Northern basketball teams fall to Rocky Mountain

The Montana State University-Northern basketball teams' last Frontier Conference road trip of the season didn't start out as planned. Both the Skylights and Lights fell to Rocky Mountain College Thursday night in Billings.

The Skylights battled in a Frontier Conference game against No. 22 Rocky Mountain College in a 64-54 loss in Billings. The Skylights got down early in game 23-13 in the first quarter. The Battlin' Bears pushed the lead to 16 going into halftime (36-20). Northern came out of the half on top going on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to six. Rocky pushed the lead back up to 13 at the end of third quarter. Northern cut the lead back to eight, but the Battlin' Bears were able to keep the lead until the end of the game.

The Skylights shot a field goal percentage of 36, 15 percent from the arc, and 87 percent from the free throw line. Rocky Mountain College shot 46 percentage from the field, 47 percent from the 3-point line, and 71 percent from the free throw.

The Skylights were led by Ryley Kehr, who had 18 points and six rebounds. Briaunna McCullough added 15 points and six rebounds. Shyan Krass went 5-8 from the field with 11 points. Jalen Callender had seven assists and four steals. The Battlin' Bears were led by Morgan Baird and Gracee Lekvold with 10 each. Ky Buell added nine points.

Northern fell to 0-13 in the Frontier, and 7-19 overall.

Things didn't go much better for the Lights Thursday night as they saw their five-game winning streak snapped by the Bears. 71-58. Northern's streak, which started last month in Billings, saw the Lights shooting at a high level, and for a half Thursday night, they still did as the Lights led 40-36 at halftime.

However, the Bears changed the script in the second half, as they outscored Northern 35-18. Rocky ended up shooting 48 percent to Northern's 38 percwent, while the Bears made six 3-pointers and out rebounded the Lights 35-22.

Maxim Stephens had a huge night for RMC, scoring 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, while Jesse Owens chipped in with 10, as Rocky won the season series 2-1.

The Lights got 21 points from Jesse Keltner and 10 by C.J. Nelson as they slipped to 7-6 in Frontier play.

Both Northern squads will be back on the road Saturday when the Skylights play at Montana Western at 2 p.m. and the Lights take on the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. in Dillon. MSU-N then wraps up the regular season next Saturday afternoon at home against Montana Tech.

Rocky Mountain 64, Skylights 54

MSU-N - 13 7 18 16 - 54

RMC - 23 13 15 13 - 64

MSU-N - Ryley Kehr 4-9 9-10 18, Briaunna McCullough 5-15 5-6 15, Shyan Krass 5-8 0-0 11, Sydney Hansen 3-5 0-0 6, Rachel Van Blaricom 1-3 0-0 2, Savannah Toms 1-7 0-0 2, Jalen Callender 0-4 0-0 0, ShaAnn Danelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-52 14-16.

RMC - Gracee Lekvold 4-8 2-2 10, Morgan Baird 3-8 4-6 10, Taylor Stephens 3-3 0-0 9, Ky Buell 3-9 0-0 9, Iliana Moran 3-3 2-2 8, Mackenzie Dethman 3-5 0-0 7, Kloie Thatcher 2-7 1-2 6, Dominique Stephens 2-6 1-2 5. Totals: 23-49 10-14.

Halftime: RMC 36-20. 3-pointers: MSU-N 2-13 (Ryley Kehr 1, Shyan Krass 1), RMC 8-17 (Taylor Stephens 3, Ky Buell 3, Mackenzie Dethman 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 27 (Ryley Kehr 6), RMC 20 (Kloie Thatcher 7). Fouls: MSU-N 12, RMC 12. Fouled Out: Savannah Toms.

Rocky Mountain 71. Lights 58

MSU-N - Jesse Keltner 8-11 5-7 21, CJ Nelson 4-14 0-0 10, Anthony Braggs Jr. 3-5 2-2 9, Dae'Kwon Watson 2-10 0-0 5, Zackry Martinez 2-8 0-0 4, TJ Reynolds 1-2 0-0 3, Micaiah Hauser 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob Randall 1-1 0-0 2, Tanner McCliment-Call 0-3 0-0 0, Myles Dalton 1-2 0-0 2, Immanuel Anderson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-60 7-9.

RMC - Maxim Stephens 9-17 11-12 30, Jesse Owens 3-8 2-2 10, Kael Robinson 4-7 0-0 8, Beau Santistevan 2-5 2-2 8, Scott Malikie 2-4 0-0 5, Nick Hart 2-4 0-0 4, Tayshawn Bradford 1-5 0-0 2, Cade Tyson 1-1 0-0 2, Kace Kitchel 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-52 15-16.

Halftime: MSU-N 40-36. 3-pointers: MSU-N 5-18 (CJ Nelson 2, Anthony Braggs Jr. 1, TJ Reynolds 1), RMC 6-19 (Jesse Owens 2, Beau Santistevan 2, Scott Malikie 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 22 (Jesse Keltner 5), RMC 35 (Maxim Stephens 14). Fouls: MSU-N 12, RMC 12. Fouled Out: None.