LAS VEGAS, Nev. –The Montana State University Billings Men's Basketball team fell to Nationally Ranked Dixie State University, 83-65 Friday night in the Dixie State Challenge at the Orleans Arena.

The Jackets, who fall to 5-5 overall 1-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference, were led by Connor Donaldson who scored 18 points and had five rebounds. Jonanthan Mesghna had 11 points to go with eight rebounds for MSUB.

The Dixie Red Storm, ranked 8th in the Men's Basketball Coaches of America/NCAA Division II/Top 25 Poll are now 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the Pacific Athletic Conference West. They were led by Dalton Groskreutz who had a game high 23 points and Dequan Thompson's 17 points to go with 7 rebounds. Zach Robbins had 14 points and five rebounds as well.

MSUB was out rebounded 38-27. The Jackets shot 37.7 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three point range and 64.7 percent from the free throw line. Dixie State shot 59.3 percent from the field, 42.6 percent from three point land and 69.6 percent from the charity stripe.

"Dixie is a great team and they played better than us tonight," head coach Jamie Stevens said. "We played hard and I was pleased with how several of our guys stepped up and competed. I thought overall we got better as a team."

The Jackets will make one more stop before the holiday break, taking on Division I Long Beach State University. The 49ers are 2-6 on the year coming off a 72-71 win over the University of Southern California,

They are led by Mike Caffey who averages 16.0 points per game to go with 4.0 rebounds. Dan Jennings averages 12.7 points and is the team's leading rebounder pulling down an average of 8.3 per game.

The 49ers played in the Purto Rico Tip Off earlier in the year taking on powerhouses Kansas State University, University of Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth University. The closest game was against VCU in which they lost 73-67.

The game against MSUB will count as an exhibition for the Yellowjackets. It is scheduled to begin at 12:00 P.M PST (1:00 PM MST). Coverage of the game can be found at http://www.longbeachstate.com/


Newspaper Box Score
Mont. St. Billings vs Dixie St.
12/19/13 6:30 pm at Las Vegas, NV (Orleans Arena)
At Las Vegas, NV (Orleans Arena)
DIXIE ST. 83, MONT. ST. BILLINGS 65
MONT. ST. BILLINGS (5-5)
Donaldson,Connor 7-13 1-2 18; Mesghan,Jonathan 4-17 1-2 11; Nelson,Tyler 3-6
3-3 9; Wallace,Devon 3-4 0-0 7; Anderson,Jace 3-4 0-0 6; Hatcher,Kalob 0-2
5-8 5; Matthews,Marc 1-4 1-2 4; Miller,Chase 1-5 0-0 3; Desin,Danny 1-4 0-0
2; Adams,Luke 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 11-17 65.
DIXIE ST. (9-0)
Groskreutz, Dalton 11-17 1-3 23; Thompson, DeQuan 5-8 6-6 17; Robbins, Zach
5-6 4-5 14; Payne, Kimball 3-7 2-4 8; Nielson, Robbie 3-4 2-2 8; Sawyer,
Mason 3-3 0-1 7; Papenfuss, Curtis 1-2 0-0 3; Rex, Jordan 1-2 1-2 3; Ensign,
Nate 0-0 0-0 0; Williams, Darius 0-1 0-0 0; Saunders, Braden 0-0 0-0 0;
Clegg, Landon 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 32-54 16-23 83.
Mont. St. Billings............ 30 35 - 65
Dixie St...................... 42 41 - 83
3-point goals--Mont. St. Billings 8-28 (Donaldson,Connor 3-7;
Mesghan,Jonathan 2-7; Miller,Chase 1-5; Wallace,Devon 1-2; Matthews,Marc
1-3; Desin,Danny 0-3; Anderson,Jace 0-1), Dixie St. 3-7 (Thompson, DeQuan
1-1; Sawyer, Mason 1-1; Papenfuss, Curtis 1-1; Clegg, Landon 0-2;
Groskreutz, Dalton 0-2). Fouled out--Mont. St. Billings-None, Dixie
St.-None. Rebounds--Mont. St. Billings 27 (Mesghan,Jonathan 8), Dixie St. 38
(Payne, Kimball 7; Thompson, DeQuan 7). Assists--Mont. St. Billings 14
(Hatcher,Kalob 6), Dixie St. 19 (Payne, Kimball 5). Total fouls--Mont. St.
Billings 21, Dixie St. 16. Technical fouls--Mont. St. Billings-None, Dixie
St.-None. A-288
DSU Ranked #8