No buzzer beater needed: Lights sink Argos

Twice inside the University of Providence' McLaughlin Center, the Montana State University-Northern Lights and Providence Argos played Frontier Conference games that were decided on a last-second shot.

The Lights and Argos traded exciting wins last month in Great Falls, but, in the rubber match between the two longtime rivals, no last-second shot was needed. That's because Northern dominated the No. 25 Argos in the second half on the way to an 82-71 win Wednesday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

It was Northern's second-straight win over an NAIA Top 25 team at home, and, it was also the second-straight game in which the Lights shot better than 50 percent from the 3-point-line.

"I really like how we're playing in the second half as of late," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "And we were really good in the second half tonight. Even though we didn't have a big lead at the end of the first half, I thought we were playing well then, too. But, our guys were just really locked in in the second half tonight, and it was nice to see them put their foot on the gas and not let up."

The Lights had their foot on the 3-point gas from the start.

Justin Dunsmore nailed a three to open the game, and he and Mascio McCadney would each make three long-range bombs in the first nine minutes of the contest. Providence would answer, though, as Austin Starr was red-hot from distance as well, but, when Adam Huse knocked in a bomb, it capped a 9-0 run that saw the Lights lead by six points late in the period. Joe Fons and Devin Bray would also bury triples before the end of the half, but big shots by Jalen Shepard and Jack Taylor kept the Argos right there, with the Lights leading 36-35.

The second half, however, would be a much different story.

While the Argos took the lead several times early on, McCadney kept making shots, and when Kavon Bey banged in a triple of his own with 10 minutes left, the Lights took the lead for good at 55-52.

From there, things were a blur for UP as the Lights seemed to score at will. Huse and Bey each made one more trey, and Caulin Bakalarski went on a 7-0 run by himself as Northern pulled away from the high-scoring Argos, who shot just 30 percent from three in the second half after shooting 44 percent in the first 20 minutes.

"As much as we made a lot of big shots tonight, I was so proud of the way we defended, and rebounded the ball," Coach Huse said. "They (Argos) are a team that has so many weapons. They have scorers and they can put points on the board in a hurry. But I thought our guys were really locked in on D, and I thought we took care of the boards really well, and those things were crucial for us."

Indeed. Up came in leading the Frontier at just over 90 ppg, but, the Lights certainly slowed the Argos down, with Starr scoring all 16 of his points in the first half.

On the other end, the Lights shot 57 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game, and their 10 first-half threes was a season high. In the second half, the Lights' hot shooting loosened up UP's zone defense, and Northern seemed to get transition baskets at will down the stretch.

"It was outside and in," Huse said. "I thought it was big for us to get the inside buckets that we got, because that makes us much tougher to defend. And that was a result of our guys really being focused and locked in. We made unselfish passes, we kept the ball moving, and we found the right guys at the right time."

Balance was key, too. Northern had five players reach double figures, led by a game-high 23 points from McCadney, who was 5-of-5 from distance. Bakalarski added 15 points off the bench, while Adam Huse scored 13, Dunsmore chipped in with 11 and Bey gave the Lights yet another double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Northern, which improved to 7-6 in the Frontier, will now look for a three-game sweep of Montana Tech when the Orediggers come to Havre on Friday night.

"I'm proud of our guys," Coach Huse said. "I really like how they're playing right now. I feel like we're heading in the right direction, and I feel like we have a lot of really good basketball still ahead of us this season."

Lights are 7-6 in Frontier, 15-10 overall; Next Up: Vs Tech Friday

Lights 82, Providence 71

UP - Jack Taylor 5-8 0-0 10, Brandon Cotton 2-12 3-4 7, Kevin Schilling Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, D'shea Williams 3-4 0-0 8, Jacob Wetzel 2-2 0-0 5, Jalen Shepard 7-13 1-2 15, Jean-Frederic Daho 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Starr 5-13 2-2 16, Jaxen Hashley 5-9 0-2 10, Kevinjason Ng 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas Middleton 0-0 0-0 0, Jarred Burr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 6-10 71.

MSU-N - Kamari Burnside 0-0 0-0 0, Mascio McCadney 7-10 4-4 23, Adam Huse 3-12 6-9 13, Caulin Bakalarski 6-8 2-2 15, Joe Fons 1-2 0-0 3, Devin Bray 3-7 0-0 7, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Dunsmore 3-7 2-2 11, Kavon Bey 4-8 0-0 10, Cedric Crutchfield 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 14-17 82.

Halftime: Northern 36-25. 3-pt FG:Providence (Mont.) 7-18 (Taylor 0-1, Cotton 0-2, Williams 2-2, Wetzel 1-1, Shepard 0-2, Starr 4-9, Hashley 0-1), Montana State-Northern 14-31 (McCadney 5-5, Huse 1-6, Bakalarski 1-3, Fons 1-2, Bray 1-5, Dunsmore 3-7, Bey 2-3). Rebounds: Providence (Mont.) 26 (Taylor 7, Hashley 7), Montana State-Northern 34 (Bey 13). Fouls Providence (Mont.) 10, Montana State-Northern 10. Fouled out: none. Technical: Williams.