Lights have a Happy Thanksgiving

The Montana State University-Northern Lights had already went head-to-head with the top dog in the Cascade Conference this season when Northern faced off against the College of Idaho two weeks ago.

On Saturday night, the second night of the 2018 AmericInn Thanksgiving Classic, the Lights got to face perhaps the second big dog in the Cascade when they battled Oregon Tech to an outstanding 80-74 win inside the Armory Gymnasium. The victory over the Owls, who beat Northern last season in Oregon, gave the Lights a home sweep in the AmericInn Classic, after they demolished Portland Bible College 101-45 Friday night.

“That’s an experienced team. I think they only lost one senior off of the team we played last year,” Northern head coach Shawn Huse said of Oregon Tech, which is ranked No. 12 in NAIA Division II. “They are very talented and long, too. They’re by no means an easy out. That said, I’m extremely proud of our guys. They were very poised, they were very well prepared and they played very hard all night long. That’s a really good win for us, and I’m especially excited because they (Owls) are very much like a (Frontier) conference team.”

Saturday night’s game did have a Frontier feel to it. And down the stretch, Northern was up to the task. The Lights never trailed in the game and led 39-30 at halftime, but with 4:05 to play, the Owls had closed the gap to four points. Northern, however, had answers, as Adam Huse hit two straight runners in the lane to put the Lights in front 72-64 with 1:40 remaining. The Owls scored on the next possession, but Devin Bray nailed a shot to put the Lights ahead by eight again, and Justin Dunsmore and Huse closed the game out at the free-throw-line from there.

“Our leaders really stepped up at the end,” coach Huse said. “I thought our guys did a great job of counter-punching when we needed to. Sometimes, you’re just not going to shut a good team down, and Oregon Tech is a very good offensive team. So I was really proud of the way our guys answered, seemingly every time we needed one.”

The Lights had answers all night, especially from the field where they shot a stellar 57 percent for the game. Dunsmore, who led the way with 19 points, hit a 3-pointer to get things rolling, and when Bray nailed a triple to cap a 7-0 run, the Lights led 25-13 midway through the first half. Caulin Bakalarski added a late three in the first 20 minutes to help the Lights take a nine-point lead into intermission, and Bray knocked in his third triple early in the second half to help the Lights keep a double-digit lead.

Oregon Tech didn’t go away, however, and behind 20 points from Mitchell Fink, the Owls pushed the Lights down the stretch.

“I thought one of the big things about this game was our transition defense,” coach Huse noted. “They really can get it going. They scored 50 points in the first half against Providence yesterday. But I thought we did a really good job of limiting them in their fast break, and that was a big key for us. I was proud of how hard our guys hustled and played defensively.”

Northern did play well defensively, holding the Owls to just three treys on the night. Offensively, the Lights were balanced, with Adam Huse scoring 16 points, Kavon Bey coming off the bench to chip in 13 and Bray adding 11.

Saturday night’s win came on the heels of a beat down against Portland Bible College, in which the Lights led 50-18 and never looked back. In the win, Bray drilled five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, while Mascio McCadney added 17, and Dunsmore and Huse scored 12 each.

The two wins at home were just what the Lights (6-1) were looking for, too, considering they go on the road this weekend to begin Frontier Conference play against nationally ranked rivals Rocky Mountain College (Thursday) and Carroll College (Saturday).

After the performance against Oregon Tech, coach Huse likes how his team is trending heading into those huge games.

“Improvement has been our focus from day one,” Huse said. “We have a mix of experienced and new guys on this team, and you could see it at College of Idaho. But since that game, we’ve seen tremendous strides. We have a lot of guys playing a very experienced style of basketball right now, and this team is really coming together. I feel like this team is really starting to come into its own, and it’s exciting.”

Northern will next play in the Armory Dec. 9 when they host Dickinson State.

Lights 101, Portland Bible 45

MSU-N - Devin Bray 7-7 0-1 19, Cedric Crutchfield 2-6 2-2 6, Justin Dunsmore 4-9 3-5 12, Adam Huse 5-8 0-0 12, Mascio McCadney 5-9 5-6 17, Caulin Bakalarski 5-8 3-3 15, Kavon Bey 1-5 3-4 5, Kamari Burnside 2-2 0-0 4, Joe Fons 3-3 0-0 6, James Fry 2-2 0-0 5. Totals: 36-59 16-21 101.

Halftime: Northern 50-18. 3-pointers: 13-24 (Bray 5, Dunsmore 1, Huse 2, McCadney 2, Bakalarski 2, Fry 1). Rebounds: 42 (Fons 10). Fouls: 20; Fouled out: None.

Lights 80, Oregon Tech 74

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 7-11 4-6 19, Cedric Crutchfield 2-3 0-2 4, Mascio McCadney 2-5 4-4 9, Adam Huse 6-8 4-4 16, Devin Bray 4-10 0-0 11, Kamari Burnside 0-0 0-0 0, Caulin Bakalarski 1-1 4-4 7, Kavon Bay 6-12 0-0 13, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Fons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-51 17-23 80.

Halftime: Northern 39-30. 3-pointers: 7-18 (Dunsmore 1, McCadney 1, Bray 3, Bakalarski 1, Bey 1). Rebounds: 28 (Crutchfield 8). Fouls: 19; Fouled out: None.