Lights fall in overtime to Rocky Mountain

It was an offensive struggle from beginning to end, but in the end, the Rocky Mountain College men's basketball team left the Armory Gymnasium stunned.

In an overtime thriller Thursday night in Havre, the Lights lost a heartbreaker to the Battlin' Bears 62-60. Northern scrapped and clawed its way to a 60-57 lead with 2:30 to play after Tanner McCliment-Call splashed a huge 3-pointer, but from there, the Bears tied the game on a putback triple from Cade Tyson, then made a pair of free throws, and forced two consecutive defensive stops in the waning seconds to escape the Armory with a wild win, dropping MSU-N to 1-2 in Frontier Conference play.

"I was really proud of our guys," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "They had to fight through a lot. An off night offensively, a lot of adversity, it just felt like we were fighting uphill all game. And yet, we found a way to come back, take the lead and put ourselves in position to win. So I couldn't be more proud of them for that. If there's anything that hurts, it's just that we didn't finish it off when we had the chance."

It was a tough one to swallow, especially considering how the Lights fought all night long.

In the first half, a defensive slugfest ensued, where the Lights would go more than seven minutes without a point. And when Jesse Owens scored five straight to finish the half, the Lights were down 25-20.

Northern continued to trail for much of the second half as well. And when Owens hit another three, the Lights were behind 41-31 with 11 minutes left. Despite some big shots from Dae'Kwon Watson and McCliment-Call, the Lights were still behind by eight points with just over five to go.

That's when a great comeback started, as Northern ran off a 9-0 run and went up 54-53 on a C.J. Nelson layup with :55 left. From there, Rocky would make a big free throw, and both teams got a stop to end regulation, setting up a wild overtime.

"Credit to Rocky," Huse said. "Like us, they found a way to put themselves in a position to win the game, and they did enough to finish it. In the end, we just made too many mistakes that were crucial. We just didn't take care of the ball well enough and made some mistakes on defense."

The Lights struggled from the field for much of the night, especially beyond the arc, where they made just 2-of-15 shots. The Lights also shot just 41 percent for the night, while committing 18 turnovers, which didn't help their cause. They did get a huge 19 points and eight boards from Jesse Keltner, while Nelson added 13, and defensively, they held Rocky to just 36 percent shooting, while also forcing 21 turnovers.

And yet, it wouldn't be enough. Rocky was led by 12 points and 14 rebounds from Kace Kitchel, while he and Kael Robinson, who added 10 points, each, hit huge shots in the closing minutes of the game.

"It's tough," Huse said. "We did everything we could do to put ourselves in a position to win, and I'm so proud of the guys for that. They fought hard. We just have to pick our heads up now and get ready to go again. There's no easy nights in this league for sure."

Now the Lights will look to regroup as they host Montana Western Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.

Rocky Mountain 62, Lights 60 OT

RMC - Jesse Owens 11, Maxim Stephens 5, Kace Kitchel 12, Nick Hart 4, Kael Robinson 10, Elliot Brooks 6, Cade Tyson 8, Tayshawn Bradford 3, Brett Clark 3. Totals: 23-64 10-16.

MSU-N - Myles Dalton 6, Immanuel Anderson 6, Zackery Martinez 3, C.J. Nelson 13, Jesse Keltner 19, DaeKwon Watson 6, Tanner McCliment-Call 7. Totals: 25-60 8-15.

Halftime: Rocky 25-20. 3-pointers: RMC 6-25 (Owens 2, Brooks 2, Tyson 1, Bradford 1), MSU-N 2-15 (McCliment-Call 2). Rebounds: RMC 46 (Kitchel 14), MSU-N 30 (Nelson 8, Keltner 8). Fouls: RMC 17, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: None.