Box Score

LAIE, Hawaii – The BYU-Hawaii men's basketball team rallied after a halftime deficit for a 97-92 win over Montana State University Billings Friday.

The Seasiders (2-3) trailed for the majority of the game, including 45-43 at halftime, before taking a double-digit lead in the second half, and then holding off MSUB in the final minutes.

“I was proud of the way our guys fought tonight,” MSU Billings' head coach Jamie Stevens said. “We played our best game of the week by far. We could have quit after they went up 10 late, but the guys fought back and we had a chance to win it in the last minute. Obviously, we need to do a better job shooting free-throws, and we can't send our opponent to the free-throw line 42 times. Overall we got better this week and I hope we are ready for conference games to begin.”

The Seasiders were led by Okesene Ale's game-high 23 points. He was 7-of-14 from the field, and made all eight of his free-throw attempts. DeAndre Medlock chipped in 18 points, while BJ Ford and Pablo Coro had 12 and 11. Medlock added nine rebounds. Ale and Coro both dished out four assists.

BYU-Hawaii finished 56 percent from the field, while Montana State Billings was 44 percent. The Yellowjackets made nine of their 22 shots from behind the perimeter, and BYU-Hawaii was 5-for-9. The Seasiders missed seven straight free-throws during a key stretch late in the game, but finished 66 percent from the free-throw line. MSUB was just 53 percent.

The game had 13 lead changes and 10 ties. After a back-and-forth start, with no large lead advantages, the Yellowjackets had a 31-30 lead at the 6:15 mark of the first half. Minutes later, a Cameron Cusworth lay-in completed a 6-0 MSUB run, giving the Yellowjackets their largest lead of the half. A 12-4 Seasider response, gave BYU-Hawaii a 43-42 lead with 57 seconds left in the first half. Cusworth hit a three-pointer to close the half and give MSU Billings a halftime advantage.

The late three-pointer and momentum carried over into the second half, and the Yellowjackets took a 53-47 lead just into the half. MSUB held its lead until Ford hit a three-pointer at the 10:43 mark of the second half, to give the Seasiders a 66-65 edge. Trailing 71-68 with 8:54 remaining in regulation, BYU-Hawaii went on an 11-4 run to take the largest lead of the game, 82-72.

The run proved to be decisive as the Seasiders never surrendered the lead. BYU-Hawaii had an 86-76 lead with 4:13 left in the second period, but Montana State Billings made an 11-3 run to close within three points, 89-87, with just 1:45 left in the second half. After the key Seasider missed free-throws, MSUB was able to stay close, but not take the lead in the final minute.

The loss ended the Yellowjackets' (4-2) three-game win streak, after they won a trio of games at the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort Thanksgiving Tournament earlier this week.

Montana State Billings entered the game 12-0 when outrebounding opponents under Jamie Stevens, but fell Friday despite holding a 43-38 rebound advantage. Both teams took care of the ball; BYU-Hawaii had only 10 turnovers, while MSUB had eight, a new low under Stevens. Both teams had 34 points in the paint, but MSU Billings had a 19-11 advantage in second chance points. The Seasiders held a 41-37 advantage in bench points.

David Arnold led MSUB with a career-high 22 points. The senior made seven of his 20 shots, and added six assists and two steals. Four other Yellowjackets finished in double-digit scoring. Omar McDade had 14 points, Jarrell Crayton had 12, and Brian Ridgeway and Sam Johnson both scored 11. Robby Trabing led MSU Billings with nine rebounds, and Kalob Hatcher had seven assists.

Montana State Billings leaves the Aloha State and travels to Alaska for the beginning of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. The Yellowjackets are at Alaska-Anchorage (5-1) Thursday. MSUB is 4-24 all-time against the Seawolves in Anchorage, and have lost nine straight there since a 91-73 win on Jan. 29, 1998. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Alaskan Time. Live video and live stats will be available on MSUBSports.com.

MSUB – BYU-HAWAII POSTGAME NOTES
- BYU-Hawaii has a 12-7 advantage in the all-time meetings.
- MSU Billings is 6-3 against the Seasiders in Billings, but 1-9 on the road.
- The last meeting was a 118-84 BYU-Hawaii win on Feb. 19, 2005.
- The Seasiders have now won three straight in the series.
- The Yellowjackets lost for only the third time in 18 occasions when leading at halftime under Jamie Stevens.
- David Arnold had a career-high 22 points in the loss.
- MSUB's eight committed turnovers were a new low under Stevens.

MSU Billings vs BYU-Hawaii
11/23/12 7:30pm at Laie, HI
At Laie, HI
BYU-HAWAII 97, MSU BILLINGS 92
MSU BILLINGS (4-2)
Arnold,David 7-20 6-8 22; McDade,Omar 4-10 4-6 14; Crayton,Jerrell 4-8 4-10
12; Ridgeway,Brian 4-9 1-2 11; Johnson,Sam 5-9 0-1 11; Cusworth,Cameron 4-6
0-0 9; Trabing,Robby 3-5 1-2 7; Wallace,Devon 1-3 1-1 3; Hatcher,Kalob 1-4
0-2 3; Nelson,Tyler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-75 17-32 92.
BYU-HAWAII (2-3)
Ale, Okesene 7-14 8-8 23; Medlock, DeAndre 7-13 4-9 18; Ford, BJ 4-4 2-2 12;
Coro, Pablo 4-5 2-2 11; Funk, Bracken 3-8 2-3 8; Wolfgramm, Solomone 2-2 3-6
7; Mitchell, Robbie 2-3 2-3 6; Hurst, Brady 0-3 4-6 4; Lee, Dae Sung 2-3 0-0
4; Maughan, Taylor 1-1 0-1 3; Berry, Brody 0-0 1-2 1; Lawrence, SeQuan 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 32-57 28-42 97.
MSU Billings..................   45   47  -   92
BYU-Hawaii....................   43   54  -   97
3-point goals--MSU Billings 9-22 (McDade,Omar 2-4; Ridgeway,Brian 2-4;
Arnold,David 2-5; Hatcher,Kalob 1-3; Cusworth,Cameron 1-3; Johnson,Sam 1-1;
Wallace,Devon 0-2), BYU-Hawaii 5-9 (Ford, BJ 2-2; Maughan, Taylor 1-1; Ale,
Okesene 1-5; Coro, Pablo 1-1). Fouled out--MSU Billings-Trabing,Robby,
BYU-Hawaii-None. Rebounds--MSU Billings 43 (Trabing,Robby 9), BYU-Hawaii 38
(Medlock, DeAndre 9). Assists--MSU Billings 19 (Hatcher,Kalob 7), BYU-Hawaii
18 (Ale, Okesene 4; Coro, Pablo 4). Total fouls--MSU Billings 27, BYU-Hawaii
23. Technical fouls--MSU Billings-None, BYU-Hawaii-None. A-235