Led by Mel Stubblefield with 18 points and freshman Dustin Endsley with 17, the MSU-Northern Lights held on to pick up a 91-82 Frontier Conference win over Western Montana College Saturday at the Northern gymnasium.

The Bulldogs got out of the gates first and built a 10-3 lead early in the game.

The Lights answered big as they went on a 20-0 run the was capped off by a Keith Carothers' 3-pointer that gave Northern a 23-10 lead with 9:23 left in the first half.

Northern also went on a 10-0 run with 3:34 left in the half to build its biggest lead of the game at 43-19 off a Michael Claxton 3-pointer.

The Lights led 50-26 at halftime.

Western opened the second half with a quick 7-0 run and slowly chipped away at the Lights lead. Various other mini runs brought the Bulldogs back within striking distance.

With 2:06 left to play in the game, Western had cut the Lights lead to 84-80, but could manage just one more field goal as Northern hit all three free throw attempts by Carothers.

Western was led by Josh Frunz who had 29 points.

Also in double figures for the Lights were Claxton with 16, Powell Becker with 14 and Carothers with 12.

Northern head coach Tim Walker said he was pleased his team was able to keep their cool and get the job down.

The 20-0 run the Lights put together in the first quarter was characterized by Walker as the "best basketball his team has played all year."

Walker said his team was able to make the big plays and step up when they needed to.

Walker said it was tough to make the decision on whether to guard inside on the bigger players or to stay out and cover the 3-point line.

Northern also showed a lot of intensity in the game and, Walker said, that was something that was missing in the Carroll game last Thursday night.

The Lights head off to Salt Lake City on Thursday to face Westminster College in conference play.

Walker said they are a good solid team that is full of shooters. They do a good job on defense and will play hard from the opening tip.

Western Montana

82

MSU-Northern

91

Western -- Josh Keller 1-3 2-2 5; Scott Barett 4-6 2-2 13; Travis Schenik 2-5 1-2 6; Wes Keller 3-7 3-4 11; Brian 'Ole' Eike 1-4 0-0 2; Skip Schroeder 1-4 2-2 4; Wes Holmquist 2-3 1-1 5; Josh Frunz 9-13 11-12 29; Jason Kitts 1-1 0-0 2; Dennis Juneau 2-3 0-0 5. Totals: 26-50 22-25 82.

MSU-N -- Russell Keller 3-5 0-0 6; Michael Claxton 5-7 3-4 16; Mel Stubblefield 2-3 12-14 18; Dustin Endsley 6-11 4-5 17; Powell Becker 6-9 2-2 14; Keith Carothers 3-11 5-7 12; Chad Meyer 1-3 0-2 2; Kelly Calverly 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 28-54 27-37 91.

Halftime: Western 26, Northern 50. Three-pointers: Western 8-22 (J. Keller 1-1, Barrett 3-5, Schenik 1-3, W. Keller 2-5, Juneau 1-2); Northern 8-18 (Claxton 3-4, Stubblefield 2-3, Endsley 1-4, Carothers 1-2, Meyer 1-2);

Rebounds: Western 25 (Scenik 4, Frunz 4); Northern 32 (Stubblefield 5); Assists: Western 14 (Schroeder 3); Northern 17 (Stubblefield 4); Total fouls: Western 30, Northern 32. Fouled out: Barrett, Frunz. Attendance: 1200.