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Morinia carries Lights to victory
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
It's kind of like that old trash-talking line. Larry Morinia's back was
hurting after the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team
knocked off Carroll College 81-73 at the Carroll College P.E. Center because
down the stretch he flat carried Northern to the win.
Morinia scored 12 straight points in the final three minutes of the game to
lead the Lights to their fourth-straight conference win, while Carroll
College dropped its third-straight conference game.
"We got a little bit of a lead and Larry basically took over," said
Northern head coach Shawn Huse. "He did anything and everything to make
sure we kept that lead. He put the team on his shoulders and said, 'jump on
boys because I'll take us home.'"
Northern took a two-point lead at the eight-minute mark on four straight
points from Dustin Sawejka. It was a lead the Lights would never relinquish
as Trenton Harbaugh answered Carroll baskets with two tough baskets himself.
With Northern clinging to a65-61 lead, it was time for Morinia to take over.
The conference's leading scorer scored the next 12 points on a variety of
drives to the baskets, a pair of three-pointers and perfect free-throw
shooting.
It was the last of many Northern rallies throughout the game. The Lights
trailed on several different occasions in the game and each time fought back
to take the lead.
Morinia finished with a game-high 30 points,
including 7-7 shooting from the free-throw line. Sawejka came off the bench
to score 14 points and dish out five assists. Lamar Morinia and Reid Stovall
added 11 points each in the win.
Carroll, which fell to 4-7 in conference, was led by Chris Bond's 22 points
while Chris Beery added 14 in the loss.
"We are starting to have that confidence of knowing we can come back and
win on the road," Huse said. "It helps us to know that we have a
shot against anybody."
Northern will have to take that confidence to Billings on Saturday when it
takes on Rocky Mountain College.
The Bears are coming off a 73-55 win over the University of Great Falls and
have an 8-3 record in the Frontier Conference.
"We still have some business to take care of," Huse said. "Our
job is half done. We're going to enjoy this win a little tonight and get up
tomorrow and start preparing for Rocky."
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