point lead. The Lights again responded with a 7-2 run to tie the game 16-16. During this run, Tanner McCliment-Call made a jumper and a 3-pointer for the Lights.

The next few minutes saw the teams exchange scores. After UP retook the lead halfway through the first half, Keltner grabbed an offensive rebound that he converted into a score to tie the game. David Harris then made a 3-pointer to give the Lights a 21-18 lead. But the Argonauts responded with a 3-pointer from Marcus Stephens to again tie the game.

The Lights again took the lead with a 3-pointer from Mascio McCadney but this time, they did not look back. Over the last six and a half minutes of the half, the Lights excelled on both sides of the court as they went on a 17-6 run for a 38-27 lead at halftime. During this run, C.J. Nelson made a pair of 3-pointers while the Lights played strong team defense.

"It all started with our defense and getting some real impressive stops against a team that has a lot of weapons and can really put up points in a hurry," Huse said about the run.

The second half started out well for the Lights as they continued to build their lead. With just over 13 minutes left in the game, a 3-pointer from Micaiah Hauser gave MSU-N a 51-36 lead. However, the Argonauts did not go away quietly. Over the next three minutes, UP went on a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to four points. Both Elijah Oliver and Rashee Stocks made a pair of baskets to lead the Argonauts during this stretch.

"They just did a good job of not quitting and staying with what they do and hoping that it would eventually wear us down and start to work," Huse said. "I don't think it was anything in particular that they were doing or that we weren't doing. I just think it was a team that's really good at certain things and they stuck with that and they whittled away."

The Lights finally answered back with a layup from Harris and a corner three from McCadney that jump started a 17-7 run for the Lights. During the run, the Lights made all seven of their free-throw attempts. Over the final three minutes of the game, the Argonauts tried to crawl their way back, but the Lights held them off for a 73-65 victory.

McCadney finished the game with 20 points and he shot 6-for-13 from the field, 2-for-5 from deep and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Harris and Keltner each scored 14 points and Keltner led the team with 13 rebounds in the game for a double-double.

As a team, the Lights shot 44.8 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from deep. One statistical category that the Lights had a massive edge in was assists as they recorded 16 compared to the Argonauts' 3. In their loss to Carroll, Huse did not believe the Lights moved the ball well so it was nice to see the Lights return to form.

"That's who we are. That's who we've been for a lot of years," Huse said. "I don't think we did a great job of that the other night against Carroll College, and I think our guys looked in the mirror and fixed a lot of that."

The win improved the Lights to 8-2 and 1-1 in the Frontier Conference. The Lights are now 7-1 in their last eight games and their two losses this season saw them outscored by just a combined six points. Just over a month into this young season, Huse feels good about where his team is and looks forward to continuing to improve as the season marches on.

"There's things for us to clean up. That's the positive, that we can be better and we can get better and improve on some things," Huse said. "We know that we have a lot of work to do but I feel like we're a contender. I'm really proud of this team. I like where we're at right now."

The Lights will next play on the road at Dickinson State University Dec. 12.

MSU-N 73, University of Providence 65

UP - Rashee Stocks 5-16 5-7 17, Marcus Stephens 4-13 5-6 14, Dawson Fowler 6-8 1-2 14, Emmett Linton III 2-5 2-2 6, Elijah Oliver 3-7 0-0 6, Caleb Currington 2-4 1-2 5, Jake Olsen 0-0 2-2 2, Fisher Richardson 0-0 1-2 1, Tanner Goligoski 0-1 0-0 0, Rasheed Butler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 17-23.

MSU-N - Mascio McCadney 6-13 6-6 20, David Harris 5-13 2-2 14, Jesse Keltner 5-7 4-8 14, Tanner McCliment-Call 4-12 0-0 9, CJ Nelson 3-6 0-0 8, Immanuel Anderson 2-3 1-1 5, Micaiah Hauser 1-3 0-0 3, Anthony Braggs Jr. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 13-17.

Halftime: MSU-N 38-27. 3-pointers: UP 4-16 (Rashee Stocks 2, Marcus Stephens 1, Dawson Fowler 1), MSU-N 8-21 (Mascio McCadney 2, David Harris 2, CJ Nelson 2). Rebounds: UP 24, (Dawson Fowler 9), MSU-N 36, (Jesse Keltner 13). Fouls: UP 18, MSU-N 17. Fouled Out: None.