Lights drop three games on North Dakota road swing

Lights drop three games on North Dakota road swing
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com

Nothing against the state of North Dakota, but Shawn Huse and the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team are in no hurry to go back to the Peace Garden State.

Plagued by offensive and shooting woes, the Lights dropped three games in five days against teams from the DAC-10 conference.
Northern opened the road trip with a heartbreaking 70-63 loss to the Valley City State Vikings in Valley City on Friday.

The Lights took a 33-31 lead at halftime, but couldn't hold off a pesky Viking squad that moved to 4-0 on the season with the win.

Tyrone Terry scored 19 points and Brandon Bata added 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Northern was led by Jordan Matthews' 23 points and six rebounds. Antonio Jordan added nine points and four assists.

On Saturday, Northern fell to the University of Mary Marauders 76-63 in Bismarck.

Northern shot an icy 37 percent from the field and was outrebounded 35-24 in the loss.

Mary had four players in double figures, led by Delmar Clown's 12 points. Glendive native Alex Aldinger added 11 points, while Josh Cadwallader and Joey Steiner had 10 each.

The Lights also had four players in double figures with Rodrick Carter grabbing team-high honors with 11 points. Jordan, Marcus Wilson and Cory Brothers all added 10 points each in the loss.

After taking Sunday off, Northern suffered its second loss of the season to the Minot State Beavers on Monday night in Minot.

Minot jumped out to a 36-29 first half lead thanks to 65 percent shooting from the field. The Lights hurt themselves with 24 turnovers and 29 percent shooting from three-point range.

Minot was led by Courtney Haley's 19 points, while center Jeremy Feller added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Charles Rourke added 10 points and six assists for the Beavers.

Wilson led four players in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds. Carter and Reid Stovall added 12 points, while Matthews chipped in with 10.

With the three losses, the Lights fall 3-5 on the season. Northern will return to action on Nov. 26-27 at the Rocky Mountain Invitational basketball tournament.