It was another split set of games for MSU-Northern basketball on Thursday night. The Skylights dropped their contest to the Rocky Mountain College, (77-53), while the Lights got their second victory on the season over Rocky, (87-83).
For the Skylights (10-11, 4-4 in the Frontier), they got outhustled in every way possible, not being able to sustain a Rocky attack from beyond the arc where they hit 11 of 21 3-pointers. Reigning Frontier Conference Player of the Week Gracee Lekvold led the Lady Bears in scoring with 20 points in 39 minutes, while Madeline Heggem scored 15, hitting every single shot she took from distance and the free throw line. Northern was led by senior forward Ryley Kehr and redshirt junior forward Savannah Toms, who each contributed 11 points.
For the Lights (10-11, 2-6), they were able to take care of the basketball for the entire second half. Finding themselves down by four points after 20 minutes, Northern got a hot start from sophomore guard Dae’Kwon Watson, who had nine points in the first five minutes in the second half. He would score a season-high 32 points in the game to lead everyone, including hitting clutch free throws down the stretch. Junior forward Xavier Bailey had his best shooting night as a Light, hitting eight of his 12 field goals and going for 19 points. Senior guard Zack Martinez contributed 15 points, while junior forward Jake Randall poured in 10 to help Northern snap its four-game losing streak.
MSU-Northern will travel to Great Falls to take on Providence on Saturday and you can hear Noah Friedman’s call on KPQX-92.FM and HiLineToday.com with the Skylights and Lady Argos at 2pm followed by the Lights and Argos at 4pm.
