GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Behind a dominant second-half, the University of Providence men's basketball team took down Northwest Saturday night, defeating the Eagles (1-2) 81-68 in the McLaughlin Center.

The win comes a week after the Argos (4-2) lost both games on their road trip last weekend, with the coaching staff upset with the team's defensive performance. The team spent the entire week focusing on defense, and the improvement was noticeable.

"I'm happy with how we responded this week on that end of the floor," head coach Steve Keller said. "We got beat pretty bad last weekend. We worked hard on defense this week. It wasn't great but it was definitely better. We got a new team this year and we're trying to find our way a little bit on both ends."

Up 42-39 at the half, Marcus Stephens and Rashee Stocks scored 27 of the team's 39 points in the second to widen the gap. Stephens carried the load to start, scoring 10 of his 14 second-half points in the first ten minutes of the second half. He picked up his fourth foul with 9:29 remaining which forced him to the bench. That's when Stocks took over, scoring seven points over the next three minutes to increase the eight-point lead to 17.

Stephens checked out with 30 points on the night, going 10/15 from the field. Stocks finished with 19 points and six rebounds.

"Rashee had a really good five or six minutes that really got us a cushion," Keller said. "That's what he is capable of doing. Marcus knows what it takes to win and he's doing what he needs to do to get the job done."

CaCoa Chatman led the Eagles with 21 points and six boards. Tanner Davis had 17 points and five boards while Connor Drinkwine recorded 12 points.

The team will hope this weekend's momentum will carry over to next weekend, when the Argos host Lincoln University. The games will take place Friday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m and Saturday, Nov. 27 at 5:00 p.m. in the McLaughlin Center.