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MSU-Northern's C.J. Nelson passes the ball against St. Mary's University. In their two games this past weekend at home, the Lights dominated their opponents to improve to 12-3.
In its last action of 2022, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team hosted Keyano University and St. Mary's University at Armory Gymnasium this past weekend. The Lights played well in their final games of the year as they defeated Keyano, 89-70, Thursday and then defeated St. Mary's 77-48, Friday night.
"Our team played connected and did what we do. We found each other and did the things that we call winning basketball," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "It's just doing things the right way, using good fundamentals, making the right reads, keeping things simple, not overdoing it and taking smart risks."
The Lights started the weekend strong with their win over Keyano University Thursday night. The Lights came out hot to race out to a 46-27 lead by halftime. The Lights' momentum carried into the second half which they opened with a 13-0 run. Keyano attempted to come back late in the game, but the Lights did not give up their big lead.
As a team, the Lights shot 53.7 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from the 3-point line and 71.4 percent at the free-throw line. C.J. Nelson led the Lights with 21 points as he went 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from deep. Jesse Keltner also played well with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Lights carried their strong play into their victory over St. Mary's Friday night to end the year. After an early 4-4 tie, a dunk from Keltner gave the Lights the lead. Immanuel Anderson then made a layup to stretch the lead to four.
St Mary's came back to tie the game 11-11, but the Lights got back on track with a 7-0 run. Keltner got it started with a layup to give the Lights the lead. A layup from Dae'Kwon Watson and a three from Anthony Braggs Jr. then kept the run rolling.
After a three from St. Mary's, the Lights went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 27-13. Over the rest of the first half, the Lights continued to hold off St. Mary's and knock down their shots to take a 40-24 lead into halftime. However, Huse believes the Lights should have had an even bigger lead heading into the break.
"The thing that we could have done better is finishing some of our bunnies and we left some points on the board," Huse said. "I thought we did pretty well but leaving too many points on the board and blowing some really good opportunities would be the one thing that stands out to me."
The Lights started the second half with baskets from Nelson and Zackry Martinez to increase the lead. St. Mary's tried to come back and was even able to cut Northern's lead to 48-34. But the Lights got on a roll to increase their lead to over 20 points as they cruised to victory the rest of the way.
As a team, the Lights shot 40.7 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from deep. Watson led the Lights with 17 points as he went 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-5 from deep. Anderson and Keltner also played well as they both scored 10 points in the game.
With their successful weekend, the Lights are now 12-3 and have now won four in a row. The Lights will now have to play tough Frontier Conference games for the rest of their season, but Huse believes his team is progressing to become the team they need to be the rest of the way.
"I don't think you can ask for too much more," Huse said. "It's the start of the new season for all of us in the Frontier so it's going to be a battle and we can just take it a week at a time and keep being great with preparation."
The MSU-N men's basketball team will jump back into conference play with a game against Rocky Mountain College at Armory Gymnasium this Thursday at 7 p.m.
MSU-Northern 89, Keyano 70
KU - 27 43 - 70
MSU-N - 46 43 - 89
KU - Omeechi Williams 6-13 6-6 19, Sean-Michael Clancey 5-13 1-1 13, Taliik Ross 3-8 4-7 10, Stefan Jovcic 3-10 2-3 8, Jusci Thompson 1-3 3-6 5, Ben Simmons 2-3 0-0 5, Nathan Carefoote-Jon 1-2 1-2 3, DJ Haynes 1-7 1-3 3, Keenen Caribou 1-2 0-0 2, Efosa Omorogbe 0-1 1-2 1, Emeka Asiegbu 0-0 1-1 1. Totals: 23-62 20-31.
MSU-N - C.J. Nelson 8-11 0-1 21, Jesse Keltner 7-10 3-4 17, Jacob Randall 6-7 0-0 12, Dae'Kwon Watson 4-5 0-0 10, Tanner McCliment-Call 3-8 0-0 8, Myles Dalton 2-9 2-2 7, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2-4 0-0 6, Zackry Martinez 2-4 0-0 4, Immanuel Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Micaiah Hauser 1-4 0-0 2, T.J. Reynolds 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 36-67 5-7.
Halftime: MSU-N 46-27. 3-pointers: KU 4-22 (Sean-Michael Clancey 2, Omeechi Williams 1, Ben Simmons 1), MSU-N 12-33 (CJ Nelson 5, Dae'Kwon Watson 2, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2). Rebounds: KU 38 (Stefan Jovcic 9), MSU-N 33 (Jesse Keltner 8). Fouls: KU 13, MSU-N 24. Fouled Out: None.
MSU-Northern 77, St. Mary's 48
SM - 24 24 - 48
MSU-N - 40 37 - 77
SM - Brock Dewsbery 6-19 1-1 13, Caleb Jipp 3-20 3-3 9, Alex Clich 4-9 1-2 9, Kevin Hammer 3-8 0-0 7, Pelumi Ajayi 1-6 2-4 4, Riley Follensbee 1-3 1-1 4, Averie Armbrister 0-0 1-2 1, Josh Castro 0-2 1-2 1, Isaiah Mccdonals 0-3 0-0 0, Cameron Boriskewick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-72 10-15.
MSU-N - Dae'Kwon Watson 7-11 1-1 17, Immanuel Anderson 5-10 0-0 10, Jesse Keltner 4-10 2-5 10, T.J. Reynolds 3-6 0-0 8, Zackry Martinez 3-6 0-1 6, C.J. Nelson 3-8 0-0 6, Terry Holmes Jr. 3-3 0-0 6, Tanner McCliment-Call 2-10 0-0 4, Anthony Braggs Jr. 1-2 0-0 3, Myles Dalton 1-9 0-0 3, Micaiah Hauser 0-3 2-2 2, Jacob Randall 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: MSU-N 33-81 5-9.
Halftime: MSU-N 40-24. 3-pointers: SM 2-31 (Kevin Hammer 1, Riley Follensbee 1), MSU-N 6-29 (Dae'Kwon Watson 2, Micaiah Hauser 2, Anthony Braggs Jr. 1). Rebounds: SM 48 (Alex Clich 12), MSU-N 52 (Jesse Keltner 13). Fouls: SM 14, MSU-N 15. Fouled Out: None.
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