BILLINGS, Mont.- The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team stayed the course set out in the fall, but untimely losses, coupled with tough conference opponents night in and night out sunk MSUB's ship. Setting out on their voyage to make the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, MSUB's season was riddled with close losses and sometimes lack of cohesiveness but glimmers of hope shined through for the future.
 
MSUB lost three seniors but will return a solid core group of players for the 2020-21 season and beyond. The Yellowjackets finished the season with 11-17, 6-14 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Finishing ninth in the GNAC, MSUB came up on the losing end of four one-possession league games and lost seven games by eight points or less. Add three or four of those games to the win column for the 'Jackets and it would have been a very different season.
 
But if's aside, MSUB looked the part in a handful of games including an 86-79 point win over eventual GNAC tournament champion Western Washington University on February 27. On the other hand, MSUB had games where the team chemistry looked off and as the conference season wore on, teams scouted MSUB well and the Yellowjackets finished the final half of conference play with a 3-7 record.

Their second half record mirrored the first half of conference play, suggesting MSUB did not adapt to their opponents to achieve critical wins down the stretch. "I thought we stayed the course to the end and played our best basketball in the last weekend beating conference tournament champions Western Washington and losing a buzzer beater to Simon Fraser," said head coach Mick Durham. "I am definitely disappointed in our conference season. We just got off on the wrong foot in the GNAC and didn't recover."
 
A COMPLETE GAME: In their win against WWU, The Yellowjackets played with fight and on fire all night, defeating a bigger WWU team on the back of 15 combined three point shots. MSUB trailed just once in the game and only allowed WWU to tie the game a handful of times. As a team MSUB shot 53.7 percent from the floor and a scorching 60.0 percent (15-25) from three point range. MSUB finished with a positive turnover margin with 17 assists to 12 turnovers. 
 
Tyler Green converted six of the three point shots on his way to 25 points to lead all players. Zharon Richmond finished with 21 points and Psalm Maduakor scored a career high 17 points.
 
 
Maduakor throws down a dunk to seal the win against WWU.
 
BUZZER BEATING MADNESS: Another highlight game came on January 11 against Central Washington University. Caught in a dire situation and just when it seemed like all hope was lost, MSUB found itself down by six with 22 seconds left. The old adage "you have to make your free throws" played a major role in the waning seconds. CWU would only convert 1-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds and in so doing, failed to put the game away.

A layup by Chrishon Dixon with 15 seconds left made it 90-86. Then a quick timeout by head coach Durham and a foul put CWU back to the line. Making one of two, CWU was up 91-86.  A Three point shot from Maduakor with six seconds reaming gave MSUB a chance at 91-89. Needing to make both to seal the game, CWU failed to make either free throws giving MSUB had one last glimmer of hope which came in the form of Green.
 
With 3.6 left on the clock, Green took three dribbles from a Jordan Lehrer pass and stepped into a 38 foot prayer with 0.3 left. As the clock struck zero, the buzzer sounded, the shot banked off the glass and through the basket for the game winner players only dream of for 92-91 win.
 

Green launches the buzzer beating three for the win over CWU.
 
ICE IN HIS VEINS: On January 16 Green provided the basketball world with the greatest shooting performance of the year. Scoring a career high 38 points against Saint Martin's University, Green tied the GNAC record with 12 three point shots made in a single game. The 12 threes were the most made by a single player in a single game this season in all three divisions of the NCAA.
 
 
"We stayed competitive which is a positive but lost a lot of close games, continued Durham. "We are young and were able to get out younger guys good minutes. I feel like we have a solid base coming back. We need a good recruiting season once things settle down. We will look to add some quality student athletes that can come in and help us right away."
 
ALL CONFERENCE: Brendan Howard and Richmond were named to the GNAC all-conference teams this season. Howard is a repeat performer as last year he was named to the honorable mention squad as a freshman. This year as a sophomore, he took his game up a level and ended up being named to the second team all-GNAC team. Howard led MSUB and was second in the GNAC with 20.3 points per game. He finished second on the team and sixth in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game.
 
