FULL GAME NOTES

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team hosts its first home Great Northwest Athletic Conference games of the season against Simon Fraser University (B.C.) and No. 5 Western Washington University Thursday and Saturday.

The Yellowjackets (7-6, 0-2 GNAC) have been up-and-down for the past month, trading each win with a loss in the past six contests. MSUB will be looking for its first conference win of the season after a pair of setbacks in Alaska to open GNAC play. Montana State Billings enters the week off of an 86-76 victory over Carroll College last Saturday.

"We are excited to finally get back to GNAC games," MSUB Head Coach Jamie Stevens said. "It's good to be able to focus solely on leagues games for the next two months. Obviously, with leagues games come extreme challenges. At this point, our focus is the same that it has been all year; try to get better every day and hopefully we are playing our best basketball over the next two months. The top six teams make the league tournament and our challenge is to find a way to get in to that top six. This week's game are important. Home games to start and we need to get off to a good start before we hit the road again." 

MSU Billings' Jarrell Crayton recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season in the win over Carroll. The senior was named honorable mention GNAC Player of the Week after his 22-point, nine-rebound performance. He leads the Yellowjackets with an average of 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kalob Hatcher is third in the conference in assists per game (4.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0).

As a team, Montana State Billings is averaging 75 points per outing, while allowing an average of 73 points. MSUB remains 10th in the GNAC in field goal percentage offense (.433) and defense (.477). Its .630 free-throw percentage and .303 three-point field goal percentage are also 10th. The Yellowjackets have done well grabbing offensive rebounds (12.7 per game, 4th in GNAC) and taking care of the ball (+3.8 turnover margin, 3rd in GNAC).

Simon Fraser (5-4, 0-1 GNAC) won its first four games of the season, but have dropped four of their last five contests entering Thursday's matchup with Montana State Billings. The Clan averaged a conference-best 102 points through their first four games, but have averaged 68.6 points in their last five outings. On the defensive side of the ball, SFU held its opponents to a GNAC-best 55.8 points in the first four games, while it has allowed an average of 82.2 points in the last five games. Simon Fraser is taking away 9.7 steals per game, which is second in the conference.

David Gebru leads the Clan in scoring at 17.3 point per outing, and he tops the conference with 1.9 blocks per game. Anto Olah leads the GNAC in rebounds at 8.5 per game. Elijah Matthews is first in the conference averaging 3.4 three-pointers made per game, while shooting 61 percent from behind the perimeter, which is third in the GNAC.

The Clan will be looking for their first victory at Montana State Billings. In a series that only dates back to 2000, MSUB has won all three contests played in Billings. The Yellowjackets hold a 4-1 advantage over SFU all-time. MSU Billings cruised to a 94-74 win in Burnaby, B.C., in the last meeting last season. But, last season's matchup in Billings was a thriller, as the Yellowjackets rallied from 19-point halftime deficit to win 93-90.

Saturday, Montana State Billings entertains fifth-ranked Western Washington. The Vikings (10-0, 1-0) continue their dominance at the NCAA Div. II level, with a national-best 16-game win streak. MSU Billings handed WWU its last loss, an 82-78 upset in the GNAC Tournament semifinals last season. The defending national champions were selected second in this year's GNAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. They've opened the season winning their first 10 games by an average of 24.6 points, which is fourth in the country. The fifth-ranked Vikings clash with No. 7 Seattle Pacific Thursday, before coming to Billings.

Preseason GNAC Player of the Year, John Allen, has lived up to the hype, averaging 18.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. The senior transfer from Washington State is making 2.6 shots from behind-the-arc per outing. Paul Jones and Richard Woodworth were preseason All-Conference selections. Jones is shooting a conference-best 70 percent from three-point range. WWU tops the GNAC in five major statistical categories.

Western Washington has won 14 of the 17 all-time meetings with the Yellowjackets. MSUB is 2-6 in Billings against the Vikings, and 0-8 in Bellingham.

This week's games are the fourth and fifth of a five-game home-stand. Montana State Billings plays road games until a Jan. 24 matchup with Saint Martin's. All children sixth-grade or under receive free admission to all Montana State Billings' home contests. Thursday and Saturday's tipoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on MSUBSports.com.