Box Score

JAMIE STEVENS POSTGAME INTERVIEW

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Dixie State College men's basketball team shot 71 percent from the field, its highest percentage in the NCAA Div. II era, in a 90-77 win at Montana State University Billings Friday.

Steven Larson led the Red Storm (3-0, 0-0 PacWest) with 25 points. The junior finished 11-for-11 from the field. DSC's other two posts, Derek Owen and Zach Robbins, both were perfect from the field as well. Owen made all six of his attempts from the field, while Robbins was 5-of-5. Owen finished with 12 points, while Robbins had 10. Dalton Groskruetz chipped in 19 points. Robbins had a game-high eight rebounds and McKay Massey dished out seven assists.

Dixie State had a 50-8 advantage in points in the paint, and had 28-14 rebound advantage. After shooting 72 percent from the field in the first half, the Red Storm shot 69 percent in the second half. DSC made five of its 11 three-point attempts and seven of its 12 free-throw shots.

“First off credit goes to Dixie State, that's a great team,” MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens said. “They just came in and pounded us in every facet. They outcoached us, outshot us, and outrebounded us. There were not many positives for us tonight, and all the credit goes to Dixie State. I don't think I've ever seen three post players go 21-for-21. We we're exposed a bit tonight.”

The Yellowjackets opened the game with four straight three-pointers, including the first three baskets from behind the arc from Sam Johnson. Trailing 12-10 at the 15:46 mark of the first half, Dixie State made an 11-3 run to take a 21-15 lead. The Red Storm continued to stretch their lead to 13 points after a De'Quan Thompson lay-in with 1:20 left in the first half. MSUB scored the final five points of the half and trailed, 47-39, at halftime.

A Groskruetz jump-shot three minutes into the second half put the Red Storm ahead by 14 points. A three-point play by Johnson cut the lead to 61-52 with 13:38 remaining in regulation. A 22-10 DSC run over the next six minutes built the lead to 21 points, the largest margin of the game. MSUB made one final run cutting the score to 83-72 with 4:41 left, the Yellowjackets came no closer.

Montana State Billings (1-1, 0-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) held a 40-23 advantage in bench points, but were outscored 12-2 in second chance opportunities. Three Yellowjackets finished in double-figure scoring. Johnson had 17 points and was 6-for-10 from the field. Omar McDade also finished with 17 points. The senior was 5-of-11 from the field, including 4-for-6 from behind-the-arc. Danny Desin made five of his six three-point attempts and finished with 15 points. Kalob Hatcher had a game-high eight assists.

MSU Billings made 16 of its 34 three-point attempts in the game, the most makes from behind the perimeter since Jan. 26, 2012, when it went 15-for-33 at Western Oregon. The Yellowjackets finished 47 percent from the field Friday, and 9-of-15 from the free-throw line. MSUB had a slim 18-17 assist advantage.

The Yellowjackets begin a 12-day road trip that takes them from Hawaii to Alaska, covering nearly 9,000 miles. MSUB travels to Hilo, Hawaii, to play in the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort Thanksgiving Tournament Monday through Wednesday. MSU Billings opens the three-game tournament with Western New Mexico (0-1, 0-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) Monday at 8 p.m. Mountain Time. The game will have live video and live stats on MSUBSports.com.

Dixie State vs MSU Billings
11/16/12 7 p.m. at Billings, Mont.
At Billings, Mont.
DIXIE STATE 90, MSU BILLINGS 77
DIXIE STATE (3-0, 0-0 PacWest)
Larson, Steven 11-11 3-4 25; Groskreutz, Dalton 8-11 2-4 19; Owen, Derek 6-6
0-0 12; Robbins, Zach 5-5 0-1 10; Thompson, De'Quan 4-4 0-0 9; Massey, McKay
3-9 0-0 9; Payne, Kimball 2-5 0-1 4; Simister, Brandon 0-2 2-2 2; Papenfuss,
Curtis 0-1 0-0 0; Schallenberger,Jason 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-55 7-12 90.
MSU BILLINGS (1-1, 0-0 GNAC)
Johnson,Sam 6-10 2-3 17; McDade,Omar 5-11 3-4 17; Desin,Danny 5-6 0-0 15;
Crayton,Jerrell 4-7 1-3 9; Hatcher,Kalob 2-6 0-0 6; Ridgeway,Brian 1-4 3-3
6; Cusworth,Cameron 1-2 0-2 3; Trabing,Robby 1-2 0-0 2; Arnold,David 1-5 0-0
2; Wallace,Devon 0-2 0-0 0; Hook,Jimmy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 9-15 77.
Dixie State...................   47   43  -   90
MSU Billings..................   39   38  -   77
3-point goals--Dixie State 5-11 (Massey, McKay 3-5; Thompson, De'Quan 1-1;
Groskreutz, Dalton 1-3; Payne, Kimball 0-1; Schallenberger,Jason 0-1), MSU
Billings 16-34 (Desin,Danny 5-6; McDade,Omar 4-6; Johnson,Sam 3-5;
Hatcher,Kalob 2-5; Ridgeway,Brian 1-3; Cusworth,Cameron 1-2; Wallace,Devon
0-2; Arnold,David 0-4; Crayton,Jerrell 0-1). Fouled out--Dixie State-Owen,
Derek, MSU Billings-None. Rebounds--Dixie State 28 (Robbins, Zach 8), MSU
Billings 14 (McDade,Omar 3). Assists--Dixie State 17 (Massey, McKay 7), MSU
Billings 18 (Hatcher,Kalob 8). Total fouls--Dixie State 18, MSU Billings 19.
Technical fouls--Dixie State-None, MSU Billings-None. A-475
DSC has best shooting percentage in it's NCAA Div. II era.