By Rob Everingham
DILLON The MSU-Northern Lights went on the road Thursday night and picked up an 87-70 win over the Bulldogs of Western Montana College.
The Lights were led by Michael Claxton, who had 15 points in the game. Claxton was one of six Northern players in double figures.
With the win, the Lights move to 17-12 on the season and 5-6 in conference play.
Northern used the second half to do its damage after coming out of halftime tied, 44-44.
Western (10-15, 5-6) was held to just 26 second-half points as Northern cruised to the win.
The Lights lit it up from the 3-point line, hitting 12-of-13 in the game.
Joining Claxton in double figures for the Lights were Keith Carothers with 14 points, Powell Becker with 12, Chad Meyer and Bruce Stacy each added 11, and Russell Keller finished with 10.
Western was led by Wes Keller who finished the game with 15 points.
The win gives the Lights the opportunity to play for fourth place going into next weekend's Frontier Conference Tournament.
Northern plays host to Westminster in the final game of the season on Saturday night. With a Lights win, and a Western loss to Rocky on Saturday night, they would move into fourth place.
The Lights beat the Griffins 94-81 the first time the teams met on Feb. 3 in Salt Lake City.
Tip-off for the game is slated for 8 p.m. in MSU-Northern's Gym.
MSU-Northern 87
Western Montana 70
MSU-N Russell Keller 4-6 2-2 10; Michael Claxton 4-10 4-5 15; Bruce Stacy 4-5 0-0 11; Mel Stubblefield 2-7 1-2 6; Dustin Endsley 1-2 0-0 2; Powell Becker 4-9 3-6 12; Keith Carothers 6-14 1-2 14; Chad Meyer 4-6 0-0 11; Krste Serafimoski 1-2 4-4 6. Totals: 28-61 15-21 87.
Western Josh Keller 1-6 1-2 3; Scott Barrett 4-7 1-1 10; Gabe Walker 3-6 2-4 9; Travis Schenk 1-2 1-3 3; Wes Keller 5-10 0-0 15; Derek Gustafson 3-6 1-3 8; Skip Schroeder 0-1 3-5 3; Wes Holmquist 2-6 3-4 7; Josh Frunz 6-13 0-2 12. Totals: 27-65 12-22 70.
Halftime: Northern 44, Western 44. Three-pointers: Northern 12-13 (Claxton 3-4, Stacy 3-3, Stubblfield 1-1, Carothers 1-1, Meyer 3-3); Western 8-11 (Walker 1-1, Keller 5-7, Gustafson 1-1); Rebounds: Northern 39 (Stubblefield 7, Becker 7, Carothers 7); Western 32 (Holmquist 10); Assists: Northern 9 (Stubblefield 3); Western 11 (Barrett 3).
Total fouls: Northern 14, Western 16. Fouled out: None.
