Skylights, Lights falter down the stretch against Montana Tech

On Thursday night in Butte, both the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams played tough games against the Montana Tech Orediggers. To start the night, the Skylights kept it close with the Orediggers. However, they could not overcome their first-half deficit as Tech held on to win 64-57.

In their loss to Tech, the Skylights shot 34.4 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from the 3-point line. As a team, the Skylights only had eight assists compared to 16 for the Orediggers. Briaunna McCullough led the Skylights with 22 points as she went 7-for-20 from the field and 8-for-12 from the free-throw line.

From the jump, the Skylights and Orediggers showed the night would be a back-and-forth affair. But after the teams battled to a 12-12 tie, the Orediggers ended the first quarter on a 6-2 run to take an 18-16 lead.

The Orediggers carried their momentum into the second quarter where they built themselves a 33-23 lead halfway through the frame. But the Skylights responded with a 9-0 run to cut Tech's lead to 33-32 at the half. Ryley Kehr led the Skylights with four points during this stretch.

The Skylights opened the second half with a bucket from Briaunna McCullough to take the lead. But their advantage was short lived as Soda Rice knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Orediggers a 36-34 lead. That three jump started a run for the Orediggers where they stretched their lead to 42-34.

But the Skylights did not let the game get away from them. Early in the fourth quarter, the Orediggers only had a 53-47 lead. Thanks to back-to-back buckets from Shyan Krass and Rachel Van Blaricom, the Skylights cut the deficit to 53-51.

Over the next few minutes, the Skylights kept themselves close but were unable to overtake the Orediggers. At the halfway point of the fourth, the deficit remained the same as Tech held a 58-56 advantage.

As the game came down the stretch, the Orediggers took control and shut down the Northern offense. Over the last five minutes of the game, the only point for the Skylights came on a free throw from Callender. Meanwhile, the Orediggers hit some clutch shots and free throws to close out the game.

"They outplayed us in the last three minutes. We didn't finish the game very well," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "I'll give our kids credit. We got down ten twice and they clawed back every time. We had a chance to take the lead but just didn't get over the hump. They played extremely hard but we didn't play incredibly smart."

The night continued with the Lights facing off with the Orediggers in a thrilling contest. They went back and forth throughout the night and they needed two double overtime periods to decide a winner. Despite the Lights' best efforts, the Orediggers survived the thriller with an 89-85 victory.

In the loss, the Lights shot 44.4 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from deep. However, they only shot 55 percent at the free-throw line. Many Lights had strong nights including Immanuel Anderson with 17 points as he shot 6-for-6 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. CJ Nelson notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Orediggers shot 47.1 percent from the field and 65.5 percent from the free-throw line. Caleb Bellach had a strong night with 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting while Michael Ure recorded 12 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double.

The game started with the teams exchanging buckets and it rarely slowed down. About halfway through the first half, the Orediggers took control to build themselves a 47-37 lead by halftime. Then early in the second half, the Lights stretched their lead to 56-43.

But the Lights battled back and were able to cut their deficit to 64-58 late in regulation. Anderson then took over for the Lights with nine straight points to give the Lights a 67-64 lead. Ure knocked down some free throws for the Orediggers to tie the game and both teams missed shots in the closing seconds to send it to overtime.

In the first overtime period, the Lights eventually took momentum and were able to build themselves a 75-71 lead with less than a minute left in the period. However, Chrison Dixon scored to cut into the deficit and Nelson missed a free throw to keep it a three-point game. With time running out, Dixon's heave from deep went in to tie the game, 76-76, to send it to double overtime.

In the second overtime, the Lights and Orediggers continued to go back and forth until the game was tied 83-83. With about 1:11 remaining on the clock, Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Lights an 85-83 lead. However Bellach made a layup and one free throw to give Tech an 86-85 lead. The Lights were unable to respond and the Orediggers hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the win. While the Lights played well throughout the night, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse believes poor play in key moments made the difference.

"We need to be a little more solid at key times if we expect to finish out a game like this," Huse said. "It's not easy as every night in this league is going to be tough. It's a team loss and we all need to keep learning and doing better."

With their loss, the Skylights fell to 7-11 this season and remain winless in the Frontier Conference with an 0-5 conference record. Meanwhile, the Lights are now 12-6 this season with a 1-4 record in the Frontier Conference. Both teams will look to get back on track this Saturday when they head to Helena to play Carroll College.

Tech 64, Skylights 57

MSU-N - 16 16 13 12 - 57

Tech - 18 15 18 13 - 64

MSU-N - Briaunna McCullough 7-20 8-12 22, Sydney Hansen 3-6 3-3 9, Jalen Callender 2-7 1-2 6, Ryley Kehr 3-7 0-0 6, Rachel Van Blaricom 2-6 1-1 5, Shyan Krass 2-10 0-0 5, Savannah Toms 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 21-61 13-18.

Tech - Tavia Rooney 7-15 4-8 18, Soda Rice 4-8 1-2 10, Aubrie Rademacher 3-7 2-2 9, Ally Cleverly 3-8 1-2 9, Dani Urick 2-8 1-2 6, Madison Allen 3-5 0-0 6, McKayla Kloker 1-3 0-0 3, Challis Westwater 1-2 1-2 3, Liv Wangerin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-57 10-18.

Halftime: Tech 51-45. 3-pointers: MSU-N 2-14 (Jalen Callender 1, Shyan Krass 1), Tech 6-18 (Ally Cleverly 2, Dani Urick 1, Soda Rice 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 35 (Shyan Krass 13), Tech 33 (Tavia Rooney 11). Fouls: MSU-N 14, Tech 13. Fouled Out: Rachel Van Blaricom, McKayla Kloker.

Tech 89, Lights 85

MSU-N - 37 30 9 9 - 85

Tech - 47 20 9 13 - 89

MSU-N - Immanuel Anderson 6-6 5-7 17, Jesse Keltner 7-10 1-2 15, Zackry Martinez 4-8 3-6 13, CJ Nelson 5-16 1-3 12, Tanner McCliment-Call 3-13 0-0 9, Anthony Braggs Jr. 3-7 0-0 8, Dae'Kwon Watson 3-6 0-0 8, Jacob Randall 1-2 0-0 2, Myles Dalton 0-4 1-2 1. Totals: 32-72 11-20.

Tech - Caleb Bellach 10-21 3-3 25, Bridger Larson 7-8 0-3 15, Asa Williams 4-14 5-6 13, Michael Ure 2-7 7-10 12, Chrishon Dixon 4-7 0-0 9, Keeley Bake 2-4 3-4 8, Hayden Diekhans 2-3 0-1 4, Camdyn Larance 1-4 0-0 2, Emani Scott 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 32-68 19-29.

Halftime - Tech 47-37. 3-pointers: MSU-N 10-31 (Tanner McCliment-Call 3, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2, Dae'Kwon Watson 2), Tech 6-22 (Caleb Bellach 2, Chrison Dixon 1, Bridger Larson 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 36 (CJ Nelson 12), Tech 40 (Michael Ure 13). Fouls: MSU-N 21, Tech 19. Fouled Out: Immanuel Anderson.