HAVRE, Mont. – The Montana Western men's basketball team defeated the MSU-Northern Lights by a score of 73-65. They are now 2-2 in Frontier Conference play and are 7-10 overall.
"Guys were really locked in and played extremely hard for 40 minutes! It was also amazing to see some new guys emerge for our team." Head Coach
Mike Larsen said after the win.
How It Happened
Knotted up at four apiece,
Tanner Haverfield drained a three pointer three minutes into the first half to give the Bulldogs a 7-4 lead.
Jok Jok hit a jump shot from deep in the paint to stretch the Bulldog lead to 14-6 with 13:42 on the clock. Back-to-back possessions ended in made threes from
Ky Kouba and
Jamal Stephenson, giving the Bulldogs a 10-point lead at 20-10. Across the next four minutes, the Lights would go on an 11-4 scoring spree to bring the game back within two.
Brenton Woods hit a jump shot to break the flurry and to get the Bulldogs back up 26-24 with 6:05 left in the half. The Lights would outscore the Bulldogs down the stretch 11-6 to go up 33-32 at the end of the half.
The two teams spent the first four minutes of the second half trading leads back and forth before UMW busted out a 6-0 scoring run to take a five-point lead with 15:12 left in the game. The Lights responded, cutting the lead down to just two points and remained evenly matched with the Bulldogs. Tied up at 48 with 11 minutes left in the game, the Light's took the lead after they knocked down a free throw. Nelson hit a quick layup, but the Light's continued their push and took a 54-50 lead over UMW. With two minutes left in the game, Woods and Stephenson combined to help the Bulldogs go on a quick 8-2 run, giving them the lead at 66-61. The Lights were unable to match the Bulldogs for the remainder of the game as the Bulldogs claimed their victory over MSU-Northern 73-65.
"It was a great win to get on the road. The team really came together and played as one. We just need to keep playing as one and the rest is going to come!" junior forward
Grayson Nelson said.
Notables
- The Bulldogs broke a five-game losing streak with tonight's victory. They move on to 2-2 in conference play.
- UMW was nearly perfect from the free throw line as they went 11 for 12 as a team.
- The Bulldogs also tied their season second-highest shooting percentage after posting a team 50.0 field goal percentage in the game and held the Lights to 43.4 percent from the field.
- Grayson Nelson had a career night as he was nearly perfect from the field at 7-8 and led the team with 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
- Brenton Woods followed with 16 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will now host three straight home Frontier Conference contests, beginning with the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears. Rocky Mountain is currently 10-6 on the season. They enter the contest following a 78-52 loss to the No. 24 ranked Carroll College. The matchup will be held on Dec. 12 at 7PM MST in the Straugh Gymnasium.
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