HAVRE, Mont. – A career game from senior point guard DuShaun Rice and 14 total steals weren't enough for the University of Providence men's basketball team to overcome a significant disadvantage on the glass in a 74-63 loss to Montana State University-Northern. 
 
Rice started the game with a made three and fellow senior guard Jared Schultz hit a two a few minutes later to give UP a 5-0 lead that it never really relinquished for the entirety of the first half. UP's largest lead of the period was 9 points, which came after another three from Rice 10 minutes into the game.
 
In the next 10 minutes of the half, the Lights were able to tie up the score at 28 all, but 2 buckets from junior guard Jack Taylor put the Argos ahead by 4 points at the half.
 
When the period ended, Rice had already scored 17 points and MSU-Northern had gone just 10-28 from the field. Along with keeping the Lights from making shots, UP also kept them off the line, only allowing MSUN to shoot 6 free throws in the period.
 
Rice would continue to be effective scoring in the second half, adding 11 more points to his total, but Northern's offense got hot. The Lights percentage jumped to 52 in the second half, including 71 percent from three, and to compound the problem UP sent them to the charity stripe 18 times.
 
With those kinds of numbers, it didn't take too long for Northern to tie the score and eventually take the lead. After taking a small lead early in the half, the Argos went cold and the Lights score 15 straight points to take an insurmountable 61-43 lead with just under 7 minutes left.
 
Rice's 28 points broke his previous career high by 9 points, shooting 10-19 from the field and 4-7 from three. He also was strong defensively, setting another career high with 4 steals.
 
While Rice set a personal record for steals in a game, he didn't even come close to leading the team. That honor went to senior forward Treyvon Bashir who recorded 8 steals, tying for the second most steals in a game in program history.
 
Despite all of those good statistics, one that killed the Argos was a 38-25 gap in rebounding.
 
UP's record goes to 7-6 (1-2) with the loss. Next for the Argos will be a home game against Montana Tech on Saturday, January 6.