Lights pull away from Vikings

For the first time this season, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team was looking to bounce back from a loss. Bouncing back wasn't as easy as the Lights hoped, but in the end, they did it.

Northern returned to the Armory Gymnasium and beat the University of Alberta-Augustana 87-55 Thursday night, one night after losing at the University of Lethbridge. And while the Lights needed a 16-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Vikings, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said his team certainly needs to play better going forward.

"I thought you saw us have a little bit of a hangover from losing last night to a very good Lethbridge team, and getting back home pretty late," Huse said. "Having said that, we have to play with a lot more fire and energy than we did in the first half tonight. That's not going to be good enough and these guys understand that."

The Lights were sluggish in the opening 20 minutes despite dominant inside play from Ryan Reeves, who scored eight of Northern's first 12 points. And even though Reeves dominated in the paint, the Vikings kept things close for much of the first half. Northern twice pushed the lead to double digits on Badhasa Margarsa bombs, but each time, the Vikings answered, and the Lights went into halftime leading just 34-25.

However, the second half was a much different story. A high-flying reverse dunk by Reeves, a dunk by Charles Porter and a couple of 3-pointers seemed to breathe life into the Lights, and with 7:40 to play, they had ripped off a 16-0 run and put the Vikings away for good.

"I thought we played much better in the second half," Huse said. "So that was good to see our guys respond the way they did. They came out with more energy and more hustle, and I thought we were much better on the defensive end, and that's where it starts for us."

The Lights did hold the Vikings to just 28 percent shooting in the second half and 2-of-12 from the foul line. Northern also dominated on the boards 47-22 and those were key differences in the game, while MSU-N added six of its eight 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.

Reeves paced the Lights with 15 points, while Margarsa scored 12. William Walker also gave the Lights a big lift with 11 points off the bench, while Porter and Kevin Oberwesier combined for 16 second-half points.

With the victory, the Lights improved to 12-1 on the season and will have a short turnaround for the second straight day. MSU-N and Augustana will meet again today at 2 inside the Armory, and Huse is looking for a much-improved performance by his team in its final non-conference game of the season.

"Tonight was a little bittersweet," he said. "We won and played a good second half. But we need to quickly learn from this and know we've got to play better for all 40 minutes. Hopefully we come out and do that tomorrow."

Lights 87, Augustana 55

UA - Kobe Borowetz 0-0 0-0 0, Eddy Nkerabahizi 4-8 2-2 11, Josh Lawal 1-2 0-0 2, Darian Smigorowsky 1-6 0-0 3, Michael Stasuik 2-8 0-0 4, Austin Brulotte 4-7 1-1 9, Cameron Vilcsak 2-10 0-0 6, Connor Gusdal 0-0 0-0 0, Ian Ferguson 0-0 0-2 0, Steven Spracklin 5-10 0-2 10, Spencer Marion 0-6 8-11 8, Graeme Haney 1-2 0-0 2, Nathan Bowie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 11-18 55.

MSU-N - Cameron Epps 2-6 3-4 8, Adam Huse 3-5 0-0 9, Badhasa Margarsa 3-4 4-4 12, Kevin Oberweiser 0-2 0-0 0, Devin Bray 2-4 1-1 6, David Straughter 3-7 0-2 6, Dylan Tatarka 3-5 2-2 9, Justin Dunsmore 0-1 0-0 0, Charles Porter 3-5 1-2 7, Tyler Chandler 0-3 0-0 0, Seth Christiaens 2-2 0-0 4, Ryan Reeves 7-8 1-2 15, William Walker 5-8 1-1 11. Totals 33-60 13-18 87.

3-pt FG: UA4-20 (Nkerabahizi 1-1, Smigorowsky 1-3, Stasuik 0-4, Vilcsak 2-7, Spracklin 0-1, Marion 0-2, Bowie 0-2), MSU-N 8-23 (Epps 1-3, Huse 3-4, Margarsa 2-2, Oberweiser 0-2, Bray 1-3, Straughter 0-2, Tatarka 1-3, Dunsmore 0-1, Porter 0-1, Chandler 0-2). Rebounds: UA (TEAM 5), MSU-N 47 (TEAM 13). Fouls UA18, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: none.