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BILLINGS, Mont. -- It was a tough night of shooting Thursday night inside Alterowitz Gymnasium as the Montana State Billings men's basketball team went 25-for-74 and just 8-of-28 from the arc in dropping their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener to Western Washington 81-70.
 
“It was a tough way to start the conference season for our team,” said head coach Jamie Stevens. “We obviously did not shoot the ball well and I thought we missed some shots we normally make. You have to give Western a lot of credit for making it tough on us.”
 
“Unfortunately, many of our missed shots led to transition opportunities for them,” Stevens added. “We have a long way to go. We need to coach better and our players need to play better. Not many positives come out of tonight other than the fact that we get a chance to play again on Saturday.”
 
Antoine Proctor led the way for the Yellowjackets (4-3, 0-1 GNAC) with 17 points, but was 5-of-20 from the field and 1-for-6 from the arc. Taylor Stevens had 16 points with five boards, shooting 50.0 percent from the field. Jaxon Myaer was the only other Yellowjacket in double figures with 11 points.
 
MSUB was out rebounded 50-41 in the contest and forced just 15 turnovers, after averaging 24 per game. The Yellowjackets also allowed Western Washington 16 second chance points and were outscored 29-28 off the bench.
 
The Vikings (8-1, 1-0 GNAC) won their sixth game in a row and had five players in double figures, led by Rico Wilkins' 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting and his eight out of 12 free throws. Richard Woodworth had 16 points and a team-high eight boards, while Rory Blanche had 14, John Allen had 11 and Zach Henifin ended up with 10 points.
 
WWU shot 41.0 percent from the floor as a team and shot 36.8 percent from deep. The Vikings took 36 trips to the free throw line as they went 24-of-36 from the stripe.
 
The Yellowjackets started the game on a 6-0 run as Proctor knocked down a pair of free throws before the tip due to a technical foul on the Vikings, and added a lay-in after a Robby Trabing jumper. The six points was the largest lead for either team during the first half.
 
The half went back and forth as the two teams traded blows down the stretch, but with the score tied at 31-31 with :32 seconds remaining, Stevens pulled up for a three on the left wing to send the Jackets into the break with a 34-31 lead.
 
The Jackets maintained a five point lead for the first three minutes of the second half, but a Woodworth jumper at 15:09 sparked a 16-2 run over a four minute span that put the Vikings ahead for good. Wilkins scored 11 of those 16 points during the run.
 
The Yellowjackets were unable to get any closer than seven for much of the second half, but managed to make things interesting late when Myaer hit a jumper with 1:11 to go to cut the lead to 67-73, but the Vikings managed to hit free throws and make a defensive play to secure the victory.
 
The Jackets will look to bounce back after suffering their first home loss of the season with a victory over visiting Simon Fraser Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Yellowjackets split the season series a year ago, winning at home late in the season.