Lights hoping to stay hot against surging Diggers

To say the Montana State University-Northern Lights have come a long way in a short amount of time would be undercutting just what the Lights have done in the last week.

After suffering a heartbreaking last-second loss to UM-Western last Friday night at home, the Lights have literally turned things around in the blink of an eye. And turning things around meant beating the No. 10 and No. 22 teams in the NAIA in a little less than 72 hours.

Now, Northern comes home after back-to-back wins over Lewis-Clark State and the University of Providence, and will turn its attention to perhaps the most rapidly-improving team in the Frontier Conference - the Montana Tech Orediggers. Northern will face the Orediggers Saturday night in what will be MSU-N's last home game until Feb. 1. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.

And while the Lights (2-3, 10-7) are certainly on a roll, they aren't taking anything for granted, including Tech (3-2, 12-4). The Orediggers, under head coach Adam Hiatt, are in the midst of a dramatic turnaround, in which they have went from Frontier cellar dweller to legitimate threat in one year.

"Tech is operating really well together," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "They play very, very hard on both ends of the floor, and execute what they need in every situation. They are a fundamental, physical team that will make for a very tough out come Saturday night."

Tech is playing well. The Diggers average 85 points per night, and have potent offensive weapons in Taylor England (6-7) and Blake Dittman (6-4), along with Dylan Pannabacker (6-4) and Troy Owens Jr. (6-2) all scoring in double figures. Huse's nephew, and the younger brother of Northern star Adam Huse, has also been valuable to the Diggers this season, as is Nate Ward and Derrius Collins.

But, as good as Tech has been offensively, the Orediggers might just be even better defensively. In a Frontier that's seen scoring go way up again this season, Tech is yielding just 61 ppg, which is second-best in the league.

Northern will try and counter that defense with an offense that has been red-hot of late. Even without Adam Huse, who has been sidelined with a leg injury, the Lights have averaged 90 ppg in their last two outings. Guards Mascio McCadney, Devin Bray and Caulin Bakalarski have been shooting at a high level, but the Lights are also getting scoring punches from the likes of Justin Dunsmore, Kavon Bey and Joe Fons, and that kind of scoring balance has made the Lights a handful to deal with of late.

So the goal Saturday night will be for the Lights to keep that strong play going, and get to .500 in the league, which will be critical considering Northern plays its next five games on the road.

"I like how we are playing right now, and we need to have a great short prep week if we expect to keep it going against them (Orediggers)," Coach Huse said. "Anyone can beat anyone in this league this year ... as we have already witnessed on several occasions in this early conference season."

Saturday night's game between Northern and Tech will tip at 8 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium. The Lights won't be back home until Feb. 1 when they host Rocky Mountain College.

Lights (2-3, 10-7) vs Montana Tech (3-2, 12-4), Saturday, 8 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Twitter: HavreDaily

Lights Projected Starters

G Devin Bray, 5-10, Jr., 12 ppg

G Adam Huse, 6-1, Jr., 13 ppg

G Mascio McCadney, 6-3, So., 16 ppg

F Justin Dunsmore, 6-6, Sr. 12 ppg

F Cedric Crutchfield, 6-8, Jr., 7 ppg