Box Score

JAMIE STEVENS POSTGAME INTERVIEW               JARRELL CRAYTON POSTGAME INTERVIEW

PHOTO GALLERY

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with an 87-73 victory over South Dakota Mines Friday.

MSU Billings (5-4, 0-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) shot a season-best 54 percent from the field, and made four of its 19 three-point attempts. MSUB was also 17-of-24 from the free-throw line. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, as the Hardrockers were 53 percent from the floor. SDMT made five of its 13 shots from behind-the-arc and 16-of-25 from the free-throw line.

“We came out really slow, but credit goes to South Dakota Mines, they came out and really jumped on us,” MSUB Head Coach Jamie Stevens said. “They shot really well in the first half. They shot that well, but we forced so many turnovers to stay in the game. This month of December is just a learning period to get us better for GNAC play. Hopefully we learned some things tonight, and we can build off of that.”

The Yellowjackets finished with four double-digit scorers led by Jarrell Crayton's 19 points. The senior was 8-for-12 from the field, and added a game-high nine rebounds. Sam Johnson and Omar McDade both scored 16 points, while David Arnold chipped in 13. Kalob Hatcher dished out a game-high five assists.

Seven minutes into the game, South Dakota Mines held a 13-6 lead, and after a Caleb Shockman jumper with 5:05 remaining in the first half, the Hardrockers had their largest lead of the contest, 30-20. MSUB answered with an incredible 16-0 run capped by a lay-in from Johnson. The Yellowjackets made seven of their shots from the field during the three-minute run, and forced five SDMT turnovers. MSU Billings had a 38-36 lead at halftime.

The Hardrockers shot nearly 67 percent from the field in the opening stanza, compared to Montana State Billings' 56.7 percent. South Dakota Mines' A.J. Trennepohl led all scorers with 12 points at the intermission. MSUB made one of its 11 three-point attempts in the period, and were outrebounded, 10-5.

The Yellowjackets scored 10 of the first 13 points in the second half. Montana State Billings never trailed in the second half, leading by double-digits for most of the period. MSUB had its largest lead, 74-57, after a pair of free-throws by Johnson at the 5:43 mark of the second half.

Montana State Billings outrebounded the Hardrockers, 26-24, in the game. The Yellowjackets forced 23 turnovers and came away with a season-high 13 steals. Hatcher and Crayton both had three steals. MSUB turned their takeaways into a 34-12 points off of turnover advantage. The Yellowjackets committed 12 turnovers. MSU Billings also held a 44-32 points in the paint advantage. SDMT had a 35-18 bench points advantage.

South Dakota Mines (6-3) had its five-game win streak come to an end Konor Kulas had a team-high 13 points, Shockman and Trennepohl both had 12, and Lucas Nolan scored 11. Nolan and Shockman both grabbed five rebounds.

The Yellowjackets welcome their alumni Saturday in an exhibition contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Live video will be available on MSUBSports.com. Montana State Billings grabbed a 104-82 win over its alumni last season. This year, nine former Yellowjackets return to Alterowitz Gymnasium for the game. MSUB's next regular season game is at Grand Canyon University (Ariz.) (6-2, 2-0 PacWest) Dec. 14.

MSUB – SOUTH DAKOTA MINES POSTGAME NOTES
- This was the second Montana State Billings win in the seven all-time meetings in the series.
- It was the first meeting between the programs in 62 years.
- The Yellowjackets are now 17-1 under Jamie Stevens when they outshoot their opponent.
- South Dakota Mine's 24 rebounds were a season-low by an opponent against MSUB.
- The Yellowjackets' 33 made field goals and 17 made free-throws both matched season-highs.
- Last year's conference-tournament title winning MSUB team was 5-4 after nine games.