Box Score Stevens Interview

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BILLINGS, Mont. –The Montana State University Billings Men's Basketball team defeated rival Rocky Mountain College 81-72 Wednesday night at Alterowitz gym.

The Jackets avenged an earlier season loss to the bears on the back of a great all around team performance in front of a packed Alterowitz gym. MSUB had five players score double figures; Kalob Hatcher led the way coming two rebounds short of a triple double. Hatcher had 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds followed by Jonathan Mesghna who had 15 points and six rebounds; Connor Donaldson also had 15 points, Austin Hudson had his best game of the year with 13 points and eight rebounds, Danny Desin scored eleven points.

Rocky had three players hit double figures, Malachi Roberts had a game high 19 points, Joel Brandt had a double-double scoring 15 points and gathering in 11 rebounds and Sian Laine scored 11 points.

MSUB shot 43.3 percent while Rocky shot 43.1 percent. The Jackets won the rebound battle, grabbing 37 compared to Rocky's 30; The Jackets also dished out more assists then the Bears, 18 to 11. Rocky held a slight turnover advantage forcing 11 Yellowjacket turnovers while turning the ball over 10 times.

Rocky out muscled the Jackets in the paint scoring 40 of their 72 points from down low while MSUB managed 24 points in the paint. The Bears were also able to convert turnovers into points more effectively then the Yellowjackets, converting 19 points off of turnovers while MSUB scored nine. The Bears bench also slightly out produced the Jacket bench 25-20. But the Jackets used the three point shot to counter Rocky's down low presence, MSUB hit 11-28 for 39.3 percent and Rocky hit 4-25 for 16.0 percent from three point range.

"It was a good win for the guys," Head Coach Jamie Stevens said. "Guys responded, played well and did some good things defensively. We rebounded better and didn't give up as many second chance points".

Rocky started the game off with a bang going on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of play. The Jackets would fight back and bring the score to 9-9 six minutes into the game after Chase Miller knocked down a three point shot. The seven point led to start the game would be Rocky's biggest lead of the night as the first half was back and forth with five ties and five led changes.

Going into the half MSUB led by four, 36-32 after Hudson scored eight of his thirteen points and Hatcher scored ten of his 14 points. The Jackets would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game as Rocky could never quit close the gap and take a led. The Jackets came out firing from behind the three point arc hitting 8-15 second half attempts which would help extend the led to 53-41 after Meshgna and Donaldson went back and forth hitting threes for MSUB. The two hit five threes in 5 minutes, Meshgna hit three and Donaldson hit two. After the shooting barrage out the Jackets up by ten, Rocky never could quite close the gap going cold from three point range hitting just 3-16 resulting in MSUB grabbing the win 82-71.

"It was a great crowd, our students are great and there was a lot of energy in the building," Stevens said "I thought both teams played well, overall it was great win for our team."


Newspaper Box Score
Rocky Mountain College vs Montana State Billings
11/20/13 7:00pm at Alterowitz Gym
At Alterowitz Gym
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS 81, ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE 72
ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE (3-3, 0-0 Fronter)
Roberts,Malachi 5-12 6-6 19; Brandt,Joel 6-13 2-4 15; Laine,Sian 4-11 3-4
11; Little,Danny 4-5 0-0 8; Anderson, Tyree 4-11 0-0 8; Graves,Derek 3-4 0-0
6; Strickland, Matt 2-4 0-0 4; Moerkerke,Ben 0-2 1-2 1; Rob Nyby 0-2 0-0 0;
Moriarty,Collin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-65 12-16 72.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (2-3, 0-0 GNAC)
Donaldson,Connor 5-12 2-3 15; Mesghan,Jonathan 4-15 4-6 15; Hatcher,Kalob
3-7 7-7 14; Hudson,Austin 6-7 1-2 13; Desin,Danny 4-8 0-2 11; Nelson,Tyler
1-3 3-6 5; Miller,Chase 2-4 0-0 5; Wallace,Devon 1-3 1-2 3; Matthews,Marc
0-1 0-0 0; Anderson,Jace 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 18-28 81.
Rocky Mountain College........ 32 40 - 72
Montana State Billings........ 36 45 - 81
3-point goals--Rocky Mountain College 4-25 (Roberts,Malachi 3-9; Brandt,Joel
1-4; Anderson, Tyree 0-3; Graves,Derek 0-1; Strickland, Matt 0-2; Rob Nyby
0-1; Moriarty,Collin 0-1; Laine,Sian 0-4), Montana State Billings 11-27
(Donaldson,Connor 3-5; Mesghan,Jonathan 3-9; Desin,Danny 3-5; Hatcher,Kalob
1-3; Miller,Chase 1-3; Matthews,Marc 0-1; Wallace,Devon 0-1). Fouled
out--Rocky Mountain College-None, Montana State Billings-Hudson,Austin.
Rebounds--Rocky Mountain College 29 (Brandt,Joel 11), Montana State Billings
37 (Hudson,Austin 8; Hatcher,Kalob 8). Assists--Rocky Mountain College 11
(Anderson, Tyree 4), Montana State Billings 18 (Hatcher,Kalob 11). Total
fouls--Rocky Mountain College 19, Montana State Billings 15. Technical
fouls--Rocky Mountain College-None, Montana State Billings-Hudson,Austin.
A-1622