GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Argo basketball made a statement in its first game of the new year. In the first of what will be three straight games against ranked conference opponents, the University of Great Fall's men's basketball team upset (15) Montana State University-Northern 72-59.
 
The win was UGF's first against a ranked team in the 2016-17 season and ties the Argos for second place in the Frontier Conference standings with a conference record of 2-1.
 
"I think we sent a statement that we're hardworking and that teams have to be prepared for us and be ready for us," Head Coach Anthony Owens said. "We faced a pretty good team tonight and we just didn't back down from the challenge."
 
Not only didn't the Argos not back down, but they came out as the clear aggressor from the opening tip-off. A 9-0 UGF run from the 17:28 mark to the 13:53 mark was the team's first big move and was led by senior guard Sigman Farmer III and junior forward Treyvon Bashir.
 
Every time the Northern Lights attempted to fight back, junior guard Matthew Brooks-McGregor was there to answer. The 5-8 guard scored 14 points in the first half and finished three and-1 opportunities in the half, including one on a 3-pointer.
 
"It gives me all the confidence in the world," Brooks-McGregor said of finishing through contact. "That's something that I don't normally do too often. I'm a smaller guy. They were switching all on-ball screens and so I had the opportunity to go at their bigs."
 
To finish off a stellar first half, fellow guard Sergio Berkley joined Brooks-McGregor in aggressively driving the lane, which led to another big run that ended the period. Berkley scored 9 of his 15 total points in the final four and half minutes of the first half and the Argos went into the locker room up 14 points.
 
The second half was a much more even affair, with Northern working UGF's lead down to five points after six minutes of play in the half. Five straight points from Brooks-McGregor righted the ship and with the help of Bashir, Berkley, and senior forward Isaac Howard, the team's lead was back to 15 points with less than five minutes left.
 
UGF's 92 percent shooting from the free-throw line, along with a strong defensive effort in the final minutes, kept the lead safe for the final few minutes.
 
"We've made a lot of progress over the last few weeks," Owens said. "The guys are buying into what we're asking them to do and they're buying into the fact that we need to play hard for 40 minutes."
 
Brooks-McGregor certainly showed his willingness to play hard, finishing with a career high in points for the second consecutive game. After scoring 19 points against the University of Calgary on December 28, the junior finished the game against Norther with 25 points, including a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line.
 
"Its honestly not even me. We're just getting open opportunities on the fastbreak and I just happen to be the one to receive the ball," Brooks-McGregor said. "We still haven't played our best basketball. This win was a big confidence boost for us."
 
The next two leading scorers for UGF were Berkley with 15 points and Bashir with 9. Berkley also led the team with 4 steals while Bashir finished added 4 rebounds and 1 block to his stats while playing outstanding interior defense.
 
With the win, UGF's record goes to 10-4 (2-1) and the team is on a three-game winning streak. That will all be challenged in the team's next game, a road contest against (23) Carroll College on Friday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Helena, Montana.