Oregon road swing will test MSU-Northern men

With a 3-0 record and near upset of Montana State in an exhibition game, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team is off to quite a start in 2017-18.

Now, the Lights will venture outside the state of Montana for the first time this season, with three games in three days against Oregon schools Southern Oregon, Oregon Tech and Portland Bible College. The first game is tonight, when the Lights will face Oregon Tech, the host of the Oregon Tech Classic. Tip-off is set for 8:30. MSU-N will then play Southern Oregon Saturday at 4 p.m. Both of those games will be played in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The Lights will also play in Portland Sunday against Portland Bible College.

"This Classic will provide a very good test for us and some great experience as we move closer towards league play," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "Both are nationally highly ranked teams that play solid defense, have good size, have good speed, have good shooting, and can score in a variety of ways. We need to keep playing the great team basketball we have played so far, if we expect success out there. No matter what happens, it will make for some great film clips to learn from."

While both Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech are NAIA Division II teams, both programs are ranked in the top 20, with Southern Oregon ranked 11th and Oregon Tech 16th. The Owls (Oregon Tech), played the Raiders earlier this week and came up on the short end of the 109-106 shootout. Yet, breaking the century mark is nothing new for the Owls, who average 95.6 points per game and have scored at least 100 points three different times.

Oregon Tech (3-2) is led by a dynamic trio in the backcourt that features Mitchell Fink, the Cascade Conference Newcomer of the Year last season, along with Tyler Hieb and Seth Erickson. The three of them combine to average 47 points per game, while Fink leads the way for the Owls with 19.4 to go along with an average of 9.4 assists.

The Raiders (2-1) are also a high-scoring team that likes to run and gun. They come in averaging 98 points, having scored at least 91 points in each game this season. Southern Oregon isn't as balanced as Oregon Tech, but they do have a premier player in Ben DeSaulnier, who won Cascade Conference Player of the Week earlier this season, following an outing with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He has also scored nearly 1,600 points in his career and ranks fourth in school history. Jordan Hunt is another threat for the Raiders and has been a double-double machine throughout his time with the program. He notched 28 last season and is averaging 17.5 points and 11 rebounds per game this year.

The Owls and Raiders both have dynamic offenses, but Northern can be just as potent. Right now, the Lights lead the NAIA in 3-point field goals per game with 14.3, while also leading Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio, margin of victory (54.6 ppg) and ranking fourth in field goal percentage (54.6). Northern does average 102 points per game, but the Lights are also solid defensively, ranking 18th in field-goal percentage defense and 34th in opponent points per game.

Offensively, Adam Huse has been the top scorer for Northern, averaging 21 points a game. Huse also leads the team with 16 3-pointers in three games. Fellow guard Gabe Porter is also off to a hot start, averaging 16.7 ppg and inside Ryan Reeves has been dominant on both ends, scoring 15.3 points, grabbing 6.3 boards and 2.3 blocks.

After going head-to-head with Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon, the Lights will head to Portland for a matchup against Portland Bible College, a program that competes in the Christian Collegiate Athletic Association. The Wildcats are just 1-4 on the season.

"They are a very talented team that plays with a great deal of energy," Huse said. "To go in and have a good night in their tight gym confines, we will need to play solid defense and execute very well. This is a challenging trip that should pay dividends in our experience category moving forward."

The Lights open their stretch of three games in three days tonight with Oregon Tech. Tip-off is set for 8:30.