Box Score Stevens Interview                                                   Gallery 



BILLINGS, Mont. –The Montana State University Billings Men's Basketball fell to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 79-70 Saturday night at Alterowitz Gym.

In a back and fourth game, MSUB held a two point lead going into half time, 34-32. The Jackets were ahead by as much as 12 in the first half but allowed UAF to claw back into the game.

Neither team could pull away from the other until late in the second half UAF was able to hit a couple of big shots in the waning minutes of play as MSUB went cold going 1-5 in the last two minutes of play.

With three minutes and nine second left, UAF held a 65-63 lead then went on a 10-0 run after back-to-back three point shots to give UAF a 63-62 lead with one minute and twenty five seconds left.

The Jackets could not close the gap and UAF would go on to slip away with the 79-70 win.

"Fairbanks was much better than us tonight," head coach Jamie Stevens said. "This is becoming a symptom of our team, we come out and play really well Thursday, then three straight Saturdays we just haven't gotten it done. That falls on us as coaches and we need to find a different recipe for our preparation Friday before a Saturday game. Fairbanks played better and coached better so they deserved to win."

MSUB finished with three players in double figures led by Austin Hudson who had a game high 24 points to go with seven rebounds. Jonathan Mesghna scored 17 points to go with four rebounds and finished 5-9 from three point territory. Kalob Hatcher scored 16 points and had 6 assists, just under his season average of 6.8 per game.

The Nanooks finished with four players in double figures led by Ronnie Baker who had a team high 18 points and a game high seven assists. Sergej Pucar finished with 16 points and five boards while Stefan Tica scored 15 points. Joe Slocum had 11 points as well.

UAF shot 56.0 percent from the field including a staggering 70.0 percent in the second half. The Nanooks would also go 10-19 from three point range good for 52.6 percent. MSUB would finish shooting 45.6 percent from the field and go 10-25 from behind the arc for 40.0 percent.

The Yellowjackets hit the road next week as they travel to play Simon Fraser University as well as nationally ranked Western Washington University.

"We have to buy in on some things and get our minds right," Stevens said. "We only have 48 days and 12 games left and that is all we are promised. If we want to move on an extend the season we have to quit having big time highs on Thursdays followed by big time lows on Saturdays."

Newspaper Box Score
UAF vs Montana State Billings
1/11/14 7:00 PM at Alterowitz Gym, Billings Mont.
At Alterowitz Gym, Billings Mont.
UAF 79, MONTANA STATE BILLINGS 70
UAF (7-5,2-2 GNAC)
Baker,Ronnie 6-10 5-5 18; Pucar,Sergej 5-12 2-2 16; Tica,Stefan 5-7 3-7 15;
Slocum,Joe 3-5 3-4 11; Kelly,Andrew 4-5 0-0 8; Reese,Anthony 3-4 0-0 7;
Pierson,Cody 1-2 0-2 2; Bills,Dallen 1-3 0-0 2; Renfro,John 0-0 0-0 0;
Allen,Rashaad 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 13-20 79.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (7-6,3-2 GNAC)
Hudson,Austin 9-14 5-8 24; Mesghna,Jonathan 6-10 0-0 17; Hatcher,Kalob 7-10
1-1 16; Matthews,Marc 1-3 1-2 4; Nelson,Tyler 1-3 0-0 3; Miller,Chase 1-8
0-0 3; Wallace,Devon 1-6 0-0 2; Adams,Luke 0-0 1-2 1; Anderson,Jace 0-0 0-0
0; Desin,Danny 0-2 0-0 0; Donaldson,Connor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 8-13 70.
UAF........................... 32 47 - 79
Montana State Billings........ 34 36 - 70
3-point goals--UAF 10-19 (Pucar,Sergej 4-9; Slocum,Joe 2-3; Tica,Stefan 2-3;
Reese,Anthony 1-1; Baker,Ronnie 1-1; Allen,Rashaad 0-1; Pierson,Cody 0-1),
Montana State Billings 10-25 (Mesghna,Jonathan 5-9; Miller,Chase 1-5;
Hudson,Austin 1-1; Matthews,Marc 1-2; Hatcher,Kalob 1-2; Nelson,Tyler 1-1;
Desin,Danny 0-2; Wallace,Devon 0-3). Fouled out--UAF-None, Montana State
Billings-None. Rebounds--UAF 26 (Kelly,Andrew 7), Montana State Billings 27
(Hudson,Austin 7). Assists--UAF 16 (Baker,Ronnie 7), Montana State Billings
14 (Hatcher,Kalob 6). Total fouls--UAF 13, Montana State Billings 17.
Technical fouls--UAF-None, Montana State Billings-Hatcher,Kalob.