Warriors end Lights' season

The Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team has been to the last four NAIA national tournaments. It’s been quite the run. But to have a chance at a fifth straight trip to Kansas City, the Lights needed some shots to fall, and those shots never came.

Northern, which is one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, made just 6-of-32 3-pointers in a 65-51 loss to No. 22 Lewis-Clark State in the Frontier Conference semifinals Saturday night in Lewiston, Idaho. The loss kept Northern from reaching the Frontier championship game, and ended the Lights’ season at 19-13.

The Lights, which also entered the game as the top defensive team in the Frontier, did well. They held the high-powered Warriors to more than 20 points under their average, but on offense, MSU-N shot a dismal 29 percent from the floor and just 18 percent from beyond the arc.

MSU-N was in the game early on; however, tied at 10-10, the Warriors ripped off a 13-0 run and eventually led 34-20 at halftime. At the start of the second half, the Lights battled again, and cut the lead down to six at 38-32. But from there, LCSC got going again, and eventually, the Warriors pushed the lead up to 50-34 via a 12-2 run, and Northern never really threatened again.

The Lights were paced by Corbin Pearson’s 13 points and five rebounds, in what was his final game in a brilliant MSU-N career. Warren Edmonson also scored 13 and Nicholas Blount chipped in with 12. And while the Lights defended well for much of the game, they couldn’t overcome the sluggish shooting in what was a third straight loss to the Warriors this season.

LCSC, which will play UM-Western in the Frontier championship game Tuesday night in Lewiston, got 14 points from Brady Bagby and another 12 by Rich Tesmer.

LC State 65, Lights 51

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 3-12 0-0 6, Nicholas Blount 4-15 2-2 12, Jermaine Graves 0-0 0-0 0, Corbin Pearson 5-14 2-3 13, Warren Edmonson 3-8 5-5 13, Dylan Tatarka 1-3 2-2 5, Brett Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Damian Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Pat Jensen 0-3 0-0 0, KJ Rech 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 17-58

LCSC – Trea Thomas 0-6 1-2 1, Rich Tesmer 4-7 2-2 12, Jon Humphrie 1-4 0-0 3, Gavin Kauffman 3-8 0-0 7, Brady Bagby 5-8 2-4 14, Erick Diouf 2-3 3-6 7, Jamaal Thomas 3-3 3-4 9, Jacob Wiley 2-5 5-5 9. Totals: 20-44 19-27 65.

Halftime: LCSC 34-20. 3-pointers: MSU-N 6-32 (Blount 2, Pearson 1, Edmonson 2, Tatarka 1), LCSC 6-13 (Tesmer 2, Humphrie 1, Kauffman 1, Bagby 2); Rebounds: MSU-N 26 (Pearson 5), LCSC 43 (Wiley 9); Fouls: MSU-N 24, LCSC 15; Fouled out: None.