It was looking like the Lights would secure the No.2 seed in the Frontier Conference Tournament, until a last second three-pointer by Michael Ure squashed that chance.
The first 10 minutes of the game went back and forth, neither team was able to pull away from the other. with five minutes left in the half, it seemed like the Orediggers were going to pull away. They went up by as many as eight after an Asa Williams layup made the score 29-21. MSUN would fight back and get the score all tied at 32 going into the half.
The second half started the same way the first half did. Asa Williams would once again hit a layup to make it a seven-point lead. MSUN would only be able to get within one-point until a layup by CJ Nelson would tie the game up once again, this time at 59. the game would again be tied at 61 with 2:35 left to play.
With 1:19 left in the game, Jesse Keltner would get an assist by Dae’Kwon Watson and dunk the ball to give the Lights a two-point lead. MSUN would then force a turnover by Caleb Bellach. MSUN would get possession, with a chance to make it a two-possession game. CJ Nelson would miss a layup which turned into a shot-clock violation. After a Tech timeout, they would inbound it and have to go the full 94 feet. The inbound went to Keeley Bake who would try to find Bellach to take the last shot, but with good defense by Manny Anderson, he would have to pass it up to Michael Ure. With only two seconds left on the shot clock, Ure pump-faked and got Keltner to jump, he would then take one more dribble and just heave up a three-point attempt that hit nothing but the bottom of the net, winning it for Tech 64-63 and causeing MSUN to lose any chance of grabbing the No.2 seed in the Frontier Conference with Providence falling to Carroll yesterday afternoon.
The Lights will now battle it out with Montana Western (No.6 seed) in the first round of the tournament Sunday at 7 pm. That game can be heard on KPQX.
