BILLINGS, Mont. – March Madness begins this week inside Alterowitz Gymnasium. With just two games left in the regular season, seeding in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament is on the line for the Montana State University Billings' men's basketball team this week.
The Yellowjackets (15-12, 8-8 GNAC) are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and have qualified for the conference tournament for the second straight season. MSUB welcomes a pair of teams that have also qualified for the GNAC tournament, Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks. UAA and UAF sit in third place currently in the conference standings, while MSU Billings is closely behind in fifth.
After dropping its last game at Saint Martin's, Montana State Billings cannot move to third. The Yellowjackets can move to fourth with a sweep this weekend, and a pair of losses by both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. MSU Billings falls to sixth with a pair of losses and two Central Washington wins. If UAA and UAF end up tied in the conference standings, then Anchorage holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the Nanooks in the regular season.
Western Washington, the third-ranked team in NCAA Div. II, locked up the top-seed in the conference tournament, and No. 4 Seattle Pacific will be the second seed. Both those teams receive first round byes in the GNAC tournament. The third seed opens against the sixth-seed, which will be either Central Washington or Western Oregon. The fourth-seed and fifth-seed is the other opening game on March 7, in Lacey, Wash.
“This is a very important week for our team and program,” MSUB Head Coach
Jamie Stevens said. “This is our last chance to fine tune some things before the GNAC tournament. We are also playing two teams that are ahead of us in the standings and teams that beat us badly early in the year. Furthermore, it is almost certain that we will open up with one of these teams next week at the GNAC tournament depending on where things end up. We need to play better than we did last week on the road. Hopefully, playing at home will get us going again.”
Possibly the hottest team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference comes to Billings Thursday, as the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (15-9, 10-6) brings its two-game win streak to Alterowitz Gymnasium. The Nanooks have won four of their past five contests, with the lone loss a two-point road setback at Alaska-Anchorage. They are also coming off of an upset win over previously-unbeaten No. 2 Western Washington. UAF snapped the Vikings' 30-game win streak behind Sergej Pucar's career-high 26 points. The junior is fifth in the conference in rebounds per game, grabbing 7.2 per contest. He is also second in the GNAC in three-point field goal percentage, making 48 percent of his shots from behind-the-arc. Dominique Brinson leads the Nanooks with an average of 12.8 points per game. Pat Voeut leads the GNAC in assists per game (5.3) and is third in steals per game (1.7).
Alaska-Fairbanks held off a late rally by Montana State University Billings' to pick up an 80-73 win on Dec. 1. The Nanooks beat MSU Billings for only the second time in the last seven meetings. UAF finished 56 percent from the field, and made 14 of its 15 free-throw attempts. Alaska-Fairbanks was also 6-for-19 from three-point range. The Nanooks led for the entirety of the contest, leading by as many as 15 points late in the first half. Alaska-Fairbanks was led by Dominique Brinson's 20 points. He finished 6-of-9 from the field, making four of his seven attempts from behind the arc. Pat Voeut had 16 points, Ronnie Baker and Sergej Pucar both added 12, and Dallen Bills chipped in 10.
The University of Alaska-Anchorage (17-7, 10-6) is the eighth-ranked team in the NCAA Div. II West Region, have won three of its last four, and six of its last eight games. UAA is coming off of a close loss to No. 2 Western Washington. The Seawolves lead the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in assists per game (18.3). They are also second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.406) and scoring defense (68.2). Kyle Fossman leads the Seawolves with an average of 15.2 points per game. He is second in the conference making 2.7 three-pointers per game and fourth in free-throw percentage (.874). Liam Gibcus is second in the GNAC making 57 percent of his shots from the field. Jalen Little leads UAA with 3.6 assists per contest. He is fifth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Liam Gibcus is ninth, grabbing 6.8 rebounds per outing.
Earlier this season, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opening-game for both teams, No. 25 University of Alaska-Anchorage grabbed a 79-65 win over Montana State University Billings on No. 29. Alaska-Anchorage, which is now 29-4 against MSUB in Anchorage, outrebounded Montana State Billings, 48-25. UAA's 25 offensive rebounds, matched MSU Billings' total rebounds. That margin led to a 28-13 second-chance point advantage for the Seawolves. The Yellowjackets led three times, with the last lead coming just three minutes into the game, 7-6. UAA finished 42 percent from the field. The Yellowjackets shot 45 percent from the field.
Montana State Billings is asking fans to “Swarm the Hive” for Thursday's matchup with UAF. The game will be sponsored by Qdoba, who hosts a college night with $5 burritos and regular drink combos every Monday after 4 p.m. Qdoba will be giving every fan buy one, get one free coupons, along with T-Shirts to students.
Saturday is Senior Night for the Yellowjackets.
Jarrell Crayton,
Omar McDade,
Cameron Cusworth, and
David Arnold will be playing their final games in Alterowitz Gymnasium. The seniors will be honored immediately following the game against Alaska-Anchorage.
Both Thursday and Saturday's matchups will have live video and stats on MSUBSports.com. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. tipoffs.
