Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State Billings men's basketball team fought hard to come from behind late, but Western Washington proved to be too much as the Yellowjackets dropped a 90-82 decision Thursday evening at Sam Carver Gymnasium in the conference opener for both teams.

The Yellowjackets fell to 1-4 on the season overall and are now 0-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Vikings improved to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.

“We played better tonight as a team,” said head coach George Pfeifer. “We weren't able to make our shots down the stretch and spent a lot of energy fighting our way back into the game. We still have things that need to be and can be fixed, but we have to put this game behind us and get ready for Simon Fraser on Saturday.”  

The Yellowjackets got top performances from seniors Raason Young (Washington D.C.) and DeAndre Chambers (Monroe, NC) as the duo scored half of the Jackets points. The pair combined for 41 points and 12 rebounds and also had seven assists in the loss.

The Vikings had five players in double figures, led by Shedrick Nelson's 20 points and four rebounds. Michael Duty dumped in 18 points and had five rebounds, while Zach Henifin had a team-high eight rebounds on the night.

After falling behind 5-0 early on, the Jackets came back to take the lead on a layup by Chambers, part of his 18 points. The Vikings took the lead again at the 13:19 mark on a pair of free throws by Chris Mitchell. It was the final lead change of the game.

The Vikings stretched their lead out to 29-18 with a 17-8 run down to the six minute mark. WWU was able to build a 15 point lead at one point, but carried a 13 point, 42-29, lead into the break.

As the second half began, MSUB was able to cut the lead down to just five on an Andrew Hickman (Woodward, OK) jumper in the paint with 14:04 remaining. Again the Vikings slowly stretched the lead back out to 15 on another bucket by Nelson in the lane.

The Yellowjackets were able to get the lead back down to within single digits, getting as close as five (83-78), with just over a minute to go on an easy lay-in by Kenneth Anderson (Houston, TX). Western closed out the game in the final minute by going 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

MSUB shot 44.1 percent (30-68) from the floor and went 9-for-25 from three point range. The shooting from the line continued to improve, going 13-of-18 from the stripe. The Jackets out rebounded the Vikings 38-33, 17 of which came on the offensive end, leading to 19 second chance points.

WWU managed to convert 16 Yellowjacket turnovers into 23 points and outscored the Jackets in the paint, 36-34. The Vikings shot 50.9 percent (28-55) from the field, but were a dismal 5-for-17 from behind the arc. Western also went to the line 40 times throughout the night, converting 29 attempts. The Vikings also won the war off the bench, outscoring MSUB 31-20.