Box Score

LACEY, Wash. – March madness was in full force Friday afternoon as the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team came looking for revenge while also hoping to keep their post-season drive alive. The Yellowjackets, who entered the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Basketball Championships as the No. 5 seed, made just enough shots Friday night to topple the top-seeded Vikings of nationally-ranked Western Washington University 82-78, advancing to their first GNAC tournament championship game.
 
Winners of three of their last five games, MSUB improves to 17-11 overall while advancing to Saturday's championship game where they will face the Seawolves of second-seeded University of Alaska Anchorage. No. 11 Western Washington moves to 25-5 overall with their first loss in two games.
 
“If you had told me before today that we would shoot 5-26 from three-point range, I would have told you no way,” said first-year head coach Jamie Stevens. “For our guys to be able to come out and play as hard as they did to win this game over a very talented team is a true testament to our guys. We played against a great team today that is the No. 1 team in the region and nationally-ranked, but we caught them on a bit of a cold night.
 
“We did not do everything right,” Stevens stated. “We can still play better, but we did just enough and made a few more shots than they did. Individually, Antoine (Proctor), Robert (Mayes) and Jaxon (Myaer) did what we need them to do. They were great out there tonight leading our team. If you want to win in March, you have to have your seniors step up like ours did tonight.”
 
The Yellowjacket men shot 44.9% (31-69) from the field despite connecting on just 19.2% (5-26) of their looks from three-point range. Four of MSUB's five treys came in the first half alone.
 
The Vikings finished the game shooting 42.9% (27-63) from the field but out-rebounded MSUB 41-37.
 
MSUB opened the game on a 10-1 run over the first four minutes of play before the Vikings woke up. By halftime, the score was 42-39 in favor of the underdog Yellowjackets with MSUB shooting 48.6% (17-35) in the half while holding the Vikings to 39.4% (13-33) following their sluggish start.
 
Coming out of the intermission, both teams scrambled to establish some momentum with MSUB going up by 12 (55-43) after Jaxon Myaer hit a jumper four minutes into the second half of play. The jumper capped a 13-6 run by the Yellowjackets to open the second stanza, but the Vikings once again went on the offensive, eventually gaining a one-point lead off a jumper by Zach Henifin with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Robert Mayes was able to give a 61-59 lead back to the 'Jackets on the ensuing possession as he converted a three-point play after being fouled on a layup. Mayes converted a trio of three-point plays in the second half to help keep the Yellowjackets in the lead.
 
After David Arnold knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:30 remaining to move the score out to 73-67, MSUB went down and corralled in a rebound on the ensuing trip down the court, setting up another key Yellowjacket possession. Antoine Proctor missed his short jumper in the paint, but Taylor Stevens was there to clean up by gently tipping the ball back into the basket to go up 75-67.
 
The Vikings pulled to within three (76-73) when Paul Jones was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play, but Proctor answered a short while later as he gained an offensive rebound and kissed the ball off the glass and into the bucket while under heavy pressure.
 
The lead never got above six points in the final two minutes of play as both Jones and Mitchell did everything they could to keep Western Washington in the game. With 44 seconds remaining, Jones hit a pair of free throws to pull within two at 80-78, but that would be the last time the Vikings would score as Stevens came up with a big steal and dished the ball down to Arnold who was fouled with just 9.5 registering on the clock.
 
The Yellowjackets' leading free throw shooter sealed the deal for MSUB by knocking down both of his attempts to send the No. 5 seed to the championship game for the first time in the two years of the GNAC tournament.
 
Proctor ended the night with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds while Mayes secured a double-double off 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The Houston, Texas native had 13 of his points in the second half alone and went 8-13 from the field and 4-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Myaer was the final player in double figures for the Yellowjackets as he went 6-11 with four treys to finish with 16 points and four assists.
 
Rico Wilkins and Paul Jones both came off the bench for 11^th-ranked Western Washington to lead the Vikings with 15 and 13 points. Wilkins went 5-9 from the field while Jones recorded eight rebounds.
 
In the day's first men's semifinal game, Alaska Anchorage defeated Central Washington University to advance to tomorrow's men's championship game. The final is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. Pacific time and will be televised live on Root Sports.
 
“We were able to make it to the semifinal round with three teams who swept us during the regular-season, so to be able to come out and exact some revenge against Western Washington, it's a great feeling,” said Coach Stevens. “Now, we have to go up against an Anchorage team that thumped us pretty good twice during the regular-season. We will have to make some better shots and be a bit better defensively if we hope to contain the best player in the league, Taylor Rhode, and the rest of the Seawolves.”
 
Saturday's championship game between the second-seeded Seawolves and fifth-seeded Yellowjackets is slated to get under way at 5:15 p.m. Pacific time (6:15 p.m. Mountain time) and will be televised on Root Sports.