Senior Night Delivery

Heading into Saturday night's game against Montana Western, the Montana State University-Northern Lights didn't know if they would have another home game or not.

However, on a night when the Lights were honoring seniors Caulin Bakalarski and Justin Dunsmore, it was fitting that those two players, more than any others, were responsible for leading the Lights to a dramatic 75-72 win over the Bulldogs Saturday inside the Armory Gymnasium.

And to at least one more home game.

"I am extremely proud of our guys," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "And I am extremely proud of our seniors."

Friday night, Northern had a chance to knock off Lewis-Clark State, with the scored tied and just more than a minute left. Yet, the Lights couldn't seal the deal as they couldn't make enough shots down the stretch.

As it turned out, one day made all the difference.

Saturday night, Bakalarski, who hit a game-winning shot earlier in the season against the University of Providence, showed once again that he has ice running through his veins as he attempted and made a 3-pointer with Northern trailing by two with just nine seconds left. When the ball swished through the net, sending the Armory into a frenzy, the Lights went up 73-72.

"We had a scramble at the end," Bakalarski said. "We ran a quick play and I got the ball at the top of the key and was able to hit the three. It's a shot I have been taking all year. It felt good."

Western inbounded the ball immediately after the make and tried to advance the ball up the floor, however, the Bulldogs lost control and a scrum ensued. Northern ended up with possession and Bakalarski, who finished with 30 points, hit two free throws to push the lead to three with 1.7 seconds remaining.

Having to go the length of the floor, the Bulldogs were actually able to complete a baseball pass and then another quick pass to get the ball into the hands of Cedric Boone, who already hit three times from deep. Yet his last attempt clanked off the iron, preserving the win for the Lights.

"I am just glad," Bakalarski added of the win. "We couldn't have done it without every single one of these guys and it was a good way to go out if that was our last game."

Bakalarski made that statement right after the game, not knowing if the Lights would finish fourth or fifth in the final Frontier Conference standings. But thanks to a loss by Providence Saturday, Northern (17-13, 9-9) will host UP Wednesday at the Armory in the quarterfinals of the Frontier playoffs.

For a while, though, it looked like Northern was going to suffer a different fate Saturday, which would have sent them on the road for the postseason.

Northern came out firing in the first half and thanks to 11 points from Bakalarski, including a pair of treys, MSU-N, which shot 53 percent as a team in the first 20 minutes, led the Bulldogs 38-34. At the start of the second half, though, everything changed when the Bulldogs scored the first 11 points of the half to give them a 45-38 lead.

Following a time out by Huse, the Lights responded with a 7-0 run and reclaimed the lead on a runner by Dunsmore, making it 47-45 with 13:49 left in the game. But the Bulldogs answered with three 3-pointers in a matter of minutes as Troy Scott hit one followed by back-to-back hits from Derrek Durocher. That finished off a 16-3 run that put Western in front 61-51 with 10:15 to go.

Needing a spark, Northern turned to Bakalarski, who went off on a 7-0 run that included two free throws, a floater and 3-pointer. Western stemmed the tide momentarily with a hoop but a 3-point play by Kavon Bey cut the lead to two. A couple of minutes later, the Lights finally broke through and went ahead 68-67 thanks to a clutch three by Dunsmore with 2:38 remaining on the clock.

"That was a huge shot by J.D. (Dunsmore) there," Huse said. "We really needed something right then and he was able to step up and hit it. I am just so proud of the way those two seniors stepped up and played tonight. But that one was really big."

That set up a dual in the final minutes between Boone and Bakalarski. First, Boone hit a long two to put the Bulldogs back up, then Bakalarski answered on the other end, drilling a shot, while he was falling down at the top of the key.

"He's as cool as the other side of the pillow," Huse said. "He made some really big shots out there. I just can't say enough good things about him."

Yet, Boone gave the Bulldogs the lead back after he connected on a three at the other end. Following misses by both teams, the Lights got the ball back with around 20 seconds left and pushed the ball down the floor but missed a shot. Yet, Bey was able to corral the offensive board before the ball eventually worked its way into the hands of Bakalarski who drilled the game-winner.

"That was a really big offensive board by Kavon," Huse said. "He was another guy that stepped up and made some big plays down the stretch."

When it was all said and done, Bakalarski led both teams with 30 points and was a scintillating 10-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range, as well as 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Bey contributed with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 boards, while Dunsmore also had 12 points and five assists. Kooper Kidgell led Western with 20 and Boone finished with 14.

"That was amazing," Dunsmore said. "I love each and every one of these guys and it's just a great feeling for Caulin and me with our last regular season game here. Caulin was huge all night - 30 points - he did everything for us. He was our spark when we needed it."

Lights fall short in a second

upset bid of LC State

Back in January, the Montana State University-Northern Lights re-booted Frontier Conference play with a thrilling win over Lewis-Clark State inside the Armory Gymnasium. Friday night, Northern couldn't quite recapture the magic.

