Lights defend home court against Tech

On Saturday afternoon at Armory Gymnasium, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team hosted Montana Tech, the top team in the Frontier Conference this season. Against a tough Orediggers team, the Lights led wire to wire as they went on to win 67-60.

"I thought we played really well," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "These guys are really locked in and I think it showed tonight and all weekend. So it's certainly a lot of fun to see our team all pitch in one way or the other."

As a team, the Lights shot 44.3 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from the 3-point line. Jesse Keltner led the Lights with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting while Immanuel Anderson recorded 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from deep.

More importantly, the Lights played strong defense as the Orediggers shot 38.6 percent from the field and 15 percent from deep. While the Orediggers had some trouble on offense, Caleb Bellach had a strong night with 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field.

Both teams started the game hot as they fought to a 6-6 tie early in the first half. Looking to take momentum, the Lights took an 11-6 lead thanks to a 3-pointer from Anderson and a bucket from Keltner. The Orediggers responded with a small run of their own to cut Havre's lead to 13-10 with about 14 and a half minutes remaining in the half.

Over the next few minutes of the half, the Lights took control with a 15-4 run. Many Lights made plays during this stretch, especially Anderson with seven points during the run. He capped off the run with a three and a layup to give the Lights a 28-14 lead with about seven minutes remaining in the half.

The Orediggers fought back, however, to get back into the game. Tech went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 28-20. After a Zackry Martinez bucket, the Orediggers went on a 4-0 run to further cut into the deficit. The Lights were able to get some scores late in the half in order to take a 35-29 lead into halftime.

The Lights started the second half strong with buckets from Anderson, Myles Dalton and Keltner to stretch the lead to 42-31. But the Orediggers again came back with a 10-1 run. Bellach got hot with eight points, including back-to-back threes to cut Northern's lead to 43-41 with 15 minutes left in the game.

The Lights responded with a pair of threes from Anthony Braggs Jr. and Tanner McCliment-Call to push the lead back out to 49-41. After a three from Michael Ure, Keltner knocked down a jumper for the Lights. After a Tech free throw, Keltner made another basket to give Northern a 53-45 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the game.

The Orediggers surged with a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to 53-50. After a layup and one free throw from Martinez, Chrishon Dixon knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 56-52 lead with about five and a half minutes left.

Over the next few minutes, the Lights and Orediggers exchanged baskets resulting in the Lights holding a 62-58 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game. With about a minute remaining, Dae'Kwon Watson knocked down a jumper to push the lead to 64-58.

Looking to stay in the game, Asa Williams scored to make it a four-point game with 44.7 seconds left on the clock. But down the stretch, the Lights played strong defense and knocked down their free throws to secure the victory.

"We came up with some big stops and made some good reads defensively," Huse said about the late-game defense. "I thought we were prepared really well. The guys were locked in."

With the win, the Lights improved to 5-5 in the Frontier Conference and to 15-7 overall this year. After beating one of the top teams in the Frontier Conference, the Lights have shown they are capable of beating anyone going forward.

"I think our guys should have a great deal of confidence," Huse said. "We have to know how good we can be and have that confidence but also stay very humble and know that it's going to take work at the end of the day."

The MSU-N men's basketball team will next play Carroll College at Armory Gymnasium this Thursday at 7 p.m.

Lights 67, Tech 60

Tech - Caleb Bellach 11-19 2-2 26, Chrishon Dixon 2-4 7-8 11, Asa Williams 4-10 2-3 10, Michael Ure 2-9 0-0 5, Bridger Larson 1-5 2-2 4, Hayden Diekhans 1-5 0-0 2, Camdyn Larance 1-1 0-0 2, Emani Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Keeley Blake 0-2 0-0 0, Ty Huse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-57 13-15.

MSU-N - Jesse Keltner 8-13 1-1 17, Immanuel Anderson 5-8 0-0 12, Zackry Martinez 4-11 2-3 10, CJ Nelson 4-13 1-5 9, Dae'Kwon Watson 2-4 2-2 6, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2-4 0-0 6, Tanner McCliment-Call 1-4 1-1 4, Myles Dalton 1-3 0-0 2, TJ Reynolds 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 27-61 8-14.

Halftime: MSU-N 35-29. 3-pointers: Tech 3-20 (Caleb Bellach 2, Michael Ure 1), MSU-N 5-16 (Immanuel Anderson 2, Anthony Braggs Jr. 2, Tanner McCliment-Call 1). Rebounds: Tech 32 (Hayden Diekhans 8), MSU-N 31 (Jesse Keltner 6). Fouls: Tech 15, MSU-N 13. Fouled Out: None.