Lights end season with gritty wins

Monday, Feb. 26

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Don’t look now, but the Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team is red-hot entering this weekend’s Frontier Conference Tournament in Butte.

Thanks to a gritty and hard-fought sweep of UM-Western and Montana Tech this past weekend in Havre, MSU-N has won three straight games to close out the regular season. And the sweep of the Bulldogs and Orediggers gave the Lights a tie for third place in the conference standings.

On Friday night, Northern had to gut out a 76-70 win over UM-Western to get its weekend started. The game was a battle with Western fighting all the way to the end, despite its 1-11 record in conference play.

“Hats off to coach (Mark) Durham and Western,” MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. “With all they have been through this season, it would be easy for them to throw in the towel and get ready for spring break. But they’ve done just the opposite. They played us right down to the final buzzer and it was one of those games where we were just happy to win, whether it was by one or by 31 points. They are that good and it was that tough of a game.”

Indeed, the Lights had to close the first half of Friday’s game on an 8-0 run in order to lead 36-33 at halftime. Western had gone ahead 33-28 after Ty Palmer connected on a 3-pointer with 2:19 left in the half. But Northern’s Drew Pettersen nailed a triple of his own and Erv Sims tipped in his own miss to tie the game at 33-33 before Delvaughn Tinned hit one of his three treys at the buzzer to give the Lights the halftime edge.

Tinned, who kept shooting despite struggling from deep, led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, and was a difference-maker for MSU-N in the second half. The junior guard hit a three at the 5:00 mark of the game to put the Lights up 64-58 and then made 7-of-8 foul shots in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

The game was one in which Northern got a big boost from its two leading scorers, Tinned and Ronnie Simpson. Simpson complemented Tinned’s night with 15 points and six rebounds. He also connected on three long-range bombs. Pettersen added 13 points.

“Delvaughn didn’t shoot at as high a percentage as he normally does,” Huse said. “But he kept firing and that’s what we need him to do. He kept a scorer’s mentality in the second half and his shooting down the stretch was key. And Ronnie has just become one of the guys that we look to close out games for us, and he always finds ways to do that. Both those guys were big in the second half for us.”

Northern also did a solid job of defending a hot-shooting Western team late in the second half. The Bulldogs did get 21 points from Palmer, the league’s second-leading scorer, as well as 17 points from Alex Head. But Palmer was quiet in the second half and for the game, he connected on just 8-of-22 shots. Western did get a solid outing from freshman Gus McDonald, who scored 14 points, including four threes.

“I think we just played really hard,” Simpson said. “As a team we played hard on both ends of the floor. We know we are a good offensive team and we also played really hard on defense. When we get a good mix of playing well on both ends, we’re pretty tough to stop.”

Simpson and the Lights continued that hard-nosed play on Saturday night, avenging an earlier loss to Montana Tech by beating the Orediggers 75-66.

Before the game, MSU-N honored seniors Brian Erickson, Durwin Williams, Leo Bullchild, Marcus Wilson and Simpson. And from the opening tip, it was those seniors who seemed determined to carry the Lights to victory.

Williams and Wilson scored nine combined points early. But no one could offset the start that Tech’s Tony Trudnowski got off to, as he drilled four threes in the first half, including three straight. Trudnowski’s run gave the Orediggers a slim, 32-30 halftime lead.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Huse said. “Tech really tests your patience on both ends of the floor. And the game was very similar to the first time we played them.

“I think what turned it around for us was just the effort and the hustle plays we got in the second half. Durwin was all over the place and we had guys diving all over the floor. Eventually, getting those rebounds and loose balls payed off for us and that effort was key for us tonight. And I’m extremely proud of all of our guys for giving that effort.”

The outcome of Saturday night’s game was still in doubt midway through the second half. But Simpson, Erickson and Williams made sure the Lights wouldn’t let another game against former MSU-N assistant Nate Larson get away.

Erickson made crucial free throws late in the game as did Williams. Williams also came up with two big offensive rebounds, which eventually led to second-chance points for MSU-N. And Simpson hit the shot of the game when he buried a 3-pointer with 4:00 left on the clock which put the Lights ahead 61-55.

