GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The Montana Western Men's Basketball team fell to the MSU-Northern Lights 82-62, closing out the Bulldog's season with an overall record of 11-18.

How It Happened
The Lights got off to a roaring start on the Bulldogs, putting in six of their first nine shots to take a quick 14-5 lead.

The Bulldog defense put up a strong three minutes, holding the Lights scoreless across three straight possessions to cut into the Lights lead at 14-11 with 13:30 left in the half.

Trailing 26-18 with 8:59 left in the half, sophomore Ky Kouba hit a field goal to bring the Bulldogs back within six. Jamal Stephenson added by hitting a jumper and hitting a pair of free throws, bringing the Bulldogs back within three with just over six minutes to play in the half.

The Lights, led by Jesse Keltner with nine points, claimed a 35-28 lead heading into the second half.

Despite outshooting the Lights with a 47.6 shooting percentage, Montana Western struggled to overcome turnovers, totaling 11 across the first half.

The Lights opened up the second half on a 14-2 run to create separation, opening up a 49-30 lead over Montana Western.

The Bulldogs fought from behind and raced back into the game. Working behind a 22-7 scoring run midway through the second half, threes from Kouba, Brenton Woods, and Jacksen Burckley helped get the Bulldogs back into the game.

A pair of free throws from MSU-Northern's CJ Nelson and five points from Jesse Keltner flipped the momentum back to the Lights as MSU-N went back up eight points with 3:47 remaining in the game.

The Lights continued on to outscore the Bulldogs 12-0 down the final three-minute stretch to win 82-62.

Notables

• The Bulldogs struggled to overcome turnovers in the matchup as the Lights capitalized scoring 30 points off of the Bulldog's season high 21 turnovers.
• UMW shot 45.1 percent across the game and 37 percent from the arc.
• The Bulldog bench combined for 28 points in tonight's game.
• Ky Kouba led the Bulldogs with 18 points in tonight's matchup. He also added five boards and an assist.
• Brenton Woods followed in scoring, adding 10 points and Jamal Stephenson added three assists.

Final Season Notes
The Bulldogs' season comes to a close following an 11-18 season and a sixth-place finish in Frontier Conference play. As a team, the Bulldogs averaged 69.3 points per game with leading scorer Jamal Stephenson and key players Tanner Haverfield and Jok Jok graduating.

"I love those seniors and I love this program! We made a great comeback but just couldn't overcome the mistakes. I am proud of this team this year because we just kept coming back and fighting and we will continue our fight in the future." Head Coach Mike Larsen commented after the game.
 
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