Lights show resiliency, knock off No. 9
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
The best word Montana State University-Northern men's basketball coach
After dropping a frustrating 64-54 decision to
Northern looked poised to put the game away against LC, leading 57-52 with a
minute remaining and in possession of the ball. However, a ghost came back to
haunt the Lights - missed free throws. Northern's Tim
Hutchins missed a pair, then Reid Stovall tracked the
ball down and was fouled by LC's Martin Brothers.
Stovall made one of two to push the lead to 58-52.
The Warriors cut the lead to four as Danny Allen scored on a tough shot and was
fouled. He missed the subsequent free throw, but teammate James Idoko grabbed the rebound and put it back in to cut the
lead to 58-56.
LC promptly fouled Northern's Leo Bullchild
on the ensuing possession. Bullchild, who had
attempted just 10 free throws coming into the game, missed badly on both
attempts, allowing the Warriors one last possession to either win or tie the
game with 15.7 seconds remaining.
Warrior head coach George Pfeiffer called for a sideline play for Brothers. But
it really never materialized as Allen's entry pass to him was tipped and a mad
scramble for the loose ball ensued. Northern's Marcus
Wilson recovered the ball with .2 seconds remaining, securing the win.
"You always preach that defense wins
games," Huse said. "But that last possession proved it. It was just
all five guys hustling and scrapping and fighting for a win."
But Northern played defense for more than just the last possession. The Lights
were relentless, forcing LC into 17 turnovers in the game, including seven
charges, and holding them to 56 points, 17 below their scoring average.
"I didn't think we were very good offensively, especially in the first
half," Pfeiffer said. "That had a lot to do with Northern and the
pressure they were putting on the ball."
The Lights came out focused, taking a 12-10 lead on a Stovall putback of his own miss. From
there, the Lights would never trail, keeping a four- to eight-point cushion the
rest of the way.
"I was impressed with how our team bounced back," Huse said. "We
showed some resiliency after three tough losses; we found a way to keep
fighting."
Jordan Matthews led Northern with 15 points, while
"Antonio has taken close to 20 charges already this season," Huse
said. "I've never been around a player that has done that. He just steps
in, gets absolutely level and jumps back up and does it again. It's a big boost
emotionally and really gets the team going."
Lewis-Clark was led by Allen and Idoko with 12 points
each. The Warriors were without starting shooting guard Joey Ray, who missed
the team bus for the trip.
Huse admitted that the free-throw shooting down the stretch would be addressed,
but he was more concerned with what the win will do for his team's confidence.
"I really believe that the loss to Western at home really kind of has been
on the kids' back the last few weeks," he said. "Getting this win
gives them confidence to know that they can win big games in this league. We
feel like we can compete with anybody in the league on our home floor,
especially with the support we've been getting."
Saturday's win was even more important, considering the way the Lights played
on Friday in the loss to
It wasn't that the Lights played poorly, they just
didn't play to the level needed to knock off the disciplined and patient attack
of the Westminster Griffins.
Northern led just once, at 4-3 about two minutes into the game.
"I think it's tough for most teams to play them," Huse said.
"They have very smart players who are disciplined and know how to run
their sets."
As good as the Lights were defensively, the Griffins seemed to be one step
ahead with a myriad of back-door cuts for layups and
uncontested 3-point shots.
"They are very hard to prepare for because there is no way to simulate
their offense in practice as well as they run it in games," Huse said.
"We take the approach that we're the underdogs every time we step on the
court," said
The Lights remained within in striking distance for most of the game, even
cutting the lead to 41-37 with 12 minutes remaining on back-to-back buckets
from
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy coming in here and getting a
win," Connor said. "It never is. Northern plays extremely hard and
really pressures the basketball. They are going to beat some teams on this
floor."
Huse was pleased with his team's defensive effort considering
"With how much time they take off the shot clock and the limited number of
possessions, committing 16 turnovers is like committing 32 against another
team," Huse said. "They're very tough to play from behind against. A
five-point deficit feels more like a 10 because of their offense."
