Thursday night at the Armory Gym will be when the MSU-Northern Skylights basketball team puts its two-game winning streak on the line when they host the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears.
New Media Broadcasters talked with Skylights coach Chris Mouat and he explained what Rocky has gone through in recent weeks to have a resurgence.
“They’ve dealt with a lot. They’ve had up to three starters out (with) up to 40 points a game out of the lineup,” Mouat said. “I think a couple of those kids are going to be back, so they’re going to change in how they look.”
“They’re a young team. They’re playing extremely aggressive right now,” Mouat continued. “I think for us defensively, we’re going to be on our toes the entire time, not letting them get going from the three (point line).”
“They can really shoot it and a lot of them can shoot it, so we’re just going to have to do a good job of whatever we’re in defensively,” Mouat said.
Mouat said the importance of this game will be starting off on the right foot and sustaining the first quarter. He attached this to the last time these two teams squared off in Billings, which resulted in a last-second layup for Northern to secure a (76-75) win.
“I think you just prepare like it’s the next game,” Mouat said. “I tell our team all the time our most important game is the next and that’s where we’re at with this one.”
“We know the way we escaped Rocky (the last time) that they’re going to be fired up,” Mouat continued. “We’re going to have to weather the storm in the first quarter.”
“They’re going to come after us at 100%,” Mouat said. “They’ll get two starters back and be more potent on offense and better on defense. We know a great team is coming in here.”
It’ll be the Skylights (10-10, 3-4 in the Frontier) hosting the Battlin’ Bears (13-6, 2-5) with a 5pm tipoff from the Armory Gym. Noah Friedman has you covered with play-by-play on KPQX-92.5FM and HiLineToday.com.
