Breaking Sports: Lights draw Evangel of Missouri at NAIA tourney

Mike LaValley and the MSU-Northern basketball team is making its third straight trip to the NAIA national tournament.

For the second straight year, the Montana State University-Northern Lights will face a team from Missouri in the opening round of the NAIA national tournament. On Wednesday night, the No. 24 Lights (23-9) found out they will face No. 9 Evangel of Missouri (24-6) in the first round of the national tournament. The game is set for 9:30 p.m. M.S.T. next Wednesday night in Kansas City.

The Crusaders are part of the Heart Of America Conference, the same league which houses top-ranked Columbia of Missouri. The Lights lost to Columbia in the opening round of the 2012 NAIA national tournament.

For more coverage, see Thursday's Havre Daily News.