Lights hold off Bears to start postseason

After the incredible career he has had with the Montana State University-Northern Lights, there was no way Mascio McCadney was letting it all end with a loss in his last home game. Instead, he did the opposite and simply took matters into his own hands.

With under a minute to play, and the Lights clinging to a two-point lead over the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears, McCadney swatted away a game-tying attempt by Abdul Bah, made two free throws on the other end, and then on Rocky's next possession, he reached in for a steal. All in the final 40 seconds. Fittingly McCadney would also make two of the final free throws before he and fellow senior David Harris exited to thunderous applause in a 74-67 Frontier Conference playoff win.

"Coach (Huse) preaches every day to stay the course, do the small things, those things matter in a close game, I had my mind made up, the defense was going to do our job and finish the game.

"This was awesome tonight," he continued. "Our fans had us all night long. We really fed off their energy tonight. This was awesome. It feels really good to win this one."

It was an awesome night in the Armory.

The Lights came out firing on all cylinders with early 3-pointers by Harris and Tanner McCliment-Call. A runner by McCadney sparked an early 11-0 run, while the Lights would later rip off a 10-run and lead 25-9. At that point, it looked like the route was on.

It wasn't though. Instead of going away. Rocky ripped off a 20-3 run and the Lights only led at intermission because of a last-second three by Anthony Braggs Jr.

"When you play a team four times, sometimes you gain an advantage, and in the playoffs, you can put them away early," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "That was not the case with Rocky tonight. They were playing to keep their season going just like we were and they did not go away. So we needed some huge defensive plays down the stretch to finish this game, and our seniors really led that effort. David and Mascio both made some huge defensive plays down the stretch. So it took a great team effort defensively tonight, and that was led by our seniors."

Like Huse said, though, Rocky didn't go away.

From the start of the second half the game was a dogfight, as Bah went crazy from beyond the arc in the second stanza, eventually giving the Bears their first lead of the night at 52-51 with 7:30 to play. C.J. Nelson did answer right back with a floater in the lane, and the Lights wouldn't trail again. But, Rocky made it tough on them down the stretch, as Bah seemingly made big shot after big shot on his way to a game-high 26 points.

However, even his heroics weren't enough, as a big shot by Immanuel Anderson with 2:34 left gave the Lights a slight cushion, setting up the final plays where McCadney and Harris finished things off.

The prolific duo once again led Northern, with McCadney scoring 18 and Harris adding 17 points. Harris also grabbed nine rebounds, as did Jesse Keltner, who had a big first half. Nelson, another senior standout for the Lights, added 12, including an early triple that was part of Northern's fast start.

On the other end, the Lights struggled to contain Bah, who had a huge second half, but overall, MSU-N did hold Rocky to just 20 percent shooting from three, while also out-shooting the Bears 52 percent to 41 percent from the field.

"It felt like an NBA game at times tonight, where both teams just traded shots," Huse said. "And that's how it goes sometimes. But I was so proud of our guys, because they were so poised, and showed so much character, no matter what was happening in the game. They just kept counter-punching, and then again, the defense and free throws down the stretch, that was the difference in the game."

With Tuesday night's thrilling win, the Lights (19-12) advance to the Frontier Conference semifinals, where they'll take on top-seeded Carroll College Saturday night in Helena. The game will tip at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the Frontier championship game next Monday. In the other semifinal, third-seeded Western will face second-seeded Montana Tech Saturday night in Butte.

"The atmosphere tonight was awesome," Huse said. "Our fans were amazing once again. So you wish you could play every playoff game at home. But we're excited to be playing in the semifinals of the Frontier Conference. Our guys have a lot of confidence right now, and we're going to go down to (Carroll) and take our best shot at keeping our season rolling."

Lights 74, Rocky Mountain 67

RMC - Nick Hart 4-6 1-2 9, Jesse Owens 6-14 2-2 16, Abdul Bah 11-24 2-2, 26, Kael Robinson 1-8 0-0 2, Beau Sanistevan 3-8 3-4 10, Cade Tyson 0-0 0-0 0, Kevin Fassu 2-3 0-2 4. Totals: 27-65 8-12.

MSU-N - Immanuel Anderson 2-3 2-5 6, David Harris 7-1`4 1-2 17, Mascio McCadney 7-12 4-5 18, C.J. Nelson 5-6 1-2 12, Jesse Keltner 4-9 1-2 9, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2-3 0-2 5, Tanner McCliment-Call 1-4 2-2 5, Terry Holmes Jr. 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 29-55 11-20.

Halftime: Northern 37-32. 3-pointers: RMC 5-24 (Owens 2, Bah 2, Santistevan 1), MSU-N 5-14 (Harris 2, Nelson 1, Braggs Jr. 1). Reblounds: RMC 37 (Hart 11), MSU-N 34 (Keltner 9, Anderson 9). Fouls: RMC 18, MSU-N 10. Fouled out: Hart.