Brandon Stinson

Men's Basketball 1/12/2024 4:00:00 PM Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

GAME NOTES: Rocky Men’s Basketball Takes on the Lights on Saturday Afternoon

BILLINGS, Mont.- The Battlin' Bears look to continue to defend home court as they host MSU-Northern on Saturday afternoon.

Matchup

#15 Rocky Mountain College (10-5) vs MSU-Northern (8-7)
Saturday, January 13th | 4:00pm (MT) | Fortin Education Center

Battlin' Bear Recap

The Battlin' Bears won two of their three matchups a season ago against MSU-Northern. Two of the matchups went into overtime with the Rocky men taking the first matchup in Havre 62-60, while the Lights stole a victory in Billings with a buzzer-beater to win 86-84 in a third overtime. In Rocky's 71-58 victory over MSU-Northern last season, Maxim Stephens tallied a career-high 30 points, including 20 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone. Stephens outscored the Lights by himself in the second half as Rocky shot just shy of 50% from the field as a team in the win.

Jesse Owens led the way for Rocky on Thursday with 22 points in the 74-64 win over Providence. It was Owens' sixth game this season of 20+ points so far this season and the 11th of his career. The Battlin' Bears hit 10 threes in their win over Providence, marking the second consecutive game they have done so and the seventh game this season with 10 or more three-pointers. The Rocky men held Providence to just 64 points in their victory, the lowest point total they've held an NAIA program to this season. The Battlin' Bears are 6-1 this season when they hold their opponents to 80 points or less.

Preview

The Lights enter Saturday's game with two narrow losses to open their conference schedule, with games against Montana Western and Montana Tech being decided by two points or less. MSU-Northern has lost five consecutive games to NAIA programs.

The Lights are an aggressive team from three-point range, averaging 25.4 three-point attempts per game so far this season, tied with University of Providence for most in the Frontier Conference. Senior Zackry Martinez has made a jump to be a featured scorer this season, after averaging 9.8 points per game a season ago, the Los Medanos College transfer is averaging 18.3 points per game this season on 43.1% shooting from three, both marks ranking second in the Frontier Conference.

Saturday's matchup will also four of the conference's top-five rebounders. Kael Robinson and Maxim Stephens rank one and two with both New Zealanders grabbing more than nine rebounds per game, but North Idaho College transfer Xavier Bailey ranks third with 7.5 rebounds per game, listed at 6-foot-4-inches. Senior Jacob Randall has transitioned into a starting role for the Lights and ranks fifth in the Frontier grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game. Randall also ranks fifth in field goal percentage, shooting 55.5% this season. Junior JJ Thomas missed a chunk of time amid Northern's non-conference schedule but has been very efficient in his time back, shooting 67.3% from the field as he averages 7.9 points per game in 11 games played this season.

These teams are an even 3-3 in their last six matchups and will both look to gain an edge on Saturday in the Fortin Education Center.

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