Lights win, Skylights fall at Frontier Conference Tournaments

This Sunday at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena, the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams began the postseason with the Frontier Conference Tournaments. The opening day of the tournament yielded mixed results for the Northern basketball teams as the Skylights suffered a 70-61 loss to Rocky Mountain College to end their season while the Lights defeated Montana Western 82-62.

In the Skylights' loss, they fell behind early as Rocky Mountain took a 21-13 lead in the first quarter. The Battlin' Bears continued to play well as they took a 35-25 lead into halftime. The Skylights got their offense going in the third, but they could not stop the Bears who took a 60-45 lead into the fourth.

The Skylights attempted to rally in the fourth to save their season, but it was not enough. They finished the game shooting 50 percent from both the field and the 3-point line. Ryley Kehr led the Skylights with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 shooting from deep. Briaunna McCullough recorded 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 shooting from the free-throw line.

The Bears shot 44.8 percent from the field and they went 13-for-19 from the free-throw line. Dominique Stephens led RMC with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

The Lights started strong in their game against Western as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs battled back and made it a game as the Lights had a 21-18 lead halfway through the first half. But the Lights went on a run to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.

The Lights started the second half strong pushing their lead out to 49-30. The Bulldogs were able to battle back as they cut the deficit to 63-60 halfway through the half. The Lights again took momentum and went on to pull away for the win to advance in the tournament.

The Lights finished the game shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from deep. C.J. Nelson led the Lights with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 shooting from the free-throw line. Jesse Keltner also had a strong game with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulldogs shot 45.1 percent from the field and 37 percent from deep in their loss. Ky Kouba led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 shooting from deep.

With their win, the Lights have now advanced to tonight's semifinal game. The MSU-N men's basketball team will face the University of Providence at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena tonight at 8 p.m.

Rocky Mountain 70, Skylights 61

MSU-N - 13 12 20 16 - 61

RMC - 21 14 25 10 - 70

MSU-N - Ryley Kehr 6-12 2-2 18, Briaunna McCullough 4-11 4-7 12, Savannah Toms 5-9 1-4 11, Jalen Callender 4-5 0-0 10, Sydney Hansen 2-3 0-0 4, Shyan Krass 2-2 0-0 4, Rachel Van Blaricom 1-5 0-0 2, Dulci SkunkCap 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-48 7-13.

RMC - Dominique Stephens 8-12 0-4 17, Mackenzie Dethman 4-7 4-4 13, Kloie Thatcher 3-14 2-2 9, Gracee Lekvold 2-6 3-4 8, Ky Buell 2-5 0-0 5, Iliana Moran 1-4 1-1 3, Brenna Linse 0-0 0-1 1, Kacy Horton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-58 13-19.

Halftime: RMC 35-25. 3-pointers: MSU-N 6-12 (Ryley Kehr 4, Jalen Callender 2), RMC 5-22 (Dominique Stephens 1, Mackenzie Dethman 1, Ky Buell 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 27 (Savannah Toms 6), RMC 28 (Gracee Lekvold 5). Fouls: MSU-N 12, RMC 13. Fouled Out: None.

Lights 82, Western 62

UMW - Ky Kouba 6-11 1-2 18, Brenton Woods 4-9 0-0 10, Jacob Ankeny 4-6 0-1 8, Jacksen Burckley 3-7 0-0 8, Jamal Stephenson 2-7 3-6 7, Tanner Haverfield 2-6 0-0 5, Grayson Nelson 1-1 1-4 3, Michael Haverfield 1-3 0-0 2, Colter Miller 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 23-51 6-15.

MSU-N - CJ Nelson 8-14 4-5 21, Jesse Keltner 7-10 4-7 18, Dae'Kwon Watson 5-13 3-4 14, Zackry Martinez 4-6 3-5 11, Myles Dalton 3-6 0-0 8, Immanuel Anderson 2-3 1-2 5, Tanner McCliment-Call 1-1 0-0 3, Anthony Braggs Jr. 1-3 0-0 2, Micaiah Hauser 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-57 15-23.

Halftime: MSU-N 35-28. 3-pointers: UMW 10-27 (Ky Kouba 5, Brenton Woods 2, Jacksen Burckley 2), MSU-N 5-16 (Myles Dalton 2, Tanner McClliment-Call 1, CJ Nelson 1). Rebounds: UMW 27 (Jacksen Burkcley 5), MSU-N 28 (Jesse Keltner 11). Fouls: UMW 20, MSU-N 16. Fouled Out: None.