By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
One thing is for certain: The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team won't go undefeated and it won't go winless this season.
The Lights struggled offensively in their first game of the season with a 74-52 loss to the University of Saskatchewan on Friday, but bounced back to defeat Windsor University 70-67 on Saturday night at the Huskiehoops.com Shootout in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Northern head coach Shawn Huse expected a few rough moments in his team's first official game of the season. And it was rough from the outset.
"We got down early and it was tough to dig ourselves out of it," Huse said. "It was our first game and it was their eighth and it showed early on. They really were clicking right away."
The Lights were far from clicking, combining missed shots and turnovers - a bad combination.
"We made a run right before halftime to cut it to 11," Huse said. "But our shooting didn't get any better in the second half."
Indeed, Northern shot an icy 25 percent from the field and 17 percent from three-point range in the second half, as Saskatchewan pulled away.
"It took us awhile to start looking like a college basketball team, but by then it was too late," Huse said. "You have to give them credit, they have a good team with some quality players."
Andrew Spagrud led Saskatchewan with 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while teammate Sam Lamontagne added 22 points, including 6-6 shooting from three-point range.
"Spagrud is tough," Huse said. "He's about 6-9 and really can score inside. He's a Division I-type player. He caused us some problems."
Northern was led by Reid Stovall's 11 points and six rebounds. Rodrick Carter added nine points for the Lights.
"Reid was our only really consistent player," Huse said.
It was a disappointing start to the season, but things got a little better on Saturday night with the win over Windsor.
Northern played much better from the opening tip, leading by as many as 19 points in the first half.
"We played much better on Saturday," Huse said. "We took better care of the ball and looked a little more comfortable on offense."
The Lights cut their turnovers from 22 to 9 in the second game and executed better, particularly in the first half, shooting 46 percent from the field.
Windsor trimmed the lead in the second half, cutting the lead to 69-67 with 12.7 seconds to play. Northern's Cody Gillespie sank one of two free throws to push the lead to three, and Windsor's last-second three-point attempt missed.
"We kind of went into a lull on offense for a while in the second half and let them back into the game," Huse said. "We were better offensively in the second game, but we still weren't scoring the ball like we wanted to."
Jordan Matthews led the Lights with a game-high 21 points, including three three-pointers. Antonio Jordan chipped in 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.
"It was a real team effort," Huse said. "Everybody contributed in some way to the victory."
While he was disappointed with the lack of offensive punch, Huse was pleased with his team's defense.
"It's just like football coaches say, you see the defense ahead of the offense early in the season," he said. "The way it's progressing, I really think that our team defense will be the best it has ever been."
More than anything, Huse was impressed with his team's attitude following the loss and the adjustments it made on Saturday.
"They played with a real focus and energy," he said. "We responded really well. That was the best sign we saw all weekend. Friday night didn't sit well with them and they made a concerted effort to work harder and play better."
Northern will return to action on Nov. 3 in its first home game of the season against the University of Regina.
U of SASKATCHEWAN 74, MSU-NORTHERN 52
MSU-NORTHERN (0-1)
Reid Stovall 4-12 3-3 11; Rodrick Carter 3-6 3-5 9; Marcus Wilson 4-7 0-0 8; Jordan Matthews 2-7 0-0 5; Cory Brothers 1-4 1-1 4; Tim Hutchins 1-3 2-2 4; Antonio Jordan 1-10 2-2 4; Leo Bullchild 2-4 0-0 4; Pathe Yatera 1-2 0-0 2; Landen Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 12-15 52.
U of SASKATCHEWAN (6-3)
Sam Lamontagne 6-7 4-4 22; Andrew Spagrud 6-12 9-12 21; Matt Greenberg 4-9 0-0 8; Rob Lovelace 3-5 0-0 7; Kyle Grant 1-4 3-4 6; Levi Vann 2-8 2-2 6; Mike Linklater 2-4 0-0 4; Jordan Harbridge 0-1 0-0 0; Dustin Fruson 0-2 0-0 0; Ryan Lynchuk 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 18-24 74.
Halftime score: SASK 38, MSU-N 27. 3-point goals: MSU-N 2-12 (Matthews 1-3; Brothers 1-2; Jordan 0-2; Bullchild 0-1; Yatera 0-1; Grant 0-1; Carter 0-1; Stovall 0-1), SASK 8-21 (Lamontagne 6-6; Grant 1-4; Lovelace 1-1; Vann 0-4; Linklater 0-1; Fruson 0-2; Greenberg 0-1; Spagrud 0-2). Fouled out: none. Rebounds: MSU-N 30 (Reid Stovall 6), SASK 39 (Andrew Spagrud 9). Assists: MSU-N 4 (four with 1), SASK 13 (Kyle Grant 3; Andrew Spagrud 3; Rob Lovelace 3). Total fouls: MSU-N 20, SASK 18.
MSU-NORTHERN 70, WINDSOR UNIVERSITY 67
MSU-NORTHERN (1-1)
Jordan Matthews 4-10 10-12 21; Antonio Jordan 3-7 3-4 10; Rodrick Carter 3-6 1-2 7; Marcus Wilson 3-4 0-0 6; Cory Brothers 2-4 1-2 6; Tim Hutchins 2-3 1-1 5; Reid Stovall 1-4 2-4 4; Cody Gillespie 1-5 2-4 4; Landen Grant 1-3 1-2 4; Leo Bullchild 1-4 0-0 2; Pathe Yatera 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 22-33 70.
WINDSOR (3-3)
Trevor Boose 6-17 3-3 17; Rich Allin 5-7 4-6 14; Justin Goggins 4-9 4-4 12; Sadiki Robertson 3-6 0-0 7; Wesley Arthur 2-3 0-0 6; Ryan Steer 1-7 2-2 5; Allen Mujacic 2-3 0-0 4; Mathew Burhart 1-2 0-0 2; Gregory Allin 0-1 0-0 0; Christopher Shaw 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 13-15 67.
Halftime score: MSU-N 36, WIN 24. 3-point goals: MSU-N 6-18 (Matthews 3-6; Brothers 1-2; Grant 1-1; Jordan 1-3; Stovall 0-1; Gillespie 0-2; Bullchild 0-2; Carter 0-1), WIN 6-17 (Arthur 2-3; Boose 2-3; Robertson 1-3; Steer 1-4; Burhart 0-1; Allin 0-1; Goggins 0-1; Allin 0-1). Fouled out: Arthur. Rebounds: MSU-Northern 33 (Marcus Wilson 4; Antonio Jordan 4), WIN 36 (Rich Allin 12). Assists: MSU-N 8 (Rodrick Carter 2), WIN 7 (Ryan Steer 2; Trevor Boose 2). Total fouls: MSU-N 14, WIN 21. A-200
