Lights quiet the Storm in the Armory

There are few games left for the Montana State University-Northern Lights before Frontier Conference play returns for good. So no matter the opponent, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse wants to make sure his team not only keeps progressing but also keeps playing at a high level.

And from start to finish, the Lights did just that, as they blew past Nueta Hidatsa College 128-65 Friday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

Northern leads the NAIA in 3-point shooting, and the Lights showed why, dropping 18 bombs on the Storm in the non-conference affair. And while the lights blistered the nets offensively, shooting 60 percent from the field, it was the unselfish play that Huse liked most.

"I'm proud of our 38 assists tonight," Huse said. "Most of our buckets came off of guys sharing the ball. I really love how unselfish this team is and you saw that tonight."

The Lights do make the extra pass, and it pays off. Against the storm, Northern got three straight triples, two by Gabe Porter and one from Charles Porter to quickly open up a 14-5 lead. Anthony Harper then scored three straight buckets in the paint, and Gabe Porter's third three capped an 18-4 run that had the Lights up 27-8 with less than half of the first half gone.

In all, the Lights would hit 10 first-half treys, with Adam Huse and Devin Bray knocking a few in as well. In the paint, the Storm also had no answer for Ryan Reeves, who had several thunderous dunks, helping the Lights go into halftime leading 56-29.

From there, Northern would continue to shoot at a high clip, and play at a fast pace. The Storm tried to keep up by hitting five threes in the second half, but the Lights were just too deep and were shooting it too well for the Storm to have any chance.

"I like how so many of the good things we did tonight were things that will help us in conference play," Huse said. "The way we played tonight, that's going to be very beneficial for us down the road."

Northern's depth really shined bright Friday night, as Reeves led six Lights in double figures. He finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, while Gabe Porter hit six threes and had 24 points, Adam Huse nailed five bombs and had 23 and Charles Porter chipped in with 17. Harper added 12 points and Bray had 10, while Paco Jones came off the bench to grab 13 boards, and Caulin Bakalarski finished with a season-high 12 assists. Covey Hale paced the Storm, who also played Stone Child College Saturday, with 20 points.

The win pushed MSU-N's record to 9-3 overall, as the Lights head to Christmas break. Northern will return to action Dec. 29-30 with a pair of games against Concordia-Alberta.

"The conference schedule is coming," coach Huse said. "And so we're looking to make sure we're seeing our positive habits in games like this, and I saw a lot of them tonight. I really liked the way our guys came out and played, and it was a good way to go into the break."

Lights 128, Nueta Hidatsa 65

NH - Lowen Tyler 5-13 2-4 13, Gabe Archambault 5-14 2-2 14, Bryant Smith 5-17 0-2 10, Covey Hale 6-15 2-4 20, Ashton Featherman 2-11 0-0 4, Monte Goodbird 1-6 2-2 4. Totals 24-76 8-14 65.

MSU-N - Adam Huse 9-16 0-0 23, Caulin Bakalarski 3-6 0-0 8, Anthony Harper 6-7 0-0 12, Devin Bray 4-10 0-0 10, James Fry 3-6 0-0 7, Charles Porter 8-11 0-1 17, Cayeveoon Jones 2-4 0-0 5, Ryan Reeves 11-17 0-0 22, Gabe Porter 9-15 0-0 24. Totals 55-92 0-1 128.

Halftime: Northern 56-29. 3-pt FG:Nueta Hidatsa College 9-33 (Tyler 1-3, Archambault 2-7, Smith 0-3, Hale 6-13, Featherman 0-7), MSU-Northern 18-40 (Huse 5-11, Bakalarski 2-3, Harper 0-1, Bray 2-8, Fry 1-3, Porter 1-2, Jones 1-1, Porter 6-11). Rebounds: Nueta Hidatsa College 31 (Archambault 12), MSU-Northern 53 (Jones 13). Fouls Nueta Hidatsa College 6, MSU-Northern 11. Fouled out: none.