BILLINGS, Mont. -- Saturday night when the Montana State Billings men's basketball team takes the court against its rival Rocky Mountain College, the game will count, unlike when the two tangled earlier this season at the Fortin Center when MSUB dumped the Battlin' Bears 92-82 in what was an exhibition for the Yellowjackets.
 
In the first matchup, MSUB struggled shooting the ball and were forced to play catch-up early on before taking the lead and dropping the Bears by a ten point margin. The Yellowjackets were led by two 20-point performances from Robert Mayes and Antoine Proctor. Mayes ended the night with a double-double after grabbing 10 boards. The loss was the first of the season for the Bears in a counter game for Rocky.
 
The Yellowjackets (5-3) are in the midst of a four-game home stand that saw the Jackets split a pair of conference games last weekend when they dropped an 81-70 decision to Western Washington, and then erased a 19-point deficit to upend Simon Fraser 93-90.
 
MSUB has three players averaging double figures, led by Proctor who is averaging 20.9 points per game. He's also second on the team with an average of 5.0 rebounds per game and has picked opponents' pockets 22 times this season.
 
Taylor Stevens has begun to shoot the ball well as of late, scoring 13.0 points per game and shooting 47.6 percent from the floor. Jaxon Myaer is averaging 12.0 points and has dished out 44 assists this season and coming away with 13 steals.
 
As a team the Yellowjackets are shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, including 34.7 percent from the arc. The Jackets are averaging 84.0 points per game and are forcing opponents to turn the ball over an average of 22.3 times per game.
 
The Battlin' Bears (5-6) are being led by Matt Fogarty who is scoring 13.7 points per game and pulling down 4.9 rebounds. Three other players, Anthony Carter, Nile Finney and Joel Barndt, are all averaging just over 10.0 points per game for the Bears as Barndt leads the team in rebounds with 7.2 per game.
 
Rocky, entering the game on a three game slide, is shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and have shot 33.5 percent from three-point range. Opponents are shooting 43.0 percent and hold a +1.7 rebounding margin over the Bears.
 
According to the MSUB record books this will be the 165^th official meeting between the Jackets and Bears with MSUB holding an 86-78 edge overall in the series. The Jackets are 49-28 all-time inside Alterowitz Gymnasium and are on a two-game slide against the Bears, dropping last year's contest 76-71. The last victory in the series for MSUB officially was a 100-76 drubbing on Dec. 10, 2005 at Rocky.
 
Saturday's game is also featuring a sponsorship by Cellular Plus that allows fans to go to any Billings Cellular Plus location to get a $2 ticket. If fans wait to purchase tickets at the gate, regular game day prices will be charged.