Lights cruise in Augustana rematch

In their first of back-to-back games against the University of Alberta-Augustana, the Montana State University-Northern Lights came out flat. They won anyway, but Northern head coach Shawn Huse said his team would need to play with a lot more energy in the rematch.

Mission accomplished.

Friday afternoon, the Lights and Vikings were back in the Armory Gymnasium, where Northern came out firing on all cylinders on its way to a 101-55 win. The victory pushed Northern to a 13-1 record as non-conference play ended for the Lights.

“We did a much better job of coming out with energy today, led by our starters,” Huse said. “I was really proud of our guys because they learned a lot from last night’s game and came out and applied those things today. I thought they all did a great job of that.”

Northern rattled off an early 9-0 run, thanks to a dunk by Ryan Reeves and a 3-pointer from Tyler Chandler. But as they did last night, the Vikings hung tough and kept the game in single didgits until a three by Devin Bray ignited a 15-2 Northern run, a run that included a coast-to-coast slam by Reeves and was capped by a Kevin Oberweiser triple, as MSU-N took a 52-33 lead into halftime.

And though the Lights were comfortably ahead, the Vikings weren’t going to go away and Huse impressed that upon his team.

“They (Vikings) have a very good team this year,” Huse said. “And they really pushed us. I don’t think the scores of these two games indicates just how good that team is. I was very impressed with the way they came in here and played, and they gave us the kind of games we needed to get ready for conference play.”

And though the Vikings pushed the Lights some more in the second half, Northern was already rolling. Reeves threw down another dunk and Cameron Epps and Oberweiser drilled threes to cap another big Northern run, and for the seventh time this season, the Lights hit triple digits.

Reeves was the top scorer for the Lights for the second straight night, notching 15 points. But, MSU-N was also extremely balanced. Oberweiser came off the bench to score 13 points, while Justin Dunsmore added 10. Chandler and David Straughter chipped in with 10 points each and Bray added nine, including two of Northern’s seven treys.

The win also gave Northern one last tuneup before Frontier Conference play starts for good later this week. And Huse feels, the Lights, who are 2-0 in the Frontier, are ready to take on the league, including road games Thursday at UGF and Saturday at nationally ranked Carroll College.

“We know we can still get better,” Huse said. “This group and understands that and they work hard to do that. But I felt like we got a lot out of these last two games, and it was a good way for us to shake off the Christmas break rust and get ready for the challenges that we’re about to face.”

Lights 101, Augustana 55

UA - Kobe Borowetz 0-1 0-0 0, Eddy Nkerabahizi 5-11 1-1 12, Josh Lawal 0-0 0-0 0, Darian Smigorowsky 1-4 0-0 3, Michael Stasuik 1-8 0-0 2, Austin Brulotte 1-6 2-2 4, Cameron Vilcsak 4-6 2-2 12, Connor Gusdal 0-1 0-0 0, Ian Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Spracklin 2-2 0-0 4, Spencer Marion 2-6 2-2 6, Graeme Haney 1-5 0-0 2, Nathan Bowie 4-9 0-0 10. Totals 21-59 7-7 55.

MSU-N - Cameron Epps 3-6 0-0 6, Adam Huse 2-5 0-0 4, Badhasa Margarsa 2-3 0-0 5, Kevin Oberweiser 4-7 3-4 13, Devin Bray 2-2 2-2 8, David Straughter 4-9 2-3 10, Dylan Tatarka 1-5 0-0 2, Justin Dunsmore 5-5 2-6 12, Charles Porter 2-4 0-0 4, Tyler Chandler 4-7 0-0 10, Seth Christiaens 1-1 0-0 2, Ryan Reeves 7-9 1-1 15, William Walker 5-5 0-1 10. Totals 42-68 10-17 101.

Halftime: Northern 52-33. 3-pt FG: UA 6-20 (Borowetz 0-1, Nkerabahizi 1-3, Smigorowsky 1-2, Stasuik 0-2, Brulotte 0-1, Vilcsak 2-3, Marion 0-1, Bowie 2-7), MSU-N 7-25 (Epps 0-2, Huse 0-2, Margarsa 1-2, Oberweiser 2-5, Bray 2-2, Straughter 0-3, Tatarka 0-4, Chandler 2-5). Rebounds: UA 26 (TEAM 4, Stasuik 4, Marion 4), MSU-N 41 (Reeves 8). Fouls: UA 17, MSU-N 14. Fouled out: none.