Richmond earned his first all-conference selection as an honorable mention member for the 2019-20 season. Only playing in games since December, Richmond missed the first eight games but made up ground in a hurry. In his first game back against Pittsburg State University, Richmond netted a season and career high 30 points in 33 minutes of play. He finished the year second on the team and seventh in the GNAC with 15.9 points per game. He also led MSUB and was fifth in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per game.
 

 

RECORD BOOKS: Green etched himself in the MSUB record books as his 12 three pointers made tied him for fourth all-time in program history. Green finished his career 20^th overall in scoring with 1,090 points. Green is 10^th all-time with 176 three point shots made. Finally he is tied for 12^th in the program's history with 96 three point shots made in a season (2019-20) and is 14^th with 94 made (2018-19).
 
Howard is chasing history and is 23^rd in program history with 1,023 points. With two years of eligibly left Howard has a great chance to become the school's all-time leading scorer needing 861 points to pass MSUB legend Roy McPipe who scored 1,883. Howard is also 10^th all-time in points per game with 17.94.  
 
Richmond is currently second in program history for block in a career with 94. He only needs four more to become first all-time in the category. Richmond is 16^th in MSUB's history with 133 three pointers made. He will have a shot at entering the top 20 all-time in scoring as he currently sits at 968 points and should cross the 1,000 point threshold early next season.
 
LOOKING AHEAD:  Coach Durham will look to replace the three seniors who graduated this past year. To do so, he will need to add perimeter scoring, athleticism and size on the block. Green takes with him 15.7 point per game as well as the obvious perimeter scoring threat. His leadership will also be gone so younger players will need to step up to fill that role. Lehrer brought freakish athleticism and defensive toughness that will be missed and 6'11" Seth Christiaens filled a void in the middle that will need to be replaced.
 
Howard and Richmond are the top two returnees for MSUB. Howard averaged 20.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He averaged 31.8 minutes, had 32 assists, seven blocks, shot 81.3 from the free throw line, 37.9 from three point range and 50.5 percent from the field. One area he could improve is ball security as he had 65 turnovers.

Richmond averaged 15.9 points per game and a team leading 7.2 rebounds. He added 23 blocks, 49 assists, 33.4 minutes, shot 40.6 percent from three point land and 48.1 percent from the field. One area of improvement would be upping his free throw percentage from 70.8.
 
Dixon will look to improve as a floor general in his second season as MSUBs point guard. The young guard showed flashes of explosive moves to the basket (6.1 points per game) as well as great awareness as he was second on the team with 94 assists. If he can improve his scoring ability and take care of the ball, he has the makings to be an all-conference player.
 

Dixon dishes an assist against UAA.
 
Maduakor is arguably the most efficient player returning for MSUB has filled up the stat line night in and night out. Not leading MSUB in one single statistical category, but always producing in all categories. He returns for his senior season averaging 6.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He had 29 assists, 15 blocks, shot 80.0 percent from the free throw line, 33.0 from beyond the arc and 38.0 from the field.
 
Stevie James averaged 17.6 minutes per game. In that span he averaged 4.8 points, had 34 assists and knocked down 41.7 percent of his shots. The explosive dunker will need to improve in all facets as he will be relied on for big minutes his senior year.
 
Freshmen Clarence Daniels had a solid debut year. He averaged 14.7 minutes per game and showed great toughness down low. He will look to improve his 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game going into his sophomore season.
 
Kalispell, MT native Sam Elliott will be back for his redshirt sophomore year. The promising big man showed he had an inside-out game as he can step out and knock down three point shots. Potentially a matchup nightmare, Elliott will look to earn more playing time as he enters his third year in the system.
 
Finally, Durham will need to add a new assistant coach for next year. Previous assistant Bobby Howard left MSUB to take a job with Synergy Sports. The six year assistant to coach Durham will be missed with the 2020-21 season ushering in a new era for coach Durham and the Yellowjackets.
 
With a solid base of returning players, a good recruiting class and new hope on the horizon, coach Durham will look to lead MSUB back to the post season in 2020-21.
 

Head coach Mick Durham will be back for his 3rd season next year.