Northern basketball wraps up weekend on the road

With Frontier Conference games on the horizon, the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams are looking to get themselves ready. This past weekend, the Lights and Skylights played some non-conference games on the road to further prepare themselves.

In Helena, the Skylights stumbled with a 71-58 loss to Willamette University Sunday. Meanwhile on their trip to Tacoma, Washington, the Lights remained undefeated as they defeated Puget Sound University, 80-63, Saturday and then held on to defeat Pacific Lutheran University, 51-49, Sunday.

"We are very pleased to come out with two wins on the weekend, and on the road," MSU-N men's basketball head coach Shawn Huse said. "These were both quality teams with quality coaching and proven programs. They both came into the weekend undefeated and with quality NAIA wins. Both have good upper class experienced guys and PLU played for the championship last season."

After trailing, 15-13, early in the game against Puget Sound Saturday, the Lights took the lead and never looked back. Over the next few minutes, the Lights went on a run to build a 26-15 lead. The Loggers came back to end the half, but the Lights had a 41-34 lead at halftime.

The Loggers tried to keep it close to start the second half, but the Lights eventually pulled away for the double-digit victory. As a team, the Lights shot 48.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line. Tanner McCliment-Call led the team with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting and Zackry Martinez contributed 13 points as he shot 4-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.

After the strong win to open the weekend, the Lights had a little more trouble against Pacific Lutheran University Sunday. Early in the game, the Lights trailed, 14-7, against the Lutes. But the Lights were able to come back to take a 24-20 lead by halftime.

The Lights started the second half strong but they were unable to put away the Lutes. At one point, the Lutes came back to take a 36-33 lead. Over the rest of the half, the Lights and Lutes would go back and forth with the lead.

With about three minutes left in the game, the contest was tied 49-49. After several minutes of missed baskets by both teams, Jesse Keltner knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Lights the lead with nine seconds left. The Lights then held off the Lutes to steal the victory on the road.

The Lights only shot 34 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from deep in the game. Keltner led the team with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 shooting from the free-throw line. However, the Lights played well on defense to limit the Lutes to 32.2 percent shooting.

"Defensively, led by Jesse, we were very on point both nights. Each team had their own style which I thought we countered well," Huse said. "We seemed to not be clicking like we can on Sunday but still showed great toughness and poise to pull out the win."

The Skylights also had a tough game Sunday, but were not able to pull it out against Willamette University. While the Skylights did some good things, MSU-N women's basketball head coach Chris Mouat believes they were out shot by the Bearcats.

"We didn't shoot the ball well. I thought we executed really well at times and got good shots but our percentages have to go up," Moaut said. "Willamette did a great job making open threes. They did it throughout the night and anytime we would make a run at them, they would bite us with another three."

Through the first quarter, the Skylights and Bearcats went back and forth with the lead. The Skylights had a 14-9 lead with three minutes left in the frame, but the Bearcats went on a run to take a 17-14 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Bearcats continued to play well to stretch their lead to 35-23 in the second quarter. The Skylights were able to go on a run to cut their deficit to 35-29 heading into halftime. But the Bearcats took momentum again in the third quarter to take a 55-41 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Skylights were unable to battle their way back as the closest they could make it was ten points. The Skylights finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from deep and 45.5 percent from the free-throw line. Savannah Toms and Briaunna McCullough each scored 16 points to lead the Skylights.

The Skylights are now 3-2 on the season and will have a break until their first conference game when they face the University of Providence in Great Falls Dec. 1. While the Skylights have a winning record through their non-conference schedule, Mouat knows they need to improve if they want to compete in the Frontier Conference.

"We're going back to work and we're going to look in the mirror and make ourselves better because that's what we have to do," Mouat said. "I think we're in a decent place in many areas and in some areas we're not, but we've got to be ready in all areas because now it's Frontier Conference basketball and that's a whole different animal."

The Lights remain undefeated with a 6-0 record this season and will begin their conference schedule with a game against the University of Providence in Great Falls Dec. 1. But before then, the Lights will play in an exhibition game against the University of Montana tonight in Missoula.

The Griz are 2-3 to start this season. Josh Bannan has been their number one option as he is averaging 14.8 points a game on 44 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from deep. While the game does not count toward their record, Huse expects the Lights to play hard against their Big Sky opponent.

"We want to play well, keep improving and play to win every game we go in. We know that playing the Griz is a step up and will be no easy task," Huse said. "They have a great tradition and a good amount of depth. I am sure rebounding and solid interior play will be a big key at the end of the day, given their size and length. We certainly respect them and all our opponents. At the same time, if we perform well doing what we do best, we are confident in our capabilities."

