MSU-Northern basketball went to Helena to face Carroll College on Saturday and came away with no wins. The Skylights lost, (66-45), while the Lights dropped a 78-64 contest.
For the Skylights (8-10, 2-3 in the Frontier), they got off to a great start, picking up a (15-12) first quarter lead. Northern was outscored, (14-4) in the second quarter, but were able to get back into it in the late stretches of the third, using an (8-0) run to retake a (40-37) edge at the end of the period. Carroll answered again with a (10-0) run to begin the 4th quarter and never surrendered the lead again, outscoring the Skylights, (29-5) in the last 10 minutes while forcing nine turnovers. Jamie Pickens was a monster for the Saints, scoring 20 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Senior forward Ryley Kehr was the Skylights’ leading scorer with 12 points.
For the second straight game, the Lights (9-9, 1-4) allowed their opponent to shoot over 50 percent from the floor. The Saints’ men erupted for 44 1st half points. Andrew Cook was a one-man wrecking crew for Carroll, dropping a season-high 30 points. Northern was once again led in scoring by senior guard Zack Martinez, who had 18. Junior forward JJ Thomas had 15 points and redshirt freshman guard Rogan Barnwell was the third player in double-figures with 10.
The Skylights and Lights will be back to action this coming Thursday when they travel to Butte to take on Montana Tech. Games will tip off at 5pm and 7pm, respectively and you can listen to those on KPQX-92.5FM and HiLineToday.com
