Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – With a trip to the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Basketball Championships wrapped up and only their seeding left to be decided, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team went into Saturday night's game against their fourth nationally-ranked opponent of the season prepared for a tough battle. The Yellowjackets were able to keep the 14^th-ranked Vikings of Western Washington University on the ropes for most of the game, but they would eventually fall 98-83.
 
The Yellowjackets have never won in 10 tries on Western Washington's home court and now find themselves 15-11 overall and 10-8 in the conference heading into next week's conference tournament. With their second win in a row, the nationally-ranked Vikings improve to 25-4 overall which includes a 16-2 mark in the league.
 
MSUB was able to shoot 41.5% (27-65) from the field, including starting the game with a 48.6 % performance in the opening stanza, but the Yellowjackets were red-hot from the free throw line as they connected on 22 of their 24 trips to the stripe.
 
In their final regular-season game as Yellowjackets, three of Stevens' six seniors recorded double-digit point outputs led by Antoine Proctor's game-high 24 points. The Washington, D.C. native went 8-12 from the field and 7-8 from the charity stripe. He was able to lead the team with eight rebounds and produced a game-high six steals.
 
The other two seniors who finished their final regular-season game with double-digit points were Robert Mayes (11) and Emery Henning (10). Nine of Mayes' 11 points came from the free throw line and Henning, a game removed from coming away with a double-double in Burnaby, B.C., hit two key three-pointers.
 
Junior David Arnold was the final Yellowjacket to produce double-digit points, giving Stevens and staff something to look forward to for next season as he had 12 points.
 
Western Washington, which went 48.5% (32-66) from the field, was led by five players with double-digit points including Rory Blanche's double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Blanche went 8-15 from the field and brought down an even five offensive boards and five defensive.
 
Zach Henifin contributed 16 points while Richard Woodworth and Paul Jones each chipped in 15. John Allen was the final Viking in double-digit points with 10.
 
The game was certainly much closer than the final score indicated as the Yellowjackets were able to jump out ahead of the nationally-ranked Vikings early in the first half. By intermission, MSUB still held an eight-point lead at 48-40.
 
Chase Richards gave the Yellowjackets a 10-point lead out of the break with a jumper in the paint, but WWU would fight back over the next six minutes to retake the lead by two (59-57) when Blanche hit a layup.
 
The two teams would knot the score five times from there, but the Vikings were able to eventually claim the lead for good, and would build on that lead slowly over the final minutes.
 
With a Western Oregon University loss on Saturday night coupled with a No. 24 Seattle Pacific University win, the Yellowjackets finish the season fifth in the final conference standings and know they will face the Wolves of WOU in the first round of the league tournament. The Yellowjackets split their pair of regular-season meetings with the Wolves. WOU claimed the first meeting 71-60 in Monmouth, Ore. on Dec. 31 while MSUB exacted revenge on their home court with a 79-57 thumping on Jan. 26.