Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – For the second game in a row, senior guard Antoine Proctor recorded at least 30 points and Jaxon Myaer added another 25 point production, but this time it would not be enough as the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team fell 115-107 in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference road-game with Central Washington Saturday night.
 
The loss leaves the Yellowjackets with a 9-7 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the league while the Wildcats improve to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in GNAC action.
 
“We thought it might be a high scoring game because both teams play an up and down style,” said first-year head coach Jamie Stevens. “I was pleased with our offensive production and I thought we did some nice things on that end of the floor, but in contrast, our defensive effort was not great. It basically came down to their guards penetrating to the basket and making tough, off balanced shots on us.
 
“Even when we got them to miss, we were unable to keep Central's bigs off the offensive glass. We gave up 58 points in the paint and we aren't going to beat anybody when you give up that many paint points. We stuck with our style and tempo that has helped us win games but tonight, we got beat by a team that outplayed us at our own game.”
 
As a team, the MSUB men were able to hit on 45.3% (29-64) of their looks from the field, but hit just 12 of their 30 attempts from three-point range (40%). The Yellowjackets were able to connect on 80.4% (37-46) of their trips to the free throw line as the two teams made a combined 83 trips to the line throughout the game.
 
Proctor's 35 points were a season-high for the senior guard from Washington, D.C. who went to the line a game-high 20 times. He connected on 17 of his attempts form the stripe and also contributed a team-high seven rebounds, four assists and four steals as three other players on Stevens' squad tallied double-digit outputs in points.
 
Myaer matched his point total from Thursday night's win over Northwest Nazarene as he had 25 points that included five treys. Taylor Stevens was 4-6 from three-point range en route to recording 20 points and Robert Mayes rounded out the double-digit scoring for MSUB with 11 points. Both Stevens and Mayes added in five rebounds each as Central Washington barely out-rebounded MSUB 40-37.
 
The Wildcats were able to put together a solid shooting performance that saw them hit 41 of their 77 attempts (.532), but they struggled mightily from beyond the three-point arc as they hit on just 5 of their 19 looks (26.3%).
 
Lacy Haddock matched Proctor's point total with 35 points as he went 12-16 from the field. To lead four other Wildcats in double-digit points.
 
Toussaint Tyler added 23, Jody Johnson had 20, Kevin Davis recorded 17 and Jordan Caby chipped in 14 points. Davis also added a well-rounded 12 rebounds, six on offense and six on defense, to record the game's only double-double.
 
Aside from Central Washington's Davis knocking down the opening shot, the Yellowjackets never trailed in the opening half of play, and even led by as many as 18 (27-9) with 12:19 remaining in the first stanza, but they would struggle from there as the Wildcats made a furious rally to pull within one point (52-21) by the time the buzzer sounded for intermission.
 
The second half commenced similar to the first, only in revers as Emery Henning scored the first two points of the half off a layup before Central Washington tied the game off a Tyler trey. From there, the Wildcats would trail only two more times, both by just one point, as the game remained close before CWU could finally put some distance between itself and MSUB late in the game.
 
Central Washington was able to convert Montana State Billings' 17 turnovers into 26 points and earned 22 second-chance points to the Yellowjackets' nine. Each squad received at least 37 points from their bench.
 
MSUB will have a bit longer to prepare for their next game which will commence a three-game home stand for the Yellowjackets. On Saturday, Jan. 21, MSUB will welcome the Falcons of Seattle Pacific University to Alterowitz Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. GNAC game.