Lights shining bright as Northern hoops visits Rocky, Western

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team might just be the hottest club in not just the Frontier Conference, but all of NAIA hoops right now.

And Northern would like to keep it rolling.

Winners of five straight games, and fresh off blowout wins over Carroll College and Providence, the Lights (7-5, 18-7) hit the road for the final time in the regular season when they visit Rocky Mountain College tonight in Billings and Montana Western Saturday in Dillon. And while the Lights are playing at an extremely high level right now, head coach Shawn Huse is taking nothing for granted.

"We just want to lock in on these two tough conference opponents, and keep improving," Huse said. "Every team has proven their capability in this league and Rocky and Western are certainly no exception."

Indeed, the Lights have split with both the Battlin' Bears and Western this season. Northern lost to Rocky at home back on Jan. 5 and fell to Western two nights later. MSU-N then beat the Bears in a wild triple overtime game three weeks ago in Billings, and also dominated Western two weeks ago in Havre. Those two games started Northern's current winning streak, which has been propelled by the Lights shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from three, while also averaging 78 points per game, and holding teams to under 60 points per night.

MSU-N's balance has also been huge. While veteran Jesse Keltner leads the way, the Lights have been getting scoring from up-and-down its roster, including from veterans like C.J. Nelson and Immaneul Andersonn, as well as newcomers such as Zackary Martinez and true freshman Dae'Kwon Watson.

But, as good as Northern has been playing, the Lights have plenty of work to do as they are still in contention for the Frontier championship, and need these big road wins against the Bears (4-8, 12-12) and Dawgs (4-8, 9-16).

"Per the usual in this conference, there are still a number of ways the standings can finish with two weeks to go," Huse said. "Keeping our tunnel vision on the weekend at hand is the number one focus for us."

Meanwhile, the MSU-N women will be looking to break a streak with games at Rocky and Western. The Skylights are 0-12 in Frontier Conference play and have been struggling as of late.

The Skylights are fighting hard every night, but they are struggling on offense, averaging just 59 points per game and shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc. Northern has been tough on defense and good on the boards, while also getting double figure scoring from Briaunna McCullough, Riley Kehr and Shyan Krass, but it hasn't been enough to get the Skylights over the hump. And things won't be easy as they face the nationally ranked Bears (9-3, 17-7) and nationally ranked Bulldogs (9-3, 21-4), who are a combined 4-0 against MSU-N this season.

Tonight's women's game in Billings will tip at 5 with the men's game to follow. The Skylights play at Western Saturday at 2 p.m. with the men's game to follow. Northern then comes home to finish the regular season Feb. 18 against Montana Tech.