HAVRE, Mont. – The University of Providence men's basketball team fell to MSU-Northern 88-56 Thursday night in Havre.

The two teams went back and forth early in the first half with everything tied up 13-13 with 11:42 to go. The Lights (16-6, 4-3) quickly turned it on, ending the half on a 28-8 run to take a 41-21 halftime lead. The Argos (11-9, 2-5) tried to muster a run in the second half, but the lead was insurmountable.

"It boils down to effort and energy," assistant coach Tyler Hurley said. "We didn't have that tonight. That's a product of what the score ended up being."

As a team the Argos shot only 34.2% from the field. Marcus Stephens led the team in the scoring column, recording 20 points on the night. Brendan Howard added 19 points and seven rebounds for the squad.

"Brendan and Marcus are doing a lot of the scoring for us right now," Hurley said. "We need to try and get some of the other guys involved. Once we're able to do that and combine that with their scoring ability I think we'll be a lot better."

Mascio McCadney led the Lights with 20 points on the night. Jesse Keltner added 16 points while Tanner McCliment-Cal finished with 13. David Harris recorded a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 assists.

The Argos will put this one behind them quickly and shift their focus to Montana Western, who they'll play at 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Dillon. 

"We have to put this one behind us," Hurley said. "We look forward to tomorrow so we can practice and get ready for Western."