Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. - The Montana State University Billings Men's basketball team dropped a road game against Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Northwest Nazarene University, 66-60 Thursday night.  But do to a little help from Seattle Pacific University who beat Central Washington University (91-59), MSUB clinches the final playoff spot in the GNAC post-season tournament.

The Yellowjackets (12-13, 8-9 GNAC) were led by Jonathan Mesghna who scored a team high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds.  Austin Hudson finished with a double-double of 12 points and ten rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year. 
Marc Matthews had 11 points and six points while Kalob Hatcher continued his torrent assists pace, dishing out a game high 10 assists.  He finished with eight points as well.   

The Crusaders (7-18, 5-12 GNAC) were paced by a game high 28 points on 10-18 shooting from Mario Donaldson.  Kevin Rima had 13 points and seven rebounds for NNU.
MSUB held a five point lead, in a surprisingly low scoring first half, going into halftime, 29-24.

The Yellowjackets opened up a ten point lead at the beginning of the second half after a three pointer and a jump shot by Mesghna. 
NNU regained the lead with eleven minutes remaining 43-42 after Pol Oliver hit a jumper.  MSUB never let NNU too far out of their sights, as the furthest the Yellowjackets fell behind was eight points.  The Yellowjackets closed the gap to within one basket multiple times, but never could quite get over the hump and regain the lead.  

The last gasp for MSUB came with twelve second left with NNU leading 62-60 after Mesghna hit a huge three from the top left of the arc. NNU inbounded the ball and MSUB fouled with ten second left to send Matays Hearing to the free throw line.  He knocked down both shots to put NNU up by four, 64-60.  MSUB turned the ball over on the next possession and thus sealed their fate as NNU would hit one more pair of free throws and go onto the 66-60 win. 
MSU-Billings finished shooting 35.1 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three point range.  NNU shot 32.6 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from behind the arc.

The Yellowjackets finish up their regular season with a trip to play Central Washington.  The game is Sat. Mar. 1 at 7:30 PM PT.  Live video and stats can be found at MSUBSPORTS.COM.  With seeding now determined, MSUB (as the 6th seed) will play the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (as the third seed) in the opening round of the conference tournament.  

"We just did not make enough plays to win tonight," head coach Jamie Stevens said.  "All the credit goes to NNU.  Moving forward we are excited about the GNAC tournament.  Three weeks ago, things did not look good.  Our four game win streak was incredible.  Our focus is now on UAF on Wednesday.  We are 0-0 right now and will use the next few days and the game Saturday to prepare for Wed."

Newspaper Box Score
Montana State Billings vs Northwest Nazarene
02/27/14 7:30 pm at Nampa, ID
At Nampa, ID
NORTHWEST NAZARENE 66, MONTANA STATE BILLINGS 60
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (12-13, 8-9 GNAC)
Mesghna,Jonathan 9-16 3-3 26; Hudson,Austin 5-10 2-3 12; Matthews,Marc 4-9
0-0 11; Hatcher,Kalob 1-8 5-6 8; Wallace,Devon 1-3 0-0 3; Nelson,Tyler 0-1
0-0 0; Miller,Chase 0-5 0-0 0; Desin,Danny 0-3 0-0 0; Donaldson, Connor 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 20-57 10-12 60.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (7-18, 5-12 GNAC)
Donaldson,Mario 10-18 2-2 28; Rima,Kevin 4-11 5-6 13; Moore,Grayson 2-10 2-3
8; Hering,Matyas 1-4 4-4 6; Isaak,Derek 2-7 0-0 6; Perryman,Shayne 1-2 0-0
3; Olivier,Pol 1-4 0-0 2; Loomis,Michael 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 13-15 66.
Montana State Billings........   29   31  -   60
Northwest Nazarene............   24   42  -   66
3-point goals--Montana State Billings 10-32 (Mesghna,Jonathan 5-11;
Matthews,Marc 3-6; Hatcher,Kalob 1-5; Wallace,Devon 1-2; Miller,Chase 0-4;
Desin,Danny 0-3; Donaldson, Connor 0-1), Northwest Nazarene 11-23
(Donaldson,Mario 6-6; Moore,Grayson 2-4; Isaak,Derek 2-5; Perryman,Shayne
1-2; Loomis,Michael 0-2; Olivier,Pol 0-3; Hering,Matyas 0-1). Fouled
out--Montana State Billings-Wallace,Devon, Northwest Nazarene-None.
Rebounds--Montana State Billings 38 (Hudson,Austin 10), Northwest Nazarene
39 (Moore,Grayson 11). Assists--Montana State Billings 13 (Hatcher,Kalob
10), Northwest Nazarene 8 (Hering,Matyas 2; Donaldson,Mario 2). Total
fouls--Montana State Billings 19, Northwest Nazarene 17. Technical
fouls--Montana State Billings-None, Northwest Nazarene-None. A-226