Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team picked up its second straight victory with a 77-64 win over Saint Martin's University (Wash.) Thursday.
“I thought we came out and did what we had to do,” MSUB Head Coach Jamie Steven said. “Our guys played with a lot of intensity, especially in the first half. I thought we turned the ball over a little too much, but I really liked our energy. I thought we played hard, and did just enough to win.”
The Yellowjackets (10-9, 3-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) were paced by four double-digit scorers.
Jarrell Crayton totaled a team-high 18 points. The senior finished 7-of-11 from the field.
David Arnold added 15 points,
Kalob Hatcher had 11, while
Devon Wallace contributed 10.
Robby Trabing grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Hatcher threw a game-high five assists.
Montana State Billings shot 46 percent from the field, 9-of-25 from behind-the-arc, and 16-for-22 from the free-throw line. MSUB outrebounded the Saints, 36-27.
The Yellowjackets had to fight for their fourth straight win over Saint Martin's, but led for almost the entirety of the game. Saint Martin's scored the game's first five points, and had its last lead, 10-9, at the 14:04 mark of the first half. A 12-4 MSUB run over the next five minutes gave the Yellowjackets a 21-14 lead.
An Arnold jumper with 1:21 left in the half gave MSU Billings its largest lead in the first stanza, 41-24. The Saints scored the final four points of the half, and trailed 41-28 at halftime. MSUB shot 51 percent from the field in the first half.
The Yellowjackets had a double-digit lead for the entire second half. Montana State Billings had its largest lead of the game, 76-56, after a fast-break three-point play by
Devon Wallace with 2:18 remaining in regulation. SMU closed the game on an 8-1 run.
Saint Martin's (6-10, 2-6 GNAC) was led by Roger O'Neill's game-high 23 points. He scored 16 of his 23 in the second half, and made 10 of his 14 attempts from the field throughout the game. O'Neill also had a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high four steals. Eric Taylor and Evan Coulter added 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Saints were 41 percent from the field, 5-of-19 from three-point range, and 13-for-21 from the free-throw line. SMU forced the Yellowjackets into 15 turnovers, and had a 24-16 points off of turnovers advantage. MSUB outscored the Saints, 28-22, in the paint.
“For us to get where we want, we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Stevens said. “Last Saturday's road win was a start, hopefully tonight adds to it, but our whole focus goes to this upcoming game Saturday. We have a big game Saturday night and that's the focal point right now.”
The Yellowjackets welcome Western Oregon (8-8, 3-5) Saturday. Seattle Pacific edged the Wolves in Seattle Thursday, 78-72. MSU Billings has won two straight over WOU, with the last meeting an 80-75 victory in the 2012 GNAC quarterfinals. The Wolves have lost six of their last eight contests. Saturday's tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings' women's game. Live video and stats will be on MSUBSports.com.
MSUB – SAINT MARTIN'S POSTGAME NOTES
* Thursday was the 20th all-time meeting between Montana State Billings and SMU.
* The Yellowjackets hold a slim 11-9 advantage in the all-time series.
* MSUB has won five of the past seven meetings.
* Saint Martin's last victory in the series was on Dec. 30, 2010, in Billings, 70-54.
* MSU Billings has won seven of the 10 all-time meetings in Billings.
* Saint Martin's four assists were a season-low by an MSUB opponent.
* SMU's Eric Taylor made nine of his 10 free-throw attempts, matching a Yellowjacket opponent's season-high free-throw makes in a game.
* The Saints have dropped six of their last eight games, including four of their last five.
Saint Martin's vs MSU Billings
01/24/13 7 p.m. at Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gym)
At Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gym)
MSU BILLINGS 77, SAINT MARTIN'S 64
SAINT MARTIN'S (6-10, 2-6 GNAC)
O'Neill,Roger 10-14 2-5 23; Taylor,Eric 1-10 9-10 11; Coulter,Evan 4-13 0-0
10; Bomber,Brady 2-5 2-2 8; Jensen,Rei 3-6 0-4 6; Dodson,Matt 2-4 0-0 4;
Shannon,Lucas 1-3 0-0 2; Bond,Will 0-1 0-0 0; Karnofski,Kyle 0-0 0-0 0;
Stoney,Garrett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 13-21 64.
MSU BILLINGS (10-9, 3-5 GNAC)
Crayton,Jarrell 7-11 4-6 18; Arnold,David 5-9 3-5 15; Hatcher,Kalob 3-5 4-4
11; Wallace,Devon 4-7 1-1 10; Johnson,Sam 2-5 3-4 9; McDade,Omar 3-11 0-0 8;
Cusworth,Cameron 1-4 0-0 3; Trabing,Robby 1-2 0-0 2; Nelson,Tyler 0-0 1-2 1;
Hook,Jimmy 0-1 0-0 0; Desin,Danny 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 16-22 77.
Saint Martin's................ 28 36 - 64
MSU Billings.................. 41 36 - 77
3-point goals--Saint Martin's 5-19 (Bomber,Brady 2-4; Coulter,Evan 2-8;
O'Neill,Roger 1-3; Bond,Will 0-1; Taylor,Eric 0-3), MSU Billings 9-25
(Arnold,David 2-5; Johnson,Sam 2-2; McDade,Omar 2-7; Cusworth,Cameron 1-4;
Wallace,Devon 1-3; Hatcher,Kalob 1-3; Desin,Danny 0-1). Fouled out--Saint
Martin's-Dodson,Matt, MSU Billings-None. Rebounds--Saint Martin's 27
(O'Neill,Roger 8), MSU Billings 36 (Trabing,Robby 9). Assists--Saint
Martin's 4 (Bomber,Brady 1; Dodson,Matt 1; O'Neill,Roger 1; Taylor,Eric 1),
MSU Billings 15 (Hatcher,Kalob 5). Total fouls--Saint Martin's 18, MSU
Billings 20. Technical fouls--Saint Martin's-None, MSU Billings-TEAM. A-406
