BILLINGS, Mont. –The Montana State University Billings Men's Basketball will kick off the New Year by traveling to play two Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents, Saint Martin's University and Western Oregon University.

MSUB will be playing for the first time in 12 days following the holiday break and last played an exhibition game against Division I California State University Long Beach. The Jackets lost to the 49ers 82-75.

The Jackets were led by three players in double figures. Austin Hudson scored 18 points to go with three rebounds, Jonathan Mesghna finished with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Marc Matthews scored a career best 17 points.

The last game to count for MSUB was against Dixie State in which the Red Storm beat the Jackets 83-65. The Red Storm were ranked 8th in the Men's Basketball Coaches of America/NCAA Division II/Top 25 Poll, and are now ranked 7th.

MSUB is currently 5-5 overall and 1-1 in GNAC play which puts them in 5th overall in the conference standings.

The Jackets are currently averaging 72.4 points per game and have the number three ranked scoring defense (in GNAC play) only allowing opponents to score 70.2 points per game.

MSUB is being led by Mesghna who is leading the Jackets in scoring averaging 13.8 points per game and rebounding with 6.3 per game. Kalob Hatcher is currently second in the GNAC and 14th in the nation in assists per game averaging 6.5 per contest. He also averages 10.5 points per game.

Hudson averages 11.1 points per game to go with 5.3 rebounds per game and is Billings is the conference leader in field goal percentage with a 75.4 percentage. He is on pace to break the GNAC single-season record of 72.9 set by Wade Joseph of Northwest Nazarene University during the 2005-06 season as well as the MSUB single-season record of 65.2 set by Harvey Munford in 1964.

Connor Donaldson is the Jackets' second leading scorer averaging 12.7 points per game.

SMU is currently 6th in the GNAC with a record of 4-6 overall and 1-1 in GNAC play. The Saints are led by two outstanding upper classmen who are both in the top 15 in the conference in scoring.

Ryan Rodgers averages 15.6 points per game which is good enough for 9th in the GNAC. Evan Coulter is 12th in the GNAC averaging just one point less the Rodgers at 14.6 per contest. The saints are currently 9th in the GNAC in scoring per game averaging 71.2 while allowing opponents to score 75.3 points per game which is currently 7th in the conference.

The Saints are coming off back-to-back wins defeating Northwest Christian University 82-73 and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 66-61.

Saint Martin's and MSU Billings meet for the 22nd time. The Jackets have won 11-10 meetings and have won five of the last four. The team split meetings last year with both successfully defending their home court.

WOU is currently 4rth in the conference with a record of 8-4 overall and 1-1 GNAC. The Wolves have won six of their last seven, with the lone loss coming by one point at then-ranked No. 5 Western Washington. The Wolves' .434 field goal percentage defense is second in the GNAC, and they are also second in steals per game at 9.3.

The Wolves are led by four players scoring in double figures with a pair of players also in the top 15 in scoring. Rodney Webster leads the way averaging 14.2 points per game, which is 13th in the GNAC and is followed closely by Marwan Sarhan who averages 14.1, which is 14th in the GNAC.

Western Oregon and MSU Billings meet for the 17th time. MSUB has won 10 of the 16 meetings in a series that is 15 years old. The Yellowjackets have won four straight in the series.

The game against SMU is slated to begin at 7:00 PM PT on January 2nd. Stats and live video can be found at http://www.smusaints.com .

The game against WOU is scheduled to begin at 2:00 P.M. PT on January 4rth. Stats and live video can be found at http://www.wouwolves.com .