Box Score


BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team grabbed its third consecutive victory with an 88-74 win over Western Oregon University Saturday.

The Yellowjackets (11-9, 4-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) finished with five double-digit scorers. David Arnold led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Kalob Hatcher made four of his five three-point attempts and finished with 16 points. The junior added a game-high six assists. Sam Johnson contributed 12 points, while Omar McDade and Robby Trabing both had 11. Jarrell Crayton, Johnson and Trabing grabbed six rebounds each. Arnold and McDade both had five assists.

In the final game of the first half of the conference schedule, Montana State Billings shot 47 percent from the field, including 12-of-25 from behind-the-arc. The 48-percent shooting from three-point range was a season-high for MSU Billings. It was also 14-for-19 from the free-throw line. MSUB had a 34-28 rebound advantage, and forced 14 Western Oregon turnovers, while committing 12.

Montana State Billings controlled the game, which featured one tie and one lead change. The Wolves led 4-3 just over two minutes into the contest. With the scored tied at 11 at the 12:43 mark of the first half, MSUB went on a 15-4 run. The Yellowjackets led by as many as 15, twice in the first half. MSU Billings made 53 percent of its shots in the opening half, while Western Oregon hit 52 percent of its shots. The Yellowjackets were 6-of-10 from behind-the-arc, while WOU was 1-for-9.

A Cameron Cusworth jumper seven minutes into the second half, gave MSUB a 57-39 lead. Six minutes later, Devon Wallace made a three-pointer and gave the Yellowjackets a 74-54 advantage. A free-throw by Johnson at the 4:18 mark of the second half gave MSU Billings its largest lead of the game, 88-62.

Kolton Nelson led the Wolves (8-9, 3-6 GNAC) with 14 points off of the bench. He made six of his nine attempts from the field. Andy Avgi had 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Devon Alexander and Jordan Wiley both scored 10. WOU finished 46 percent from the field, 4-of-16 from three-point range, and 24-for-30 from the free-throw line.

Montana State Billings won its third straight game over Western Oregon behind a 30-24 points in the paint advantage. The Yellowjackets also turned the WOU turnovers into 14 points. MSUB's 10 offensive rebounds turned into a 9-2 second chance points advantage as well.

The Yellowjackets ride their three-game win streak to the No. 2 team in NCAA Div. II, Western Washington, Thursday. The Vikings (18-0, 9-0) knocked off Alaska-Fairbanks at home Saturday, 79-66. The 24th straight win for the defending national champions, WWU, broke a school record. Western Washington won the meeting earlier this season in Billings, 95-80. The Yellowjackets are 0-8 all-time at WWU. Thursday's tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Live video and stats will be available on MSUBSports.com.

MSUB – WESTERN OREGON POSTGAME NOTES
* Western Oregon and the Yellowjackets met for the 16th time Saturday.
* MSU Billings is now 9-6 all-time versus Western Oregon.
* Montana State Billings is 7-1 against WOU in Billings all-time.
* MSUB has won five straight in Billings over the Wolves with the lone home loss coming on Feb. 14, 2008.
* The series dates back to the first meeting on Jan. 23, 1999. A 111-87 win by MSUB at home.
* Montana State Billings shot a season-high 48 percent from behind-the-arc.

Western Oregon vs MSU Billings
01/26/13 7:30 p.m. at Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gym)
At Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gym)
MSU BILLINGS 88, WESTERN OREGON 74
WESTERN OREGON (8-9, 3-6 GNAC)
Nelson,Kolton 6-9 2-4 14; Avgi,Andy 5-7 1-2 11; Alexander,Devon 3-8 3-4 10;
Wiley,Jordan 3-8 2-2 10; Funk,Tyler 2-4 4-4 9; Schriber,Jordan 2-4 4-4 8;
Webster,Rodney 0-3 7-8 7; Gehring,James 1-3 1-2 3; Carter,Nathaniel 1-2 0-0
2; Thompson,Connor 0-0 0-0 0; Troxel,Brandon 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson,Drew 0-2 0-0
0. Totals 23-50 24-30 74.
MSU BILLINGS (11-9, 4-5 GNAC)
Arnold,David 7-13 3-4 19; Hatcher,Kalob 5-7 2-2 16; Johnson,Sam 5-12 1-3 12;
Trabing,Robby 4-7 3-3 11; McDade,Omar 3-8 3-3 11; Crayton,Jarrell 3-5 2-4 9;
Wallace,Devon 3-4 0-0 8; Cusworth,Cameron 1-4 0-0 2; Desin,Danny 0-2 0-0 0;
Hook,Jimmy 0-1 0-0 0; Nelson,Tyler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 14-19 88.
Western Oregon................   33   41  -   74
MSU Billings..................   46   42  -   88
3-point goals--Western Oregon 4-16 (Wiley,Jordan 2-7; Alexander,Devon 1-2;
Funk,Tyler 1-1; Webster,Rodney 0-1; Johnson,Drew 0-2; Schriber,Jordan 0-2;
Nelson,Kolton 0-1), MSU Billings 12-25 (Hatcher,Kalob 4-5; Arnold,David 2-3;
McDade,Omar 2-4; Wallace,Devon 2-3; Crayton,Jarrell 1-1; Johnson,Sam 1-3;
Desin,Danny 0-2; Hook,Jimmy 0-1; Cusworth,Cameron 0-2; Trabing,Robby 0-1).
Fouled out--Western Oregon-None, MSU Billings-Cusworth,Cameron.
Rebounds--Western Oregon 28 (Avgi,Andy 7), MSU Billings 34 (Johnson,Sam 6;
Trabing,Robby 6; Crayton,Jarrell 6). Assists--Western Oregon 10
(Wiley,Jordan 3), MSU Billings 19 (Hatcher,Kalob 6). Total fouls--Western
Oregon 21, MSU Billings 21. Technical fouls--Western Oregon-None, MSU
Billings-None. A-608