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News you can use
MSU-Northern's Jesse Keltner, left, plays defense during Saturday's Frontier Conference men's game at Montana Western in Dillon. The Lights beat the Bulldogs in a tight game 68-65, with Keltner leading the way. The Northern women fell to Western Saturday as well. The Lights and Skylights start a four-game home stand Thursday night against Montana Tech.
The Montana State University-Northern Lights already had one hard-fought victory in tow this week. On Saturday afternoon, they made it two-for-two.
Northern's return to frontier Conference play continued in Dillon with a 68-65 win over the Montana Western Bulldogs. The victory improved the Lights to 4-1 in the Frontier, and had head coach Shawn Huse raving about his squad afterward.
"I cannot say enough great things about our guys once again," Huse said. "Western is a tough team. That was a tight battle from tip to finish. We executed well, and David (Harris) took and made a big time pressure shot in the end. Then they did not have much time left, and our defense, led by Jesse (Keltner) tonight once again, held."
Harris did knock down the game-winner, and subsequent free throw with eight ticks left, while the Northern defense forced a missed 3-pointer by Max Clark to end things. The finish was part of a close affair that saw the Lights cling to just a three-point lead at intermission, while shooting 47 percent from the field and making 8-of-19 threes.
Mascio McCadney led four Lights in double figures with 19 points, while Keltner had a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards. Harris scored 12 and Tanner McCliment-Call added 11 points and three triples off the bench.
The win was a big one of the Lights because it kept them close to atop the Frontier as they head home for four straight games in the Armory Gymnasium.
"That was the type of gutsy win that great teams get," Huse said. "I am extremely proud of the group as everyone made a play when needed, even if they were not playing their best game. We have a lot of season left to prove we are a great team in the end, but I definitely like the direction we are going so far. I just feel like we still have a lot of room for improvement, and maybe that is the even-better news for us."
The Lights will host Montana Tech Thursday night and Carroll College Saturday afternoon.
Western 69, Skylights 41
At nowhere near full strength, and coming off a tough loss at Rocky Mountain College last Thursday, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights were unable to turn things around Saturday in Dillon.
Visiting No. 21 Montana Western, the Skylights fell behind early and couldn't come back in a 69-41 loss to the Bulldogs. Western jumped out to a 19-11 lead in the first, then tacked on another 19 points to build a commanding 38-19 halftime edge. Defensively, the Dawgs also clamped down as they held Northern to just 14 points in the second and third quarters combined.
For the game, the Skylights would shoot just 24 percent from the field, while they did make five 3-pointers. Peyton Kehr paced Northern with 15 points and two triples, while Sydney Hovde added nine points and 11 rebounds.
On the other end of the floor, Western shot 42 percent and dominated the boards 47-37. Jenni Weber would lead a balanced Bulldog attack with 14 points, as Western improved to 3-2 in the Frontier and 12-4 overall.
Meanwhile, the Skylights fell to 0-5 in league play as they head home for four straight games. Northern will host Montana Tech Thursday night and Carroll College Saturday afternoon.
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