BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Men's Basketball team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week hosting Central Washington University and Northwest Nazarene University.

MSUB heads into Conference play with a 3-3 record overall having beat three of four NAIA Frontier conference teams they faced this season, Carroll College, Rocky Mountain and Montana State University Northern. The Jackets are seventh in scoring in the GNAC going into conference play averaging 71.8 points per game. They go into GNAC play with the second rated defense allowing only 70.0 points per game.

The Jackets are shooting .301 percent from three point range but are holding opponents to just .255 percent which is also second best in the conference. MSUB holds a slight margin in rebounding, pulling down 31.3 per game while opponents average 30.1. MSUB ranks fifth in the GNAC for assists, averaging 14.7 per contest.

The Jackets are led by Jonathan Mesghna 14.2 points per game and 6.0 rebounds. Kalob Hatcher averages 12.8 points and leads the team in assists dishing out 37 on the year thus far. Connor Donaldson averages 12.3 points per game and 3.3 rebounds while shooting .333 percent from three point range. Austin Hudson averages 11.0 points per game to go with 5.5 rebounds and is coming off his best performance of the season, scoring 25 points and gathering in 12 rebounds against MSUN.

The Jackets will welcome Central Washington to Alterowitz gym, Thursday Dec. 5th for the kickoff of conference play. It will be Tougher then Tobacco Black out Night sponsored by the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program.

The Wildcats are led by the conference's top scorer, Mark McLaughlin, who averages 28.0 points per game. CWU goes into GNAC play with a 3-2 record following a win against Colorado Christian University where McLaughlin erupted for a career high 42 points. JB Pillard averages 13.0 points per game and Kevin Davis averages 12.5 points per game.

The Wildcats are second in the conference in scoring averaging 87.0 points per game, but rank last in the conference in scoring defense allowing opponents to average 90.0 points per game. The Jackets are 4-13 all-time against the Wildcats, but split games last year defeating CWU 83-78 at Alterowitz.

The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 P.M. The first 100 students through the door will receive a free shirt and be qualified for a fifty dollar gift certificate raffle. Live video and stats can be found at MSUBSPORTS.COM.

On Saturday Dec. 7th, the Jackets welcome in Northwest Nazarene University. The Crusaders are 1-5 on the year with their lone win coming against Willamette University. They are led by Mario Donaldson who averages 14.0 points per game. Kevin Rima averages 11.5 points per game and Michael Loomis averages 10.2 points as well.

NNU ranks 10th in the conference, averaging 65.2 points per game while ranking eight in scoring defense allowing opponents to score 75.7 points per game. The Jackets are 16-11 all-time against the Crusaders, having won eight of the last ten meetings along with a sweep of last year's games winning the game at Alterowitz 87-63.

The game is slated to being at 7:00 P.M. with live video and stats available at MSUBSPORTS.COM.