Lights knock out Warriors in overtime

The Montana State University-Northern Lights knew full well that they were going to have an intense battle with the Lewis-Clark State Warriors. But, the level of intensity Friday night in the Armory Gymnasium rose to all-time highs.

And, it was Northern's intensity and emotion, under adverse conditions, which helped the Lights pull off a stunning 70-67 win over the No. 8 Warriors in overtime in front of a raucous Armory crowd.

The game was a defensive battle and was dramatic right from the start. But, it turned from dramatic to surreal with 7:44 left in regulation. That's when Northern head coach Shawn Huse was whistled for his second technical foul, which by rule, meant he was ejected from the contest. The technical came just seconds after LCSC's Trea Turner had nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Warriors to within two points at 42-40.

"I apologized to the team, for stepping out of the box, having already gotten one technical," Huse said. "That's on me, and I need to be more conscious of that line in that situation. But the guys had my back tonight, and they played great. I'm really proud of them."

No doubt the tough situation gave the Lights an added spark.

Following the technical, Justin Dunsmore buried a 3-pointer, sending the Northern faithful into a deafening frenzy. The sequence also set up a wild finish to regulation which saw LCSC go in front momentarily, before 3-pointers from Charles and Gabe Porter on back-to-back trips down the floor, gave the Lights a 53-50 lead with 2:55 left.

Northern was still holding a 55-51 lead with :36 left when Race Martin nailed a jumper, and the Warriors going into a full-court trap on the made shot. Seconds later, Damek Mitchell came up with a steal, made a layup and the game was tied at 55-55 just like that. Gabe Porter had a look at a game-winning shot, but it didn't go down, and the game inexplicably ended up in overtime.

But as tough as the finish to regulation was for the Lights, they didn't panic. Instead, Northern opened overtime with an Adam Huse triple and a Charles Porter layup to surge ahead 60-57. The Lights would lead by as many as seven points in the extra frame, and while the Warriors didn't go away, including pulling to within two at 69-67 on a Martin trey with :07 left, the Lights were able to make free throws and get the stop they needed to pull off the incredible victory.

"Just really proud of our guys," coach Huse said. "LC is a talented team, and they fought hard in a tough environment. Our fans were great again tonight. So I just couldn't be more proud of my guys for their grit and determination tonight. They found a way to finish the job."

Defense was a big key to the Lights' success, right from the start. While LCSC got off to a hot start, Northern would eventually hold the high-scoring Warriors to just 23 first-half points. On the other end, the Lights ripped off nine unanswered, including a thunderous Ryan Reeves' alley-oop during the run. Both Porters also hit treys which helped the Lights stake a 26-23 halftime lead.

And defense would be the key in the second half, too. LCSC got off to a quick start again, with an 8-0 run, putting the Warriors ahead 36-34. But a big play by Anthony Harper and a dominant performance by Reeves on the defensive end, helped the Lights stem the tide, setting up the wild and dramatic remainder of the game.

"I did think we defended really well," Huse said. "I thought our guys were very focused and poised and played really hard on the defensive end."

The Warriors, who came into the game averaging close to 90 points per game, were held to just 36 percent shooting for the night. The Lights also held a commanding 44-21 edge on the boards, which was huge, especially down the stretch. Reeves and Dunsmore were certainly catalysts as well, with Reeves stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Dunsmore hit a ton of clutch shots and scored 17 points to go with eight boards, while Gabe Porter added 16, including clutch threes all night, and Charles Porter chipped in with 13.

Western thwarts Lights

Less than 24 hours after Northern's emotional win over Lewis-Clark State Warriors, the Lights were back on the floor to take on another tough team, only this time, MSU-N would have to do it without head coach Shawn Huse, who was suspended for Saturday night's game against UM-Western after his two technical fouls Friday night.

And though the Lights would fight hard, they couldn't quite solve the high-scoring, 16th-ranked Bulldogs, who beat the Lights 86-75 inside the Armory Gymnasium.

"I'm really proud of the fight in our guys, in both games," Huse said after Saturday night's game. "I'm disappointed I wasn't able to coach them in this game, but I thought our guys fought hard, and Josh (Thompson, MSU-N assistant) did a great job."

Northern did have plenty of fight, but a bad start to each half did the Lights in.

Behind a hot start from Zach Darko-Kelly, two buckets from Dom Robinson and a three by Kooper Kidgell, Western took an early 21-10 lead. Kelly would hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 26-15, but the Lights responded.

First, Ryan Reeves dominated in the paint, throwing down two thunderous dunks, and scoring Northern's first seven points. Then, Devin Bray hit three triples in a two-minute stretch, and when Justin Dunsmore hit a trey with 1:57 left in the half, the lights had the lead 34-32. The two teams battled down the stretch of the first half, until Kidgell knocked in a trey to give Western a slim, 39-36 lead after the first 20 minutes.