“I think Ronnie’s shot and Durwin’s rebounds and hustle plays kind of took the wind out of their sails a little,” Huse said. “And they also gave us the momentum we needed to close the game out. And I was really pleased with how we finished. We had guys do all the things we needed to do to win, including making free throws at the end of the game.

“I am just really proud of this team,” he added. “Both games were really tough, grind-it-out types of games. And when you do the things that it takes to win those, it’s a great accomplishment and a testament to how hard this team works, and as a coach you really appreciate that,”

Williams finished the game against Tech with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Simpson added 15 points. Erickson scored 12 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the charity stripe.

Tech got a game-high 22 points from Trudnowski, and Sam Conley added 14 points in the loss.

With the sweep, MSU-N finished the regular season at 9-5 in league play which was good enough to tie Carroll for third. The Saints broke the tie-breaker with MSU-N meaning the Lights (19-10) will be the No. 4 seed at the conference tournament.

MSU-N will play No. 5 seed Rocky Mountain College (7-7, 17-13) in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Butte.

Lights 76, Bulldogs 70

UMW — Wes Morales 0-5 1-2 1, Kellen Ori 2-6 0-0 5, Alex Head 7-7 3-5 17, Zach Pitts 1-3 0-0 3, Tyler Palmer 8-22 0-0 21, Gus McDonald 6-10 0-0 14, Chad Myers 2-5 0-0 5, Aaron Sims 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 27-61 6-9 70.

MSU-N — Ronnie Simpson 5-8 2-4 15, Erv Sims 1-4 2-2 4, Drew Pettersen 5-7 2-2 13, Brian Erickson 2-5 0-1 4, Leo Bullchild 1-1 0-0 2, Delvaughn Tinned 8-21 6-7 25, Durwin Williams 1-3 1-2 3, Andrew Sellars 2-4 2-2 6, Marcus Wilson 0-4 0-0 0, Cody Gillespie 1-2 1-2 4. Totals: 26-59 16-22 76.

Halftime: MSU-N 36-33. Three-pointers: UMW 10-28 (Morales 0-1, Ori 1-3, Pitts 1-2, Palmer 5-13, McDonald 2-5, Myers 1-4), MSU-N 8-20 (Simpson 3-4, Petterson 1-2, Tinned 3-10, Sellars 0-2, Gillespie 1-2). Rebounds: UMW 34 (McDonald 7), MSU-N 36 (Simpson 6). Fouls: UMW 13, MSU-N 10. Fouled out — Pitts. Assists: UMW 16 (Pitts, McDonald 5), MSU-N 19 (Bullchild 6). Turnovers: UMW 13, MSU-N 8.

Lights 75, Orediggers 66

Tech — Jake Williams 3-9 4-4 10, Casey Briggs 2-4 2-4 6, Shea Bradshaw 2-7 0-0 5, Sam Conley 4-10 3-4 12, Luke Harman 1-4 4-4 7, Tony Trudnowski 7-9 2-2 22, Nate Harris 1-3 0-0 2, DC Egge 1-1 0-0 2, Maurice Williams 0-2 0-3 0. Totals: 21-51 15-21 66.

MSU-N — Durwin Williams 6-6 7-10 19, Marcus Wilson 3-3 0-0 6, Ronnie Simpson 6-13 4-6 17, Leo Bullchild 0-3 2-2 2, Brian Erickson 2-3 8-8 12, Delvaughn Tinned 1-7 5-8 7, Erv Sims 2-2 0-0 4, Drew Petterson 2-4 4-4 8. Totals: 22-42 30-38 75.

Halftime: Tech 32-30. Three-pointers: Tech 9-22 (Bradshaw 1-3, Nottingham 0-1, Conley 1-6, Harman 1-3, Trudnowski 6-7, Harris 0-2), MSU-N 1-5 (Simpson 1-3, Tinned 0-1, Bullchild 0-1). Rebounds: Tech 26 (Briggs 6), MSU-N 32 (Williams 8). Fouls: Tech 24, MSU-N 21. Fouled out: Nottingham. Assists: Tech 16 (3 tied with 3), MSUN 12 (Bullchild, Tinned 3). Turnovers: Tech 12, MSU-N 11.