Lights complete huge comeback; Skylights lose to Griffins in 2OT thriller

If Friday night was a fun night in the Armory Gymnasium, it was nothing compared to the drama that would unfold on Saturday night. In both the women's and men's games between Montana State University-Northern and Westminster College, things were intense and dramatic right to the very end.

One night after trumping nationally-ranked UM-Western, the Lights returned to the floor, but they found themselves trailing the visiting Griffins by 17 points with just 13 minutes left. And that's when everything changed in what would turn out to be a 68-63 MSU-N victory.

Northern rallied behind huge 3-pointers from Trevail Lee, Dylan Tatarka, Warren Edmonson and Corbin Pearson. Edmonson's triple with :49 left in the game gave the Lights their first lead of the 15:41 mark of the first half, and it's a lead the Lights wouldn't relinquish. Helping the cause was a 15-1 run by the Lights, which shaved the Griffins' lead to just one point with 5:33 to play.

Northern was forced to play comeback mode because the Griffins shot an efficient 50 percent, and silenced a huge and rowdy MSU-N crowd. The Griffins closed the first half on a 9-2 run and led 32-25 at the break, then they really opened thinfs up in the first seven minutes of the second stanza, especially behind 32 points from Quincy Bair.

Lee wound up pacing the Lights 19 points and six three's. Pearson added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Tatarka chipped in with nine, all on trey's.

The win gave Northern a home sweep, and improved the Lights to 2-4 in the Frontier Conference and 13-9 overall.

While the Lights' took fans to the edge of their seats in the nightcap Saturday night, nothing could prepare anyone for what they saw in the huge showdown between the No. 10 Skylights and the No. 4 Griffins. The game went to double-overtime, before Westminster was finally able to shake the Skylights for a 67-62 win. It was MSU-N's first conference loss this season, and only its second overall.

Northern made miraculous plays at the end of regulation just to force overtime. The Skylights had led 21-20 after a defensive first half, but the Griffins charged ahead by as many as nine points in the second. From there, MSU-N fought its way back, but still trailed 50-44 with :35 left.

And that's when things got crazy. Natalee Faupel scored to pull the Skylights within four, then Molly Kreycik stole the Griffins' inbounds pass and Faupel scored again, making the score 50-48 with :14 left. Northern's pressure then forced a 5-second call on the Griffins, but it was to no avail as A'Jha Edwards missed a clean look at a tie. But MSU-N still had life as Amanda Hacking missed a free throw with :07 left, and eventually, Megan Feldman was wide open underneath the basket for a layup that sent the game into overtime.

The two teams battled in the first overtime, with both of them having chances to win the game. However, it ended up tied at 58-58, before Westminster got two huge three's in the second extra frame, and Northern didn't have any more answers.

The game was an epic battle of two of the top teams in the NAIA, with Edwards scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 boards, while playing 48 minutes. Faupel and Feldman each added 10 while Cummings finished with 12. Alli Winters hit several huge three's for the Griffins and finished with a game-high 21 points.

Northern is now 5-1 in league play and 20-2 overall. The Skylights still have a half-game lead on the Griffins for first place heading into next Saturday's huge showdown with UGF in Great Falls.

The Skylights and Lights will both play at the McLaughlin Center next Saturday night.

For complete coverage, see Monday's HDN.