By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Three straight days of Canadian basketball.
That is what the MSU-Northern Lights have to look forward to this weekend as they travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The Lights (6-2) will face the University of Winnipeg Friday, the University of Brandon Saturday, and the University of Regina Sunday.
"We need to do three things well on the road," said head coach Tim Walker. "We need to play defense, rebound well, and take care of the ball. If we do those things, and play hard, I think we will give ourselves a good chance to win."
Winnipeg boasts some height inside, something the Lights lack.
"They have a couple of big kids, but I think we match up pretty well with them," Walker said.
The University of Brandon, a team in contention for the national Canadian championship almost every year, will look to attack on the offensive end and press on the defensive end.
"The best thing is, we'll be able to pick up a lot of things from watching them play Friday," Walker said. "We need to take care of the ball and take some good shots. If we do that, we will be all right."
The Lights have won 6-of-7 in the series against Brandon in Walker's tenure at Northern.
Turning around after a night game Saturday, the Lights will face Regina at noon Sunday. The Lights pounded Regina 117-81 and 129-61 when the two teams met at Havre Oct. 29-20.
During the two games, nine different Lights players reached double figures. Keith Carothers, who is coming off a 28-point game last weekend, scored 26 and 15 points, respectively, when the two teams met earlier.
Carothers went 7-of-14 from 3-point land, and 16-of-27 from the field during the two games in late October. Carothers is the Lights scoring leader, averaging 18.5 points per game. He also leads the Lights from beyond the arc, shooting 50 percent on the season.
Dustin Endsley, Mel Stubblefield, and Bruce Stacy notched 24, 23, and 21 points, respectively, against Regina on Oct. 30.
Endsley averages 11.5 points per game, while Stubblefield leads the Lights in rebounding, averaging 5.14 per game. Stacy has hit 22-of-52 long-range shots from beyond the arc.
Powell Becker and Russell Keller are also tough on the boards, averaging 5.00 and 4.88 rebounds per game, respectively.
Michael Claxton is the second-leading Lights scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. JC Linderman and Chad Meyer can also hit the perimeter shot for the Lights.
The Lights will play at 8 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, and noon Sunday at Winnipeg.