The MSU-N men's basketball team will play the Griz in an exhibition game tonight at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

MSU-Northern 80, Puget Sound 63

MSU-N - 41 39 - 80

PSU - 34 29 - 63

MSU-N - Tanner McCliment-Call 5-8 2-2 14, Zackry Martinez 4-8 4-6 13, Jesse Keltner 5-7 2-2 12, CJ Nelson 4-10 0-0 10, Anthony Braggs Jr. 3-6 0-0 9, Dae'Kwon Watson 3-8 0-0 7, Immanuel Anderson 3-5 0-0 6, Micaiah Hauser 1-1 0-0 3, Myles Dalton 1-8 0-0 2, Terry Holmes Jr. 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Randall 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 31-64 8-10.

PSU - Taj Phillips 6-16 5-6 18, Grant Erickson 8-14 1-1 17, Liam Ruttledge 4-8 6-9 17, Drew Gillette 1-3 0-0 3, Will Pohland 1-5 0-0 2, Mussie Teclemariam 1-7 0-0 2, Dezman Baker 1-2 0-0 2, CJ Geathers 1-4 0-0 2, Will Mathews 0-2 0-0 0, Charlie DeBoer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 12-16.

Halftime: MSU-N 41-34. 3-pointers: MSU-N 10-20 (Anthony Braggs Jr. 3, CJ Nelson 2, Tanner McCliment-Call 2), PSU 5-18 (Liam Ruttledge 3, Taj Phillips 1, Drew Gillette 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 36 (Jesse Keltner 8), PSU 39 (Taj Phillips 11). Fouls: MSU-N 15, PSU 13. Fouled Out: CJ Geathers.

MSU-Northern 51, Pacific Luthern 49

MSU-N - 24 27 - 51

PLU - 20 29 - 49

MSU-N - Jesse Keltner 5-7 5-9 15, Immanuel Anderson 4-5 2-3 10, Zackry Martinez 2-7 2-4 6, CJ Nelson 1-7 2-2 5, Dae'Kwon Watson 2-9 0-0 5, Tanner McCliment-Call 1-6 2-2 4, Myles Dalton 1-4 0-0 3, Anthony Braggs Jr. 1-2 0-0 3, Jacob Randall 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 13-20.

PLU - Jordan Thomas 4-6 2-5 10, Brandin Riedel 3-9 2-2 8, Jackson Reisner 3-10 1-2 8, Shane McGaughey-Fick 2-3 0-0 6, Sean McCurdy 3-12 0-0 6, Jack Williams 2-5 0-0 6, Sam Noland 2-11 1-2 5, Peyton Peterson 0-2 0-0 0, Croix Sweeney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 6-11.

Halftime: MSU-N 24-20. 3-pointers: MSU-N 4-17 (Myles Dalton 1, CJ Nelson 1, Dae'Kwon Watson 1), PLU 5-17 (Shane McGaughey-Fick 2, Jack Williams 2, Jackson Reisner 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 24 (Jesse Keltner 11), PLU 36 (Brandin Riedel 8). Fouls: MSU-N 12, PLU 20. Fouled Out: Jordan Thomas.

Willamette 71, MSU-Northern 58

WU - 17 18 20 16 - 58

MSU-N - 14 15 12 17 - 71

WU - Carolyn Ho 8-14 1-1 23, Megan River 5-13 0-0 13, Sami Riggs 4-9 4-4 12, Ashley Collins 2-3 2-2 6, Claire Bonnet 2-6 0-0 5, Kaitlin Imai 2-6 0-0 5, Danielle Morgan 2-3 0-0 4, Ashlyn Ascuena-Merci 1-2 1-4 3, Emma Floyd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 8-11.

MSU-N - Briaunna McCullough 7-15 1-2 16, Savannah Toms 7-12 2-5 16, Ryley Kehr 4-11 1-1 9, Jalen Callender 3-6 0-0 6, Taya Trottier 2-5 0-0 5, ShaAnn Danelson 1-3 0-0 3, Shyan Krass 1-3 0-0 2, Rachel Van Blaricom 0-4 1-3 1, Dulci SkunkCap 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 5-11.

Halftime: WU 35-29. 3-pointers: WU 11-23 (Carolyn Ho 6, Megan River 3, Claire Bonnet 1), MSU-N 3-11 (Briaunna McCullough 1, Taya Trottier 1, ShaAnn Danelson 1). Rebounds: WU 36 (Ashley Collins 11), MSU-N 31 (Savannah Toms 6). Fouls: WU 11, MSU-N 10. Fouled Out: Ashlyn Ascuena-Merci.