Ruiz led all scorers with 18 points. Danny Reeder came off the bench to score
11 points, and Matt Mark added 10 for
Matthews led the Lights with 17 points, while
"Defensively, I think we're a strong team and our offense is coming
along," Huse said. "It seems like we've had a lot to hang our heads
about, but we haven't. We just keep fighting and scrapping."
Northern will return to action on Saturday when it hosts
WESTMINSTER 64, MSU-NORTHERN 54
WESTMINSTER (13-7, 3-1)
Nick Booth 2-4 1-3 5; Matt Mark 4-7 2-2 10; Steve Cramer 1-2 0-0 3; Jared Ruiz
8-13 0-0 18; Shane Humphreys 0-6 5-6 5; Robby Holcombe 1-1 0-0 3; Danny Reeder
5-8 0-0 11; Ryan Olson 1-3 1-2 4; Nick Buroker 2-3
0-0 5. Totals: 24-47 9-13 64.
MSU-NORTHERN (10-9, 1-4)
Reid Stovall 2-5 3-4 7; Marcus Wilson 5-9 0-0 10; Jordan Matthews 5-11 2-2 17;
Landen Grant 1-2 0-0 2; Leo Bullchild 2-3 0-0 5; Cory
Brothers 0-3 0-0 0; Antonio Jordan 2-5 0-0 5; Cody Gillespie 1-2 0-0 2; Ed Lowe
0-1 0-0 0; Tim Hutchins 0-1 0-0 0; Dan Brigham 2-3 2-2 6. Totals: 20-45 7-8 54.
Halftime score: WC 31, MSU-N 23. Three-point goals: WC 7-16 (Cramer 1-1, Ruiz
2-3, Humphreys 0-5, Holcombe 1-1, Reeder 1-1, Olson 1-3, Buroker
1-2), MSU-N 7-17 (Jordan Matthews 5-7, Bullchild 1-2,
Brothers 0-3, Jordan 1-4, Lowe 0-1). Rebounds: WC 27 (Mark 6, Booth 5); MSU-N
25 (
MSU-NORTHERN 58, LEWIS-CLARK ST. 56
LEWIS-CLARK ST. (16-5, 4-1)
John Moore 4-9 0-0 8; James Idoko 4-5 4-5 12; Martin Brothers 4-5 1-3 9; Danny Allen 5-11 0-1 12;
Spencer Bishop 0-4 2-2 2; Skyler Wilson 2-4 0-0 5;
Chris Pitts 1-2 0-0 2; Jared Tikker 3-5 0-0 6.
Totals: 23-45 7-11 56.
MSU-NORTHERN (11-9, 2-4)
Reid Stovall 3-8 1-2 7; Marcus Wilson 5-9 0-0 10; Jordan Matthews 5-11 2-3 15;
Landen Grant 2-6 0-0 6; Leo Bullchild 4-7 0-2 8; Cory
Brothers 1-6 0-2 4; Antonio Jordan 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Hutchins 0-0 2-4 2; Dan
Brigham 3-4 0-0 6. Totals: 23-52 6-13 58.
Halftime score: MSU-N 28, LCSC 23. Three-point goals: LCSC 3-9 (Allen 2-7,
Bishop 0-1, Wilson 1-1), MSU-N 6-17 (Matthews 3-6, Grant 2-4, Bullchild 0-1, Brothers 0-1, Jordan 0-1). Rebounds: LCSC 30
(Idoko 8, Brothers 8); MSU-N 29 (Brigham 7, Stovall
6) Assists: LCSC 5 (Allen 2, Bishop 2); MSU-N 15 (Bullchild
5). Turnovers: LCSC 17, MSU-N 11. Total fouls: LCSC 15, MSU-N 13. Fouled out:
none; Technicals: none.