Lights protect home court against the visiting Bulldogs

Normally, comebacks take the course of a game, or at least a half. Not for the Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team.

Thursday night, the Lights erased an 11-0 deficit to start their game with a 15-0 run in a 70-58 win over the Montana Western Bulldogs inside the Armory Gymnasium. The victory avenged an earlier home loss to Western and improved Northern’s league record to 4-5.

“Our team is improving so much and that’s been the goal all along,” Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. “And you really saw that tonight, because to get off to that kind of start, but not hit the panic button, that’s huge. So credit our guys for really staying composed, sticking to the game plan and just finding a way to get going.”

It was a tough start as the Bulldogs got big shots from Kyle Kouba to start on an 11-0 spurt. From there though the Lights went on a 3-point deluge as Myles Dalton, Tanner McCliment-Call and Micaiah Hauser sparked the big run with shots from beyond the arc, and by the time the five-minute mark in the first half rolled around, the Lights had gone from down 11 to up 11. C.J. Nelson would add a triple and the Lights went into halftime leading 39-29.

The second half would be more of the same. Northern extended its lead early on, but Western closed the gap down to five points with under 10 to play. From there however, the Lights exploded again. Zackary Martinez nailed a jumper that sent the Lights on a 12-0 run, essentially putting the game out of reach.

Northern shot 43 percent from the game, while hitting nine trey’s. The Lights also had 30 rebounds, while Nelson scored 17 points and Martinez added 10. Jacob Randall also gave the Lights a nice lift off the bench with seven rebounds, as Northern avenged its earlier loss to Western.

“Our guys have learned so much, been through so much, just since we played them (Dawgs) last,” Huse said. “That’s a credit to them for their hard work and their dedication. It really showed tonight just how much we’ve improved and how far we’ve come and that will continue to be the goal. So I’m really proud of our guys for that.”

The Lights are now 15-7 overall with Montana Tech coming to Havre Saturday.

Lights 70, Western 58

MW - Jamal Stephenson 19, Tanner Haverfield 9, Michael Haverfield 6, Grayson Nelson 2, Ky Kouba 12, Jok Jok 1, Jaden Graham 6, Jackson Burckley 3. Totals: 15-48 5-23.

MSU-N - Myles Daltonn 6, Immanuel Anderson 7, Zackary Martinez 10, C.J. nelson 17, Jesse Keltner 4, Dae'Kwon Watson 5, Tanner McCliment-Call 6, Anthony Braggs Jr. 3, Micaiah Hauser 8, Jacob Randall 4. Totals: 26-60 9-10.

Halftime: Northern 39-29. 3-pointers: MW 5-23 (Stephenson 1,Kouba 2, Burckley 1), MSU-N 9-22 (Dalton 2, Martinez 1, Nelson 1, McCliment-Call 2, Braggs Jr. 1, Hauser 2); Rebounds: MW 31 (T. Haverfield 7), MSU-N 30 (Randall 7). Fouls: MW 12, MSU-N 17; Fouled out: None. Technical Foul MSU-N Bench.