But while Northern overcame a rough start, they would have to overcome an even tougher start to the second half.

Kelly and Marcus Payne caught fire in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, and with 10:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs were leading 66-51. The lead would grow to 75-53 with 6:48 to go, but again, the Lights responded.

Adam Huse and Bray went back-to-back from deep, to cut into the Western lead. The two sophomores would do it again at the three-minute mark, and all of a sudden, Northern had chopped the Western lead to 78-69 with two minutes left. But a seven-point margin was as close as the Lights would get, and while they did outscore Western 19-4 during a six-minute run, the Lights simply ran out of time.

"Was really proud of the way we fought back in both halves," coach Huse said. "The guys never gave in. They showed a ton of character to keep fighting like that. But I also was a little disappointed because I felt like we just didn't play Northern basketball for a full 40 minutes. And we know, you can't do that against good teams.

"And credit Western," he continued. "They're a very good team and all their weapons came in here tonight and were fully loaded and ready to go. They earned the victory."

The Bulldogs were good, shooting a scorching 67 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Darko-Kelly had a huge night with 23 points and 17 rebounds, leading five Dawgs in double figures.

Northern did battle hard, getting a game-high 20 points from Reeves, who also had seven boards and three blocks. Dunsmore added 16 points, while Bray hit five threes and scored 15 and Charles Porter added 11.

However, it just wasn't enough to overcome the Bulldogs sensational scoring night, and the Lights were forced to settle for a home split. Northern is now 5-5 in the Frontier Conference, and must play its next four games on the road, including Thursday night at Rocky Mountain College and Saturday night at Carroll College.

Lights are 5-5 in Frontier, 15-7 overall; Up Next: at RMC Thursday

Lights 70, LC State 67, OT

LCSC - Trea Thomas 3-8 4-4 12, Derrick White 2-5 2-4 6, Andre McCowan 3-6 0-0 7, Cory Dollarhide 2-4 5-6 11, Cordel Hankerson 1-4 0-0 2, Damek Mitchell 4-9 2-2 11, Dana Abe 2-6 0-0 4, Jeremy Franklin 1-5 0-0 2, Trystan Bradley 1-2 0-0 2, Race Martin 4-13 0-0 10, Blair Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 13-16 67.

MSU-N - Adam Huse 1-5 0-0 3, Caulin Bakalarski 0-1 2-3 2, Anthony Harper 1-1 0-0 2, Devin Bray 0-3 2-2 2, Justin Dunsmore 6-11 3-4 17, Charles Porter 5-8 2-2 13, Cayeveoon Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 5-8 5-9 15, Gabe Porter 4-11 5-8 16. Totals 22-48 19-28 70.

Halftime: Northern 26-23. 3-pt FG:Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 8-25 (Thomas 2-5, McCowan 1-3, Dollarhide 2-4, Hankerson 0-2, Mitchell 1-2, Abe 0-2, Franklin 0-2, Martin 2-5), Montana State-Northern 7-23 (Huse 1-4, Bray 0-2, Dunsmore 2-5, Porter 1-2, Porter 3-10). Rebounds: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 21 (Hankerson 5), Montana State-Northern 44 (Reeves 12). Fouls Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 20, Montana State-Northern 12. Fouled out: none. Technical: Montana State-Northern Coach, Montana State-Northern Coach.

Western 86, Lights 75

UM-W - Kooper Kidgell 5-7 1-1 13, Troy Scott 1-3 0-0 2, Marcus Payne 8-9 1-2 17, Dom Robinson 7-12 2-2 17, Derrek Durocher 0-0 0-0 0, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 8-13 4-4 23, Derek Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Deane 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Jones 6-7 2-6 14, Warren Helligar 0-1 0-0 0, Collin Achenbach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-52 10-15 86.

MSU-N - Adam Huse 2-4 0-0 6, Caulin Bakalarski 1-3 0-0 2, Anthony Harper 1-4 0-0 2, Devin Bray 5-9 0-0 15, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Dunsmore 7-17 0-0 16, Charles Porter 4-6 3-6 11, Cayeveoon Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 7-11 6-8 20, Gabe Porter 1-6 0-0 3. Totals 28-61 9-14 75.

Halftime: Western 39-36. 3-pt FG:Montana Western 6-12 (Kidgell 2-3, Scott 0-1, Robinson 1-4, Darko-Kelly 3-4), Montana State-Northern 10-27 (Huse 2-4, Bakalarski 0-2, Harper 0-1, Bray 5-9, Dunsmore 2-5, Jones 0-1, Porter 1-5). Rebounds: Montana Western 29 (Darko-Kelly 7), Montana State-Northern 22 (Reeves 7). Fouls Montana Western 15, Montana State-Northern 16. Fouled out: none.