Lights visit Helena for games against CCC opponents

Frontier Conference play is tough. But as the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team returns to non-league play for the rest of December, things won't get any easier for the Lights.

Northern starts the final push of their 2022 calendar this weekend when the Lights (7-1) play in the Carroll College Tournament. The Lights face Cascade Conference foes Corban University and Bushnell University this weekend, as part of a long road swing for Northern, which also heads to Arizona for the Cactus Classic.

First things first, though, Northern will look to build momentum after beating Carroll College last Saturday at home to start 1-1 in league play. Behind Jesse Keltner, C.J. Nelson, Immanual Anderson, and newcomers like Zackary Martinez, Myles Dalton and Dae'Kwon Watson, the Northern offense has been clicking so far, while MSU-N now has one of the top defenses in the Frontier in the early going.

Of course, playing two Cascade rivals will again test Northern on both sides of the ball.

Corbia is 5-2 so far this season, and the Warriors were picked to finish fifth in the CCC this season. Bushnell, picked to finish eighth this season the CCC, which includes tough squads like College of Idaho, Southern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State, has an overall record of 2-5 on the season.

"This weekend will be another tough challenge and opportunity," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "We play two quality teams on the road and will need to be locked in to have success in those ones. And it can also be a good chance to get this year's team some quality experience on a league opponent's floor and environment."

The Lights play Corban at 5 p.m. Friday in Helena, and meet Bushnell at 5 p.m. Saturday, also at the Carroll P.E. Center in Helena. Northern then travels to Phoenix for the Cactus Classic Dec. 17-20.