By Rob Everingham
The MSU-Northern Lights last took the floor at home on Nov. 20, but, after going to Canada, around Montana, California and Colorado, they return home tonight.
The Lights will take on the University of Manitoba both Friday and Saturday at the MSU-Northern gymnasium.
Northern sits at first place in the Frontier Conference in the preseason. The conference season kicks off next week.
The Lights have not yet played the University of Manitoba.
Lights head coach Tim Walker said they were able to watch the University of Manitoba practice last night, and they are a big team.
Walker said their size may pose some problems, and the Lights need to make it a full-court game. He also said the University of Manitoba likes to walk the ball up the floor and the Lights will need to speed up the game and use their quickness to their advantage.
The Lights are still without big man David Sawyer who is still academically ineligible. Walker said they should know this week if Sawyer can start playing again.
Northern will be glad to be back at home, Walker said. The Lights played some quality teams on the road, but need to play with some urgency this weekend and look to win games and not lose them in the last seven minutes of the game.
Walker said both Keith Carothers, and Russell Keller played very well on the road, and played good at both ends of the floor.
"If we take care of the ball and make shots in the second half, we should be okay," Walker said.
This wraps up the non-conference season for the Lights, who will travel to Rocky Mountain College next Saturday to kickoff the conference season.
Walker said his team needs to play well this weekend to get tuned up for the conference season. They need to get out any knots or wrinkles before tip-off next weekend.
Also, Walker said, he would like to thank assistant Jon Hanson who has done a terrific job in preparation and does a great job in practice and on the bench.
Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday night at Northern.
