HAVRE, Mont. – Minot State University turned the ball over 17 times and Montana State-Northern turned that into 32 points as the Lights ran over the Beavers 85-55 in nonconference NAIA men's basketball here Saturday night.
It was about a 180 degree turnaround for the Beavers after playing well in their first win of the season Friday in Great Falls, Mont.
“We are still in the learning phase of things and aren't consistent yet,” said MSU head coach Peter Stewart. “We played well last night (Friday), well enough to win, but that same team didn't show up.”
MSU actually started the game playing solid basketball, but Northern turned up the heat and the Beavers didn't respond.
“The first five minutes weren't bad,” Stewart said. “We were executing our stuff and they fouled us something like six times. But they got a little physical and we backed away. We couldn't find a stopper.”
MSU trailed 44-19 at the half.
Northern took 15 more shots than MSU and hit 50.8 percent on the night, including 12 of 26 3-pointers. Shaun Tatarka made 4 of 8 3s and led Northern with 18 points.
The Beavers finished with just 17 total field goals and were held to 37 percent shooting.
Bojan Janjic (Sr., G, Kikinda, Serbia) led the Beavers with 12 points and added five rebounds.
Kal Bay (Sr., G, Chandler, Ariz.) scored 10 points in the loss.
“We have a week of practice to get better,” Stewart said.
The Beavers continue their seven-game road trip to begin the season with games at Montana Tech Nov. 18, Montana State University-Bozeman Nov. 19 and MSU-Billings Nov. 20. The final two games of the road swing are exhibition games for the Beavers.
– GO BEAVERS –
