Northern hoops season ends at Frontier tourney

Both Montana State University-Northern basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end in the first round of the Frontier Conference Tournament in Great Falls.

Thursday afternoon, the Skylights fell to Rocky Mountain College 86-81 in the first round of the Frontier women's tournament at the Four Seasons Arena.

After a good first half, the Skylights were winning 39-36 at intermission. However, Rocky outscored the Skylights 50-42 the rest of the way, overtaking Northern late in the third quarter, then holding on for the close win.

In her final game as a Skylight, Ryley Kehr poured in 32 points, while Taya Trottier added 22 in the tough Northern loss.

MSU-N finished the season with a 11-18 record, while RMC advanced to tonight's semifinals.

On the men's side, the Lights faltered against Montana Western Thursday night.

The Lights lost against Montana Western 63-45 in Great Falls. The Lights took the lead early in the game. But Montana Western came back to take the lead a couple times in the first half. Dae'Kwon Watson hit a big three at the buzzer to take the lead going into halftime, 32-29. The Bulldogs held the Lights to 13 points in the second half, though, and they pulled away to advance to the semifinals.

The Lights were led by Dae'Kwon Watson who went 4-9 from the three with 16 points and six assists. Xavier Bailey went 50 percent from the field with 10 points. Bailey and J.J. Thomas led the team in rebounds with six. The Bulldogs were led by Abi Adedo who had 23 points going 10-18 from the field. Jalyn Stepney and Christian Pitcher added 14 points each.

Northern ended its season with an 11-18 overall record.