BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team put together a solid first half, but a sloppier second half doomed the Yellowjackets as they lost to Rocky Mountain College 64-61 at home on Saturday night.
 
"Rocky was the more aggressive team from the start," MSUB men's basketball head coach Mick Durham said. "I thought we battled defensively all night, but we just can't score 23 points in the second half and have 12 turnovers and think we're going to be successful."
 
The Yellowjackets (4-6, 1-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) were led by Malik Brikat, Nicholas Sebastiao and Carrington Wiggins, who scored 10 points apiece. Abdul Bah of the Battlin' Bears (4-5, 0-2 Frontier Conference) was the game's leading scorer with 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting.
 
"Both Rocky games were typical rival games with great competitive spirit and both teams wanted to win," Durham said. "I think these games will help us both."
 
QUICK HITS

• Both teams shot less than 43% from the field, but MSUB out-shot the Battlin' Bears 42.3% to 41.9%.
• Malik Brikat finished three rebounds short of a double-double with his 10 points and 7 rebounds.
• Carrington Wiggins finished with 10 points, five rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes of action.
• Sam Elliott finished with a season-high 8 points and six rebounds.
• Nicholas Sebastiao was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for his 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting – including 2-for-5 from three – plus he added four rebounds and one steal.

 
MSUB got out to a quick 9-2 lead – mostly thanks to Nicholas Sebastiao, who went on a personal 5-0 run in 42 seconds. The 'Jackets maintained their seven-point lead when Malik Brikat's layup gave MSUB a 11-4 advantage, but the Battlin' Bears pulled within three until Brent Finn's triple put Rocky momentarily at bay. Emmanuel Ajanaku's layup working off the right block put MSUB ahead 16-12, yet this was the last basket the 'Jackets would make for four minutes.
 
Rocky, meanwhile, tied the game at 16 with 9:50 to play, then completed their 8-0 run to pull ahead 20-16. Jimmy Brown's layup, then Damen Thacker's free throws after Rocky's bench was issued for a technical provided a brief spark; MSUB took a slim 22-21 lead two possessions later on a pair of free throws from Carrington Wiggins.
 
Both teams went back-and-forth from that point forward.
 
Thacker responded to a Rocky basket by getting fouled on a midrange jumper and converted the bonus. The 'Jackets threatened to take over the game with their transition offense: First Emmanuel Akpan stole the ball from Rocky guard Cade Tyson, dribbled the length of the court and made an unguarded transition layup. Then Sam Elliott drained a three and Emmanuel Ajanaku brought down the rim with the highlight of the night seconds later to give MSUB a 33-29 lead with 3:22 left in the first. But Rocky scored five-straight to take a 34-33 lead in response. MSUB closed out the half with a pair of free throws from Anders Epperly and a corner three from Sebastiao at the buzzer, giving the 'Jackets a 38-34 advantage going into the locker room.
 
MSUB kicked off the second half with three empty possessions until Rocky's second technical of the night sent Thacker to the charity stripe. The GNAC's most accurate free-throw shooter came through, then Thacker found Brikat in transition for an easy layup to put MSUB ahead 44-41 with 16:03 to go. Sparked by its defense, Rocky went on a 9-2 run – interrupted only by Elliott faking out two defenders under the basket for a layup – right after that. In that stretch, MSUB turned the ball over four times.
 
Rocky was in front for most of the second half, but Wiggins and Sebastiao's buckets helped the 'Jackets chip away at the Battlin' Bears' lead until Wiggins' offensive rebound and put-back put MSUB ahead 52-51 with 8:46 left. Brikat helped MSUB go up 54-51 as he pivoted around his defenders on the left block for his third field goal of the half. Back-to-back baskets from Wiggins – including one quick put-back off a missed three – helped MSUB maintain its one-possession lead with 4:27 left.
 
But as the game came down to the wire, Rocky turned up its defensive pressure and used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 62-58 with 1:47 to go. Elliott's three with 44 seconds left pulled MSUB within three, 64-61, then the 'Jackets caught a break as Rocky missed on their next possession, but the 'Jackets couldn't get a clean look to tie the game. Rocky left the door open by missing the front end of a one-and-one with four seconds left, yet MSUB's heave at the buzzer was short.
 
KEY STATS

• Rocky scored 21 points off 20 MSUB turnovers.
• MSUB turned the ball over 12 times in the second half – including three times after the final media timeout.
• This was MSUB's first home loss to Rocky since Dec. 9, 2017.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB closes its non-conference season by playing West Texas A&M and Rollins College in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic, held in Las Vegas, Nev. The first game will be against West Texas A&M on Friday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. MT. Both games will be livestreamed on FloHoops; livestream and live stat links can also be found at the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.