Lights advance with a dominant win over Rocky

To extend their season, the Montana State University-Northern Lights had to do something pretty difficult. They had to rebound from a tough loss in just three days time, and beat the team that handed them that loss.

And that's exactly what the Lights did Wednesday night insider the friendly confines of the Armory Gymnasium

In the first round of the Frontier Conference playoffs, Northern vanquished the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears, 71-54, just three nights after the Bears had walked out of the Armory with a double-digit win.

"We had a bad taste in our mouth from Saturday night," MSU-N senior David Straughter said. "So we came out with the mind set tonight that we were going to stick to the script coach provided us and just play all out. We didn't do that on Saturday night. But we felt like we were the better team, but, we had to prove it tonight in a win or go home situation, and we did that."

From the outset, Northern certainly looked like a team not ready for its season to be over. After shooting under 40 percent and making just six three's against the Bears last Saturday, the Lights came out hot as Cameron Epps and Straughter hit early three's. Rocky responded with a 9-2 run, but, Northern's first half was a prelude to what was to come. Behind furious inside play from Ryan Reeves, who had three blocks in the first half, as well as back-to-back triples from Badhasa Margarsa, the Lights ripped off a 13-2 run to take a double-digit lead. Rocky responed again with big shots from Riley Bradshaw, but, after shooting 52 percent in the first half, the Lights took a solid 41-34 lead into halftime.

"This team really played inspired tonight," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "We know we weren't at our best last weekend, and we had to bounce back. So the way we came out and played tonight, the way these guys bounced back, it's a credit to their character and I'm very proud of them."

As well as Northern played in the first 20 minutes, the Lights were even better down the stretch. Zach Hinton helped RMC shave the Lights' lead down to five points early in the second stanza, but, Tyler Chandler buried a three, and Charles Porter caught fire, sparking an 11-2 MSU-N run. And by the time Taylor Longo ended the run, the Lights led 58-47. And while that lead wasn't huge, a Devin Bray 3-pointer and two buckets from Straughter in a three-minute span ended any hopes of a Rocky comeback.

"We talked about, to win a tournament you have to get hot," Huse said. "Shooting at this point in the season is so big. And we got hot tonight. We came out and shot it really well right away, and it continued. And I think, the way our guys had a little more pep in their step, the way our bench contributed, the way our bench was excited all game long, sometimes, those things help shots go in. I just thought our guys played really inspired basketball tonight, on both ends of the floor."

Shooting was a big key for the Lights. They struggled in not only a loss to the Bears last Saturday, but also in a loss to Western last Friday night. But on Wednesday, Northern did anything but struggle. The Lights shot 50 percent from the floor, while making 8-of-19 three's. Straughter led the Lights with 12 points and eight rebounds, but, the Lights got big efforts from all over their lineup. Reeves was huge with 10 points, nine boards and five blocks, while Epps and Chandler added 11 and Porter gave 10 more off the bench. Defensively, MSU-N held Rocky to just 34 percent shooting and a measly 1-for-14 from three. Just last week, the Bears shot 58 percent against the Lights and drained three's from everywhere it seemed. Riley Bradshaw paced the Bears with 13 points.

"I thought our crowd gave us a big left tonight," Huse said. "Especially defensively. When they're into it like that, it fires our guys up to play even harder. So kudos to our fans. They were great, like they always are."

And so were the Lights (21-10), and now, they're moving on to the Frontier semifinals. Northern will play top-seeded Carroll College Saturday night in Helena with a berth in the Frontier championship game on the line. And, just like Wednesday night, Straughter and the Lights aren't ready to be done.

"It feels good to leave here with a win like this," Straughter said. "But we also feel like we can keep this going. The last time we played Carroll, we felt like we let one get away from us. And we feel like, if we play like this (Wednesday), down there, we have a great chance to be successful."