SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Playing in the first of three games in Cal State University San Marcos Hoops Classic, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team fell 69-55 on Friday night.
 
"It was great to be back," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "But we need to continue to lean on our defense before we get better offensively. Turnovers are killing us, and guys are trying to do too much offensively. We competed and played our best in the final 12 minutes, and we have a quick turnaround for an afternoon game tomorrow."
 
Second-year freshman Nicholas Sebastiao led the way for the Yellowjackets (0-1, 0-0 GNAC) with 11 points on 4-7 shooting; he was followed close behind by true freshman Emmanuel Akpan (8 points) and Carrington Wiggins (7 points) – all of whom made their official MSUB debuts.
 
QUICK HITS

• Sebastiao finished with a career-high 11 points on 4-7 shooting – including 3-5 from deep – in 20 minutes.
• Malik Brikat finished with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with four points.
• Playing in his home state for the first time as a collegiate basketball player, true freshman Emmanuel Akpan put up eight points, three rebounds and four steals in limited action for the 'Jackets.
• Cal State San Marcos was led by Blake Seits' 21 points and seven rebounds.

After shaking off the first-game jitters, Damen Thacker and Carrington Wiggins opened MSUB's scoring with a pair of early midrange jumpers. With neither team taking over the game, Durham turned to his bench early, subbing in Jimmy Brown and Nicholas Sebastiao, both of whom provided sparks on both ends of the floor. Senior guard Brent Finn was the defensive spark at first for the 'Jackets, as he had two quick steals before getting on the board with a nifty finish in transition, then two free throws that gave MSUB a 14-13 lead with 11:44 to go in the first.
 
Two possessions later, Jo Jones drew in two defenders, then kicked it out to a wide-open Sebastiao for three to make it 17-13, but the scoring stopped there. The Cougars tied the game at 17, then four MSUB turnovers in the final 10 minutes made the 'Jackets stare at a six-point deficit. The score was stuck at 23-17 for a while until Thacker intercepted a pass off the hands of a CSUSM player and took it coast-to-coast for the layup. A pair of free throws from Malik Brikat pulled MSUB within three at 26-23 with 4:05 to play in the first.
 
MSUB couldn't capitalize at the charity stripe, then two turnovers with less than two minutes to play hurt the Yellowjackets dig out of the deficit. A jumper from Wiggins and free throws from Emmanuel Ajanaku, Brikat and Brown rounded out MSUB's first-half scoring, but CSUSM closed the second half on a 9-1 run to make the score 38-27.
 
Everything came up CSU San Marcos in the second half. The Cougars opened the second half on a 14-0 run before Sebastiao broke the seal with a corner three to make the score 52-30 with 15:13 to go. The Yellowjackets' second unit rallied. Sebastiao hit back-to-back threes, then Jaren Fritz hit a three in front of MSUB's bench, which prompted a Cougars timeout and made the score 57-36.
 
Aside from a three off an out-of-bounds play, CSUSM left the door open for the 'Jackets. But several empty MSUB possessions followed by a Cougars' alley-oop put the game out of reach. The Yellowjackets would close the game on a 12-2 run sparked by a layup from Finn, four-straight points from Ajanaku and a 6-0 run from true freshman Emmanuel Akpan, but their earlier shooting struggles were too much to overcome in the 69-55 loss.
 
KEY STATS

• MSUB won the battle of the boards 37-34, but 24 turnovers to CSUSM's 18 doomed the 'Jackets.
• 12 of the 13 'Jackets who logged minutes scored.
• Nicholas Sebastiao was the St. Vincent Player of the Game for leading the 'Jackets in scoring and providing a second-half spark with his 3-5 shooting from deep.

UP NEXT: MSUB takes on Holy Names tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. MT. Livestream and live stat links can be found at the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.