Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The magic ran out Friday afternoon for the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team. The Yellowjackets, running on fumes following their late-season surge, fell to 16^th-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament West Regional hosted by Western Washington University.
 
The No. 7 seed Yellowjackets' season comes to an end with a record of 18-12 overall following their 10^th appearance in the “Big Dance.” The second-seeded Seawolves, making their 16^th appearance in the tournament, improve to 23-6 and advance to the semifinal round where they will play the Falcons of Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Seattle Pacific University tomorrow at 5 p.m.
 
“I have to credit Anchorage today, they were, by far, the better team , and Taylor Rhode, he played like the all-region player he is,” said first-year head coach Jamie Stevens. “We just did not have an answer for him. We tried to do a couple of things differently defensively on him, but he's just hard to stop one-on-one. He also has some other really good players around him so it was a really tough match-up and that is why they are a really good team.”
 
MSUB ended the game shooting 45.6% (26-57) after starting the game shooting just 37% from the field. The Yellowjackets hit just six three-pointers and went 50% from the free throw line as they struggled to find an offensive answer for Anchorage's three-point prowess.
 
“When it gets down to these tournament games, the teams that win are the teams that can play with energy, that can make shots and can have a little bit of luck on their sides,” Stevens stated. “We just did not make shots today, this was the worst we shot all year. For us to miss 10 free throws, I don't have the words to describe that because we haven't missed 10 free throws all year because we are usually a really good free throw shooting team. We also did not shoot the ball very well from three-point range and in the end you have got to make shots, but we did not do that today.
 
A week removed from averaging just over 18 points per game, Robert Mayes had one of his best games of the year as he scored 29 points and brought down eight rebounds. The GNAC Tournament Most Valuable Player went 12-14 from the field to lead MSUB.
 
Senior guard Antoine Proctor was the only other MSUB player to score in double figures as the Daktronics All-Region first team member finished his night with 13 points and seven assists.
 
The Seawolves ended the game shooting 60% (27-45) from the field including going 68.2% in the second half. Anchorage went 7-for-8 from beyond the arc in the second half as the Seawolves got hot at just the right time to hold off the Yellowjackets.
 
West Region Player of the Year Taylor Rhode ended the game with 32 points off an 11-18 performance from the field. The Seawolves' starting center also went 10-11 from the charity stripe and brought down 11 rebounds for a double-double.
 
MSUB was able to gain an early lead, going up by three when Proctor drilled a three from the left side to kick-start the game.
 
But Anchorage would not be contained for a second game in a row as the Seawolves took the lead for the final time off a pair of Rhode free throws with 13:40 remaining in the first half. Anchorage would eventually take a 32-26 lead into halftime and never looked back despite the Yellowjackets pulling to within three points several times in the second half.
 
With 34.6 remaining on the shot clock, Coach Stevens pulled the last of his six seniors from the court, allowing each one to make their way one-by-one to the bench to the applause of the Yellowjacket faithful who made the trip to Bellingham.
 
“Hopefully, our returners will take this loss and use it to motivate them over the off-season, but I do want to thank our six seniors for a great run, and a great season,” Stevens said shortly after the game. “They were not perfect at times, but they sure did bust their tails for us and they did go out on the right note. They're going to be Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions the rest of their livesand they're going to be an NCAA tournament team the rest of their lives and nobody can ever take that away from them so I am happy for them.”