BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team returns to play in front of a home crowd in Alterowitz Gym for the first time since December 13, 2019. With 10 of their last 16 games at home, MSUB will look to put themselves in the top six of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in order to qualify for the post-season tournament.
 
MSUB (6-6, 1-3 GNAC) will need to make up some ground in the conference as they currently sit in eighth place making every game important. Having taken on three of the top six teams already, the 'Jackets will look to build on their first conference win over Concordia University last weekend.
 
"We are excited to be home for a couple important GNAC Games," said head coach Mick Durham. It is nice to settle into conference play and get into a Thursday/Saturday routine. We're continuing to improve and develop and think we still have some growth left. Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington have both been a little up and down like us. Both teams want to play at a good pace so transition defense is critical this weekend. Our rebounding has been much improved as the season has gone on and also will be critical if we want to have success this weekend."
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets split their games in Oregon falling to Western Oregon University 88-76 and defeating Concordia University 85-73.
 
Sophomore forward Brendan Howard finished with 48 points and 15 rebounds in the two games to lead the Yellowjackets. Howard opened with 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists at Western Oregon. He then added 20 points and eight rebounds at Concordia, making 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
 
Junior forward Zharon Richmond also connected for 23 points and 15 rebounds. He had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Western Oregon before finishing with 11 points and five rebounds at Concordia.
 
Chrishon Dixon and Psalm Maduakor each scored career high in points in the win over CU. Dixon had 17 and six rebounds while Maduakor scored 15 points and had eight rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS: MSUB ranks fourth in the GNAC with 37.7 rebounds per game. The Yellowjackets are second in the GNAC with 3.17 blocked shots per game and rank seventh in Division II with 13.3 personal fouls per game and ninth fewest fouls (159.)
 
Howard continues to lead the GNAC (as he has the entire season thus far) and is 22nd in Division II in scoring averaging 22.2 points per game. He has slide to second after leading the GNAC all year in terms of rebounds averaging 8.7 per game.  
 
Tyler Green is 10^th in the GNAC with 14.9 points per game. He ranks fourth in the GNAC with 4.10 assists per game and is 21st in Division II with 99 three-pointers attempted.
 
Dixon is averaging 8.3 points per game and is second on the team with 36 assists.  
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene University  
Game Day: Thursday, January 9-Billings, MT- 7:00pm
2019 Record: 4-5, 1-3 GNAC, 3-2 home, 1-3 away, 0-0 neutral
2018 Record: 20-8, 14-6 GNAC, 10-2 home, 6-5 away, 4-1 neutral
Head Coach: Paul Rush (3^rd season)
 
The Nighthawks are coming off their first conference victory after defeating Simon Fraser University last week.   
 
NNU holds the league's lowest scoring offense averaging 69.8 points per game.  They have the seventh ranked scoring defense giving up 75.4 points per game.  
 
Four different Nighthawks area currently averaging double digit points. George Reidy averages 13.7, Ezekiel Alley 13.4, Adalberto Diaz 12.2 and Jayden Bazzant averages 10.5 points per contest. All four players are currently ranked in the top 35 of the GNAC in terms of points per game.
 
Olamilekan Adteunji leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game which is the 12^th best mark in the GNAC.
 
Scouting Central Washington University   
Game Day: Saturday, January 11-Billings, MT- 7:00pm
2019 Record: 7-5, 0-4 GNAC, 5-3 home, 0-2 away, 2-0 neutral
2018 Record: 11-17, 5-15 GNAC, 7-7 home, 4-9 away, 0-1 neutral
Head Coach: Brandon Rinta (2^nd season)
 
Finding success everywhere but in the GNAC, four of CWU's five loses have been in conference play. CWU boasts an exhibition win over Division one University of Idaho 88-81 and a 20 point blowout over fellow west region team Cal State Monterey Bay 93-73, but have not found any success against their fellow GNAC members.
 
As a team, CWU ranks fifth in the GNAC in scoring with a 76.3 points per game average and fifth in scoring defense surrendering 73.3 points per game.

Kevin Baker leads the Wildcats in scoring averaging 13.3 points per game. Jeryn Lucas is second with 12.1 and Xavier Smith is the only other Wildcat in double digit figure with 10.3 points per game. 
 
Gamaun Boykin is a do-it-all player who leads the team with 3 assists, averages 7.6 points per game and 3.1 rebounds. This season, Boykin recorded a triple-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Multnomah University. He is only the fifth player in GNAC history to record the milestone.  
 
Live stats and video can be found at msubsports.com.