George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The 2006 Frontier Conference season has been a series of highs and lows for the Montana State University-Northern Lights basketball team.
One month ago, the Lights were at the top of the mountain after a shocking upset of then No. 2 Carroll College in Havre.
This weekend, the Lights hit the bottom of Death Valley after getting thumped by the Saints in Helena on Thursday night and losing to Rocky Mountain College in Billings on Saturday.
In the loss to the Saints, Northern's offense, which can be explosive at times, had trouble getting anything going. The Lights got a combined nine points from leading scorers Jordan Matthews and Cory Brothers. Ronnie Simpson led the way with 14 points and Yanif Ducreay chipped in with 10.
Meanwhile, the Saints' offense reversed their fortunes from when they were drubbed in Havre last month. Carroll shot 52 percent from the floor and the Saints made an astounding 12 threes. Senior Jeff Hays was on fire from beyond the arc, hitting six 3-pointers and scoring 22 points. The Saints also got a game-high 23 points from Sinan Guler. Both players more than made up for their dismal performance in Havre last month.
Northern's 63-55 defeat at the hands of RMC on Saturday night gave the Bears a season sweep over the Lights, and they hold all tiebreaker scenarios with Northern when it comes to seeding for the conference tournament next month.
RMC center Devin Uskoski shredded the Lights' interior defense for 21 points and an even more important 16 rebounds. Uskoski's night offset a big game from Matthews, who scored a game-high 26 points in the loss. Matthews hit on 10-of-18 shots and made four 3-pointers.
The loss to RMC dropped Northern below .500 in the conference standings and into sixth place at 5-6. The Lights are 16-11 overall.
Northern is now at home for three straight games to close the season, including games against Lewis-Clark State on Friday night and Westminster College on Saturday night.
Saints 87, Lights 63
MSU-N - Marcus Wilson 3-5 0-1 6; Yanif Ducreay 5-6 0-2 10; Jordan Matthews 2-7 2-2 7; Cory Brothers 0-1 2-2 2; Brian Erikson 1-1 0-0 2; Nick Hittner 0-0 2-2 2; Leo Bullchild 2-5 0-0 5; Reid Stovall 2-3 0-0 4; Cody Gillespie 2-3 3-4 9; Ronnie Simpson 6-9 1-1 14; Pathe Yatera 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 23-40 12-16 63.
CC - Travis Williams 5-8 4-5 16; Jeff Hays 7-10 2-2 22; Ross Gustafson 5-6 0-0 10; Kurt Paulson 2-4 1-2 7; Sinan Guler 7-14 7-10 23; Zachary Pitts 1-1 0-0 2; Dallas Leslie 0-3 0-0 0; Gage Brumwell 1-1 0-0 2; Chris Kaschmitter 2-3 0-0 4; Brian Harrison 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 30-50 15-21 87.
3-pointers: MSU-N 5 (Matthews, Bullchild, Gillespie 2, Simpson). Carroll 12 (Williams 2, Hays 6, Paulson 2, Guler 2). Rebounds - MSU-N 21 (Ducreay 3, Matthews 3, Brothers 3). CC 21 (Guler 8). Total fouls: MSU-N 14, CC16. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: MSU-N coach Huse.
Bears 63, Lights 55
MSU-N - Marcus Wilson 2-4 0-0 4, Yanif Ducreay 6-12 1-2 13, Jordan Matthews 10-18 2-2 26, Cory Brothers 1-6 0-0 2, Reid Stovall 1-4 2-4 4, Cody Gillespie 0-0 1-2 1, Ronnie Simpson 1-7 0-0 2. Totals: 22-57 6-11 55.
RMC - Devin Uskoski 5-10 10-11 21, Chris Nickolei 4-14 0-0 8, Eric Gallinger 4-9 1-2 11, Cooper Warren 1-4 8-9 10, Elijah Swan 4-6 0-0 9, Alvis Dowiels 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 20-55 19-22 63.
Halftime: MSU-N 28-26. 3-pointers: MSU-N 5-17 (Matthews 4-9, Brothers 1-3), RMC 4-15 (Uskoski 1-3, Gallinger 2-4, Swan 1-1). Rebounds: MSU-N 34 (Ducreay 7), RMC 40 (Uskoski 16). Fouls: MSU-N 22, RMC 15. Fouled out: none.