Despite building a big first-half lead, the Lights dropped a critical home game to the No. 13 Warriors, 73-67. The loss gave the Warriors a 2-1 edge over the Lights on the season, and also kept them in the hunt for the Frontier regular season title, which they ended up sharing with Carroll College. On the other hand, it was a disappointing one for Northern, which played great defense throughout the night, and got off to such a hot start offensively.

"Credit to LC," Huse said. "They are a very fast, physical team and they make you play fast and make you have to make fast decisions, and down the stretch tonight, we didn't make enough good decisions."

The Lights were, however, plenty good at the outset.

After the Warriors started with a 7-4 lead, Northern got red-hot, as Devin Bray, Bakalarski and Mascio McCadney all hit 3-pointers in a four-minute span, and McCadney's triple would cap a 16-0 Northern run. McCadney would add another three late in the half, but the Warriors closed the gap to 38-35 at the break.

From there, the game would seesaw back and forth. Bakalarski twice hit treys to give the Lights the lead early in the second half, but LC answered. Adam Huse hit a big three of his own to give the Lights the lead back with seven minutes left, and Bray did the same with five to play. Northern was still in good shape at the 1:29 mark as Huse tied the game with a driving layup, but from there, LC got a big bucket from Abe, and key free throws by Damek Mitchell, while the Lights didn't record a field goal the rest of the way.

"It's tough because we played another really good first half," coach Huse said. "And overall, I thought we were really good defensively. To hold a really good offensive team (LC) to 73 points, that's a great job by our guys. And that's why it's disappointing because, in the end, we just didn't convert enough on the offensive end when we really needed to.

The Lights were stout defensively, but LC, in turn, was efficient, shooting 47 percent from the field. Defensively, the Warriors also forced the Lights into 14 turnovers, while Northern shot 42 percent and got 15 points from Bakalarski, 12 by McCadney and 11 from Huse.

Northern will get another home game Wednesday night as the Lights will try to keep their season alive against Providence in the Frontier playoffs.

Lights finish 9-9 in Frontier, 17-13 overall; Next Up: Vs Argos Wednesday

LC State 73, Lights 67

LCSC - Trystan Bradley 6-6 4-5 16, Derrick White 7-11 0-0 14, Cordel Hankerson 2-7 2-2 6, Damek Mitchell 2-10 5-6 10, Dana Abe 6-11 3-4 15, Andre McCowan 2-5 0-0 4, David Shedrick 1-2 0-0 2, Race Martin 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 28-60 15-19.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 2-11 1-2 5, Cedric Crutchfield 4-5 0-0 8, Adam Huse 4-6 2-3 11, Mascio McCadney 4-13 2-4 12, Devin Bray 3-6 1-2 9, Caulin Bakalarski 5-11 2-2 15, Kavon Bey 3-7 1-2 7, Joe Fons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-60 9-15.

Halftime: Northern 38-35. 3-pointers: LCSC 2-9 (Mitchell 1, Martin 1), MSU-N 8-24 (Huse 1, McCadney 2, Bray 2, Bakalarski 3). Rebounds: LCSC 27 (Abe 6), MSU-N 33 (McCadney 7). Fouls: LCSC 14, MSU-N 15. Fouled out: None.

Lights 75, Western 72

UMW - Cedric Boone 5-17 1-2 14, Tanner Haverfield 3-3 0-0 9, Troy Scott 4-8 0-0 9,Kooper Kidgell 8-14 3-5 22, Derrek Durocher 3-6 0-0 8, Carter Kearns 0-2 0-0 0, Connor Burkhart 4-5 0-0 8. Totals: 28-57 4-7 72.

MSU-N - Justin Dunsmore 5-9 0-0 12, Cedric Crutchfield 4-7 0-0 8, Mascio McCadney 0-0 6, Adam Huse 1-5 0-0 2, Devin Bray 1-5 0-0 3, Caulin Bakalarski 10-13 5-5 30, Kavon Bey 5-7 4-4 14. James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Jons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 29-57 9-9 75.

3-Pointers: UMW 12-26 (Boone 3, Haverfield 3, Scott 1, Durocher 2, Kidgell 3); MSU-N 8-16 (Bakalarski 5, Dunsmore 2, Bray 1). Rebounds: UMW 26 (Scott 5); MSU-N 28 (Bey 12). Fouls: Western 16, MSU-N 8. Fouled out -- none.

Final Frontier Conference Standings

All Conf.

W-L W-L

Carroll College 24-6 13-5

LC State 24-6 13-5

Rocky Mountain College 19-11 10-8

MSU-Northern 17-13 9-9

Providence 18-11 9-9

Montana Tech 16-14 6-12

Western 9-20 3-15

Frontier Playoffs

Wednesday, Feb. 27

#1 Carroll Bye

#7 Montana Western at #2 LC State

#6 Montana Tech at #3 Rocky

#5 Providence at #4 MSU-Northern