BILLINGS, Mont. – After going 1-1 on the road over the final weekend of 2011, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team returns home this week to commence the 2012 portion of their 2011-12 season in front of their home crowd with a pair of critical Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchups, including taking on a top-25 program on Thursday, Jan. 5.
 
Last week, the Yellowjackets (7-5 2-2 GNAC) claimed a 79-61 league victory over Saint Martin's University Thursday night but dropped a 71-60 decision to a strong Western Oregon University squad Saturday afternoon.
 
MSUB is preparing to host the two schools from Alaska this weekend with the 18^th-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (9-2, 3-0 GNAC) traveling to Billings on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game. On Saturday, Jan. 7, the Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks (4-9, 1-2 GNAC) will arrive for their 7 p.m. tipoff.
 
The Yelowjackets are 26-36 all-time against the Seawolves, but 21 of those wins have come at home where MSUB is 21-7 against UAA. Against UAF, the MSUB is 36-18 overall and 24-3 inside Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
MSUB's attack is led by four players averaging double-digit points, highlighted by senior guard Antoine Proctor who is averaging a league third-best 18.1 points per outing. The Washington, D.C. native is hitting on 41.5% of his shots from the field while also working hard off the glass as he is bringing down close to five rebounds per game. Proctor is currently second in the conference with 2.3 steals per game as he has swiped the ball 28 times.
 
Fellow guard Jaxon Myaer is averaging 13.6 points per game with most of those points coming from three-point range as he is second in the league with an average of 2.7 treys per game. The Salt Lake City, Utah native has knocked down 32 total three-pointers this season.
 
Myaer is hitting on team second-best 47% of his shots from the field with only Preston Richards out-shooting Myaer with a .491 shooting performance from the field.
 
Two seniors in all-around shooter Taylor Stevens and athletic inside man Robert Mayes are the other two players on head coach Jamie Stevens' squad to average double-digit points so far this season. Stevens, who is known for his ability to knock down a shot from just about anywhere on the court, is currently averaging 11 points per game while Mayes leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game and is averaging 10.7 points per game.
 
The 18^th-ranked Seawolves enter Thursday's game on a nine-game winning streak after dropping their opening two games of the season. UAA boasts the 27^th-ranked scoring offense as well as the 15^th-ranked scoring defense in the nation, providing the Yellowjackets with a solid measuring stick to see where they stack up at this point in the season.
 
Anchorage is led by Taylor Rohde who is second in the conference with 20.1 points per contest and 17^th-nationally with his league-best .627 shooting performance from the field. Rohde is also third in the GNAC with 8.5 rebounds per game.
 
Behind Rohde, Travis Thompson and Kyle Fossman provide adequate back-up as they are averaging 11 and 10.1 points per contest.
 
The most daunting task with regards to guarding the Seawolves is their ability to sink the outside shot as UAA's .410 shooting performance from three-point range is tops in the conference. Four players are currently averaging over 40% from three-point range, led by Abebe Demissie's .535 shooting performance which is good enough for 10^th-best in the league.
 
For the Nanooks of UAF, Jarrett Miller is averaging a conference sixth-best 16.7 points per game while Stefan Tica is close on his heels with 16.1 points per outing. Miller is currently hitting on .476 of his shots from the field.
 
Leading the team in shooting percentage, Nico Matthews is second in the conference with .586 of his shots while Daniel Shaw is hitting on a GNAC sixth-best .567 of his looks. Matthews also leads the conference with 3.0 steals per game, a total of 39.
 
Following the two-game homestand, the Yellowjackets will go back on the road next weekend to take on Nortwhest Nazarene University and Central Washington University.