HAVRE, Mont. – Lewis-Clark State's men's basketball team started strong but couldn't sustain the momentum and eventually fell 70-67 in overtime to Montana State-Northern in Frontier Conference action Friday night.
 
The Warriors (17-4 overall, 6-3 league) led by as many as eight points in the early going before the Lights started chipping away at the lead to set the stage for a back-and-forth battle that would extend the game by five minutes before they could secure the upset.
 
While coach Brandon Rinta was disappointed with the outcome, he applauded the effort of the Warriors, who played most of the second half without Andre McCowan who left with an injury.
 
"This team has as much heart as any team I've been around," Rinta said. "Once again, they proved that there isn't an ounce of quit in them. Unfortunately, our execution wasn't there tonight."
 
LC struggled with just 37 percent from the field but had even more difficulties on the boards where MSUN commanded, 44-21, which includes nine offensive rebounds.
 
Trea Thomas led the Warriors with 12 points with Cory Dollarhide and Damek Mitchell finishing with 11 each. Race Martin had 10.
 
"We had too many defensive breakdowns and missed layups to beat a quality team like Northern in their own gym," Rinta said.