SALT LAKE CITY During their recent streak of winning five of seven games, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team showcased a balanced offense that over the course of 40 minutes eventually overwhelmed opponents.
The Lights had the same balance last night, but their efforts unfortunately weren't enough to defeat Lewis-Clark State's three-headed monster in the first round of the Frontier Conference tournament at Westminster University.
Jeremy Jeppesen fired in 25 points, and Ryan Bender and Jared Price each added 24 to lead Lewis-Clark State to an 83-73 win, effectively ending the Lights' season at 13-16 overall.
Bender was the star of the show for the Warriors. The 6-foot-4 senior forward beat up Northern in every facet, making 9 of 13 field goals including a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range as well as grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. He also had six assists.
Jeppesen made 10 of 18 field goals, including three 3-pointers, to help the Warriors rally from a 42-38 halftime deficit. The 6-3 senior guard, ranked second in the Frontier in steals during the regular season, had four thefts against the Lights.
Price was nearly perfect from the foul line, converting 10 of 11 free throws, and he also dropped in two 3-pointers.
Lights forward David Sawyer was successful on both ends of the floor, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 19 rebounds.
Also for Northern, Bruce Stacy scored 14 points 12 on 3-pointers and Josh Hays also had 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. Keith Carothers added 13 points.
Northern came out firing in the first half, making 58 percent of their field-goal attempts to take the four-point lead at intermission. But L-C State's defense improved, eventually dragging the Lights down offensively to a game-ending 45.3 percent (24-for-53).
For the game, the Warriors made 29 of 60 attempts (48.3 percent) from the floor.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE 83, MSU-NORTHERN 73
MSU-NORTHERN (83) Famber 2-5 3-4 8, Sawyer 4-8 5-8 13, Hays 6-7 2-5 14, Stubblefield 2-5 3-3 7, Carothers 4-11 3-3 13, Larson 0-1 1-2 1, Stacy 5-12 0-0 14, Renee 0-0 0-0 0, Moultrie 1-4 1-3 3. Totals 24-53 18-28 73.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE (83) Bender 9-13 2-3 24, Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Price 6-12 10-11 24, Meneely 0-3 2-2 2, Jeppesen 10-18 2-4 25, Barney 0-4 0-0 0, Castro 3-5 0-0 6, Way 0-1 0-1 0, Divranos 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 16-21 83.
MSU-Northern
42
31
73
Lewis-Clark State
38
45
83
Westminster 91, Great Falls 77 (AP) The Frontier Conference leading scorer Mitch Montgomery had 30 points Thursday night to lead regular-season champion Westminster to a 91-77 victory over Great Falls.
Westminster (21-7), ranked 16th in the NAIA, meets Lewis-Clark State in a semifinal game Friday night.
Matt Sparrow had 16 points and Charlie Iorg and Brad Willden added 12 each for the Griffins, who led 49-31 at halftime.
Carroll 84, Rocky Mountain 66 (AP) J.D. Solomon scored 22 points Thursday to lead Carroll College to an 84-66 victory over Rocky Mountain College.
Seventh-seeded Rocky (8-22) trailed just 46-42 at halftime, but second-seeded Carroll (24-5) gradually pulled away to a 65-46 lead midway through the second half.
W. Montana 81, Montana Tech 72 (AP) Josh Frunz scored 21 points Thursday as Western Montana College rallied to an 81-72 victory over Montana Tech.
Tech (12-19), seeded sixth in the tournament, shot 64 percent from the field and led 47-38 at halftime.
