Final Armory nights for the Lights

Frontier Conference men's basketball is incredibly hard. It seems like every night is a street brawl in the Frontier, and the Montana State University-Northern Lights are gearing up for two last brawls inside the Armory Gymnasium.

Northern (8-8, 16-12) is back home to close out the regular season against No. 13 Lewis-Clark State tonight and Montana Western Saturday night. And both games will be huge for the Lights, who still have a chance to finish in the top four of the Frontier, which would earn them a home game in next week's league playoffs. It's also a big weekend for the Lights because Saturday is senior night, and the Lights have a couple of special ones in Justin Dunsmore and Caulin Bakalarski. Dunsmore has been at Northern four years, and Bakalarski for two, and both have been key cogs at MSU-N, both on and off the floor.

"I cannot say enough good things about the leadership these two have provided over the years," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "Both of them have hit huge shots this season and have really shown how badly they want to extend their final year of college basketball. They have demonstrated a great deal of growth and maturity over their time here and have extremely bright futures ahead of them."

Before Dunsmore and Bakalarski move on with their respective futures, they want to help the Lights finish this season on a high note, and that starts this weekend.

Northern will be looking to bounce back from tough losses at Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College last weekend, and to do that the Lights will look to their balanced offense, which has six players scoring in double figures, including their two seniors. Mascio McCadney leads the way at 14 ppg for Northern, while Adam Huse, Devin Bray and Kavon Bey also average double digits for the Lights.

Of course, LC State will make a strong case to challenge Northern tonight, however. The Warriors (11-5, 22-6) and Lights have split their first two meetings this season, each winning on their own home floor, so tonight's game is the rubber match. LCSC, led by double-digit scorers Dana Abe, Damek Mitchell, Cory Dollarhide and Race Martin, also come to Havre tonight on fire. The Warriors have won six straight, and over that stretch, have been averaging over 90 ppg.

"This group is playing at a high level right now," coach Huse said. "We need to be ready for their offensive attack as they can put points on the board in a hurry ... and their speed and aggression on defense can cause a great deal of problems, as well. Our execution and efficiency will need to be on point for sure, when the ball gets tipped till the final buzzer sounds."

After tonight's game, the Lights will turn their attention to Western (3-13, 9-18), another team MSU-N split with this season. The Lights were upset by the Bulldogs in early January in Havre, but got revenge in Dillon two weeks later. Of course, Northern will be pumped up to play the Bulldogs on senior night, and Western, led by Kooper Kidgel and Cedric Boone's combined 31 ppg, has had its share of struggles this year. But Huse knows his team won't take the Bulldogs ligthly, especially when Saturday night's game could make the difference between the Lights playing at home, or on the road in the playoffs next week.

"Say what you want, this Western team has had big wins this year, including one at our place the first time we played," Huse said. "We know they are just as capable as any team in this league. We need to be locked in on both ends to have success against what they bring on both ends of the floor."

Saturday night's senior night game between the Lights and Bulldogs gets underway at 8 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium. Tonight's game between Northern and LC State also tips at 8.

Lights (8-8, 16-12) vs #13 LC State (11-5, 22-6) tonight at 8 p.m.; vs Western (3-13, 9-18) Saturday at 8 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Twitter: HavreDaily

Lights Projected Starters

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

G Adam Huse, 6-1, Jr., 12 ppg

G Mascio McCadney, 6-3, So., 14 ppg

F Justin Dunsmore, 6-6, Sr. 13 ppg

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