Skylights, Lights fall to the Argos on the road

Playing in Great Falls for the second time this season, things weren’t easy for the Montana State University-Northern basketball teams in Frontier Conference games at the University of Providence Thursday night.

The Skylights opened the night in the McLaughlin Center with a 68-40 loss to the Argos. Northern fell behind early at 16-12 and trailed 34-23 at halftime. MSU-N then went cold in the second scoring just 14 points, while the Argos exploded for 24 points in the third quarter, as the loss dropped the Skylights to 0-7 in the Frontier.

Briaunna McCullough paced the Skylights with 12 points, while Ryley Kehr added nine. But overall, MSU-N shot just 28 percent from the field, while the Argos shot 47 percent and got 22 points and seven boards by Maddy Dixon.

Things didn’t get any better for the Lights Thursday night in Great Falls, as they fell to the Argos 77-71. Northern had beaten Providence last month in Great Falls, and the Lights were up 41-33 at halftime Thursday night. But, the Argos outscored MSU-N 44-30 in the final 20 minutes to hand the Lights a tough loss as they fell to 2-5 in the league.

UP buried 103-pointers and shot 49 percent from the field in the second half, while forcing the Lights into 17 turnovers. The Argos got 24 points from Davien Harris-Williams, while Kenny Curtis added 18. Jesse Keltner had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards for the Lights but it wasn’t enough.

The MSU-N men and women will have a day off before heading to Billings to face Rocky Mountain College Saturday afternoon. The Skylights play the Bears at 2 p.m. and the Lights face off with Rocky at 4 p.m. inside the Fortin Center.

Providence 68, Skylights 40

MSU-Northern 12 11 8 9 - 40

Providence 16 18 24 10 - 68

MSU-N - Brianna McCullough 12, Ryley Kehr 9, Rachel Van Blaricom 5, Savanna Toms 5, Shyan Krass 6, Sydney Hansen 3. Totals: 14-49 8-12.

UP - Maddy Dixon 22, Brooklyn Harn 18, Reed Hazard 7, Kenedy Cartwright 5, McKenna Beggar 4, Kolby Pimperton 8, Alicia Oatis 2, Camryn Cartwright 2. Totals: 28-59 7-22.

3-pointers: MSU-N 4-22 (McCullough 2, Kehr 1, Hansen 1), UP 7-22 (Harn 3, Hazard 1, Cartwright 1, Pimperton 2), Rebounds: MSU-N 24 (McCullough 5), UP 31 (Dixon 7), Fouls: MSU-N 9; UP 16; Fouled out: None.

Providence 77, Lights 71

MSU-N - Jesse Keltner 15, Zackry Martinez 12, C.J. Nelson 9, Immanuel Anderson 9, Myles Dalton 2, Dae'Kwon Watson 10, Tanner McCliment-Call 9, Micaiah Hauser 3, Anthony Bradds Jr. 2. Totals: 28-64 13-23.

UP - Davien Harris-Williams 24, Kenny Curtis 18, Marcus Stephens 17, Jake Olson 6, Sam Vining 2, Eric Milner 10,. Totals: 27-57 13-16.

Halftime: Northern 41-33. 3-pointers: MSU-N 7-26 (Watson 2, Martinez 3, MccLiment-Call 1, Hauser 1). UP 10-24 (Harris-Williams 4, Curtis 2, Stephens 2, Milner 2), Rebounds: UP 29 (Olson 11), MSU-N 36 (Keltner 10) Fouls: 13; 19 Fouled out: Nelson.