Lights set for conference clashes to ring in the new year

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team is off to a strong start this season as the Lights have gone 10-4. As they return to the court for 2022, the Lights will look to keep things rolling as they head on the road to play Rocky Mountain College and Montana Western later this week. While he expects some battles to begin the new year, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse feels confident going on the road.

"We always expect to do well and come out on top and I feel like we can do that this weekend," Huse said. "We know they're going to be tough battles. We certainly know that we're going to have to work and maybe even get some breaks on the road."

The Lights will first play Thursday night when they head to Billings to play Rocky Mountain College. The Bears enter the weekend with a 6-7 overall record and are 0-2 to start conference play. They are also 2-3 at Fortin Education Center to start the season.

The Bears do have some strong players that could give the Lights some problems. Forward Maxim Stephens leads the Bears averaging 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds a game this season. Abdul Bah is also having a solid season for the Bears averaging 13.4 points a game.

The Lights will also need to keep an eye out for freshman guard Jesse Owens. Not only does he lead the team with 2.8 assists a game this season, but he also averages 12.5 points a game this season as he shoots 46.3 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from the 3-point line.

"Rocky has a lot of weapons and they can give you a lot of different looks with different lineups," Huse said. "(They got) guys that can knock it down from outside, they can push the ball in transition and they've shown to be able to play with everybody this year."

The Lights will then head to Dillon Saturday to play Western. While the Bulldogs have an 11-6 record this season, they are 0-2 to start conference play. The Bulldogs bring back many players from last year's roster, so Huse expects that to factor into Saturday's game.

"Western's biggest strength is their experience," Huse said. "They know their stuff really well. They got good athleticism, good speed, good shooting and guys that understand their defense and how to play it as a team. They're as tough of a matchup as anybody in the league and going down and putting up more points than them in their gymnasium will take some work."

On defense, the Lights will need to slow down Western's Jalen Hodges. This season, the senior forward leads the Bulldogs averaging 14.9 points a game on 49.3 percent shooting from the field. The Lights will also need to watch out for Max Clark, who leads Western with 5.5 rebounds a game and 4.5 assists a game. Ky Kouba will also look to contribute for the Bulldogs as he averages 10.4 points as he shoots 49.5 percent from the field and 47 percent from deep.

If the Lights are going to keep up their success this weekend, their best players will need to continue their strong seasons. Mascio McCadney leads the MSU-N offense as he averages 19.9 points on 49 percent shooting and 41.2 percent shooting from the 3-point line. He also gets his teammates involved as he averages 2.6 assists a contest.

David Harris will also look to continue his offensive success as he averages 18.6 points a game as he shoots 50.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from deep. Jesse Keltner is also playing well this season with nine points a game and 6.7 rebounds a game. C.J. Nelson is another solid player for the Lights averaging 2.6 assists a game while also making an impact on defense with 1.3 steals a game.

While the Lights have a solid record so far this season, they are coming off a 1-2 performance at the Cactus Classic in Arizona last month. However, Huse believes they played well in their last two games of the tournament and hopes that they can carry that into this weekend.

"We played a lot better against the physicality and speed that things were played at in the last two games," Huse said. "It's always different in conference because everybody knows each other a little bit better than they do in nonconference. We know how each other executes and what kind of things they run and what they're looking for so it's always a dogfight."

The Lights will play Rocky Mountain College Thursday at 7 p.m. at Fortin Education Center in Billings. The Lights will then play Western Saturday at 4 p.m. at Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon.