Monday, Oct. 30

Lights come up short against Brandon and Regina

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Dropping two games on the season-opening weekend wasn’t the start that veteran Montana State University-Northern head men’s basketball coach Shawn Huse envisioned.

But Huse knows that his Lights are embarking on one of the toughest nonconference schedules in his tenure at MSU-N, and despite losing games to Brandon University and the University of Regina this weekend at the Coaches vs Cancer Classic in Havre, he believes the Lights will benefit in the long run.

“This was a big learning weekend for us,” Huse said. “You never like to lose, you never like to lose at home and you never want to get off to the kind of start that we did this weekend, and we did all three of those things.

“The end results this weekend are not what we wanted and we’re not happy about that right now,” he added. “But I am really proud of this team for fighting to the bitter end both nights. They never quit. And we will get better.”

On Friday night, the Lights opened their 2006-2007 campaign against what turned out to be a very good Brandon University team.

The Bobcats, from Manitoba, Canada, stormed out of the gates to take a 16-7 lead early against MSU-N. But the talented Lights showed their resolve and got on a run behind the play of junior Cory Brothers, who drove to the basket time and time again in the first half, helping guide the Lights on a run that got them within one point at 32-31. Then, with just over five minutes remaining in the half, Brothers jammed home a baseline dunk that put the Lights up 33-32, and Northern sustained that lead into halftime, leading the Bobcats, 43-41.

In the second half, the Bobcats again started off hot, ripping off a pair of 7-0 runs that eventually led to a 10-point lead with eight minutes left in the game. MSU-N’s offense went ice cold for most of the half, but the Lights did find a way to make one more push.

Down seven points, junior Delvaughn Tinned nailed a 3-pointer that pulled the Lights closer, and Ronnie Simpson made two straight shots to get MSU-N within one point at 70-69. But the Bobcats would have no more, and Brandon ripped off six unanswered points in three trips, and all but ended Northern’s come back bid.

“We had a good chance to get the lead back right there when we were only down one,” Huse said. “But we just didn’t make a shot when we really needed it.

“Brandon is a very good team,” he added. “They are 7-0 now and they really kind of shut us down in the second half. But playing them will make us better down the road. That is what these early games are for. We want to be a good team when we get to our conference schedule.”

Simpson paced the Lights on Friday night with 17 points and Brothers chipped in with 13 points. Tinned was solid in his Lights debut, scoring 12 points, all coming on threes. Erv Simms led the Lights on the boards with eight rebounds.

On Saturday night against Regina, the Lights appeared poised to bounce back from their loss to Brandon.

Despite another slow start, the Lights got going via a 12-0 run that put them ahead 29-19. Northern used a spark inside from Simms, and some fine 3-point shooting from Drew Pettersen, Brian Erickson and Andrew Sellars to grab the lead. And by halftime, the Lights led 46-36.

But the second half belonged to Regina. The Cougars went on a 14-0 run, mostly on seemingly easy layups and some open 3-pointers, to lead 68-58 with seven minutes left in the game.

The Lights again fought back, this time behind the outside shooting of Tinned, who made several threes down the stretch. Tinned also hit a critical jumper with one minute remaining that tied the game at 77-77. But Northern couldn’t get the defensive stop it desperately needed on the other end, and the Cougars went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 30 seconds to squeak out an 81-77 victory and leave MSU-N at 0-2 on the young season.

“Both teams we played this weekend seemed to get hot in the second half and we kind of went cold,” Huse said. “That was kind of the story. We just didn’t shoot the ball well enough in the second half.

“But again, these were good openers for us,” he added. “We don’t really have any soft games on our schedule and that is going to make us better. This is a good group of guys and I really like this team. It is just going to take a little time for it all to come together.”

Tinned led MSU-N on Saturday night with 20 points, including a three-for-five performance from beyond the arc. Pettersen scored 13 points and Simms added 10 points and five boards.

The Lights will be back in action on Friday night when they host Dickinson State University. MSU-N will also host Minot State on Saturday night.

Bobcats 82, Lights 72

BU — Yuri Whyms 3-5 0-0 6, David Yul Michel 1-3 5-9 7, Chad Jacobson 4-8 2-2 13, Dany Charlery 6-12 2-4 15, Adam Hartman 6-11 5-6 19, Taylor Cherris-Wilding 4-5 2-2 14, Nathan Grant 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Schmidt-Watt 0-0 1-2 1, Jon Thomson 3-3 1-1 7. Totals: 27-48 18-26 82.

MSU-N — Cody Gillespie 1-6 1-2 3, Ronnie Simpson 7-17 2-3 17, Drew Petterson 3-6 1-2 7, Cory Brothers 6-14 1-2 13, Brian Erickson 2-3 0-0 4, Leo Bullchild 1-5 0-0 3, Delvaughn Tinned 4-12 1-2 12, Durwin Williams 3-11 1-2 7, Erv Simms 3-4 0-1 6. Totals: 30-78 7-14 72.

Halftime: MSU-N 43-41. 3-pointers: BU 10-16 (Michel 0-1, Jacobson 3-5, Charlery 1-2, Hartman 2-3, Cherris-Wilding 4-5), MSU-N 5-22 (Gillespie 0-2, Simpson 1-5, Brothers 0-2, Bullchild 1-5, Tinned 3-6, Williams 0-2). Rebounds: BU 34 (two tied with 5), MSU-N 44 (Sims 8); Fouls: BU 18, MSU-N 22. Fouled out: Whyms, Hartman.

Cougars 81, Lights 77

RU — Bradley Fekula 1-4 4-4 6, Sarain Soonias 7-12, 2-2 16, Jamal Williams 8-11 5-7 22, Paul Schubach 2-4 3-4 8, Drew Kuzminski 6-10 2-5 14, Jeffrey Lukomski 4-9 0-0 11, Kris Heshka 0-2 2-4 2, Adam Huffman 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 28-54 20-32 81.

MSU-N — Cody Gillespie 1-2 0-0 3, Ronnie Simpson 1-9 0-0 2, Drew Pettersen 2-9 8-8 13, Cory Brothers 2-8 3-4 8, Brian Erickson 3-4 2-4 9, Delvaughn Tinned 6-9 5-5 20, Durwin Williams 1-4 3-3 5, Andrew Sellars 1-2 0-0 3, Erv Simms 5-7 0-2 10, Kyle Stone 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 24-59 21-26 77.

Halftime: MSU-N 46-36. 3-pointers: RU 5-12 (Williams 1, Schubach 1, Lukomski 3), MSU-N 8-23 (Gillespie 1, Pettersen 1, Brothers 1, Tinned 3, Sellars 1). Rebounds: RU 38 (Kuzminski 12), MSU-N 32 (Simms 5). Fouls: RU 24, MSU-N 25. Fouled out: Soonias, Schubach, Simms.