The University of Montana Western men’s basketball team on Sunday faced a daunting 19-point, second-half deficit against Montana State University-Northern.
And the imminent end of its season if it failed to address the disadvantage in the quarterfinals of the Frontier Conference playoffs in Great Falls.
The Bulldogs responded with a furious fightback, leveraging five consecutive bulls-eyes from beyond the 3-point line to vault within another trey of MSUN with a 21-5 run across just over four minutes of clock.
But the ever-patient and proficient Northern Lights walked back those gains across the game’s closing 7 minutes and 21 seconds to post an 82-62 victory and gain a spot in the playoff semifinals.
The loss cemented the Bulldogs’ overall record at 11-18 for the 2022–23 season—and ended that season with a first-round eviction from the league playoffs they had to win to gain a spot in the NAIA men’s national tourney set to start next week.
The defeat also ended the collegiate playing careers of three Bulldog seniors who contributed mightily to the program—Tanner Haverfield, Jok Jok and Jamaal Stephenson.
“It’s meant everything to me to play here. I love this community, growing up in it—that’s the reason I become a Dawg,” said Haverfield of playing for the college program in his hometown of Dillon.
“Tanner is one of the first players I spoke to when I got on campus, and just being with him, and watching his growth and watching him mature as a young man. It’s been pretty cool to say I got to be with him for five years,” said UMW Head Coach Mike Larsen of a player so smart, tough and fundmentally sound, he started Haverfield as a freshman.
“He’s been instrumental to this program. He’s our leader; he’s our captain; he’s our best voice; he’s our hardest worker,” added Larsen of the two-time all-state selection during his high school playing days in Dillon.
“He’s what every coach dreams about having. Everything I always talk about—hard work, character, energy effort—he brought that stuff every day.”
“Ever since I was little, I dreamed about playing for Western,” recalled Haverfield, who is set to graduate from UMW in the spring.
“I got an offer to play here and I took it,” said the son of two former standout college basketball players, Terri and Gary Haverfield, and brother of UMW’s Michael Haverfield.
“My favorite memory in this gym is when my brother was freshman and he had a buzzer beater against Rocky to win the game,” said Haverfield of a bomb his younger brother hit to win a home game in 2021.
“I loved that for him.”
An import from the Chicago area, Jamaal Stephenson brought instant offense, a deft touch, an easygoing manner and gunslinger-quickness to the Bulldog program in 2020 as a junior.
“It’s not really hitting me yet that I’ve played my final home game here,” admitted Stephenson after his Senior Night game last month, when his mother traveled all the way from Illinois to see him play for UMW for the first time.
“That was very special for me,” said the Bulldogs leading scorer this season, before adding that playing and practicing with his teammates at UMW was special each day.
“We’ve had a great group of guys my whole three years here,” said Stephenson, a close friend of Jok Jok.
“Jok, that’s my roommate. He’s just a great guy,” said Stephenson of the long, lean but strong forward out of Arizona.
“From the hot weather of Arizona to the cold weather of Montana—that was a big transition for me,” said Jok of his 2020 migration north after UMW Associate Head Coach Pat Jensen spotted him playing in a game in Idaho Falls.
“It’s been really good for me. I’ve met a lot of great people. I’ve loved my time here.”