BILLINGS, Mont. – Junior forward Malik Brikat's put-back layup with 0.7 seconds remaining gave the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win of the season in a 66-64 victory over Central Washington on Saturday night.
 
"I knew it was going in," Brikat, who finished with four points, four rebounds and a block, said. "It was like, under the backboard. But the way I caught it, it was so perfect, I was like, 'I've got this, I can flip this in there.' I've worked on rebounding a lot growing up, so it was a shot I knew I could make nine out of 10 times."
 
Damen Thacker finished with a MSUB-career-high 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting to lead the Yellowjackets (3-5, 1-1 GNAC), plus Carrington Wiggins added another 20-point performance. The 'Jacket defense came through once again, limiting the Wildcats (4-2, 1-1 GNAC) to shooting a mere 35% from the field – merely several days after the MSUB held Northwest Nazarene to 37.5% shooting in its 68-67 overtime loss in the GNAC opener.
 
"It was tough – boy, it was a battle both Thursday and Saturday," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "It's hard to get good shots and to finish, but we did a good job. We kept the lead for most of the second half and we found a way to get it. But the best part is that we bounced back."
 
"We battled, and I think we could compete with any team in this league and with any team in Division 2," Brikat said, echoing his coach's sentiment. "It's just about battling, and I think these close games are what really define us as a team and as a unit."
 
QUICK HITS

• Damen Thacker was the St. Vincent Player of the Game for finishing with 26 points (on 8-of-15 shooting and 4-for-6 from three, 6 rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
• Carrington Wiggins recorded his first double-double as a Yellowjacket with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
• Nicholas Sebastiao finished with eight points and a career-high four steals.
• For the fifth time in seven games, MSUB outrebounded its opponent; this time, MSUB won the rebounding battle by a 39-36 margin.
• MSUB led for all but 1 minute and 47 seconds of the second half.

 
The first half was a low-scoring affair, as both teams connected on fewer than 40% of their field goals. Nicholas Sebastiao opened the scoring for the 'Jackets by hitting a corner three, then Damen Thacker – who showed no signs of slowing down after Thursday night's 19-point performance – made two threes in 31 seconds to put MSUB ahead 9-3. As whole, MSUB was effective from three in the early goings, as 12 of its first 18 points came from beyond the arc – including three-straight makes from Thacker.
 
Individually, however, the 'Jackets got offense from Sebastiao, Thacker and Wiggins, who were responsible for the team's first 18 points. That trend changed when Sebastiao found Jimmy Brown rolling to the rim unguarded for an easy layup that tied the game at 20 with 4:52 to go. Several plays later, Brent Finn's double-clutch jumper banked in to tie the game at 22, yet Central Washington quickly responded with a three. Sebastiao dialed up another three to tie the game, sparking a mini 5-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws from Thacker. The senior sank his fourth three of the night to give MSUB a 30-27 lead, but the Wildcats tacked on a free throw on their final possession to make the score 30-28 in favor of MSUB at halftime.
 
On the first possession of the second half, Thacker made a veteran move by getting his defender up in the air on a three-point attempt to draw a whistle. He would make two out of three attempts at the line, but a 5-0 run from Central Washington guard Xavier Smith put the visitors back in front. Yet the Wildcats only led for one minute and 26 seconds: Thacker scored his 20^th point off the bounce, then Emmanuel Ajanaku tied the game at 37-all with a two-handed jam.
 
MSUB didn't trail for the next 14 minutes and 12 seconds, keeping the Wildcats at bay mostly in part to Wiggins' 16 second-half points. The junior guard shook off a cold first half with a flurry of left-handed layups, going on a personal 7-0 run before Thacker took the baton for a pair of layups. MSUB led by as many as nine points with under nine minutes to play – both off of crafty finishes from Wiggins – but Central Washington's David Thompson carried the Wildcats singlehandedly late in the game.
 
The game nearly got out of hand with less than five minutes to go, as both teams picked up the pace and turned the ball over in the process. Neither team could capitalize in transition, however, Thompson tied the game at 56 with a corner three that momentarily gave the Wildcats momentum. Thompson gave Central Washington a 61-60 lead on another three with 2:02 remaining, but a pair of free throws from Thacker gave MSUB a slim 62-61 advantage.
 
Thompson finally missed on the next possession as the game entered its final minute. On the next possession, Wiggins' short-corner jumper appeared to be an early dagger with 56.6 seconds to go. Yet Central Washington rallied in the final minute – clawing within two on a pair of free-throws with 48 seconds left. Then on the very next play, the Wildcats forced an MSUB turnover with 48 seconds left, putting MUSB at risk of going 0-2 in the GNAC standings.
 
That is, until Thacker made a game-saving play.
 
Bolting from in front of his own bench, Thacker's chase-down block of David Thompson's would-be game-winning layup momentarily salvaged MSUB's chance at a win. Although Central Washington's Micah Pollard was fouled after the ensuing offensive rebound, he would only make one of two free throws to tie the game at 64, which only set up Brikat's late-game heroics.
 
With 18.4 seconds to go and the shot clock turned off, Thacker advanced the ball up court. He tried probing the defense on the left side, got trapped, then wheeled over to the right side until he pulled the trigger on a difficult, fall-away jumper from the short right corner. But Thacker's shot fell into the waiting arms of Brikat, who leaned away from the basket and – while falling down and the basket behind him – banked in a left-handed layup to give MSUB the win.
 
"It was a top-three moment for [my basketball career], for sure," Brikat said. "I was struggling in the game, but that's a good way of putting the cherry on top."
 
Central Washington had 0.7 seconds to work with, but its half-court attempt was too strong at the buzzer.
 
"This gives us a lot of confidence," Brikat said. "Central Washington beat Seattle Pacific, the top-ranked team in the GNAC, so with us beating them, it's almost as if we can beat the other nine teams in the conference. It gives us a lot of momentum going forward."
 
UP NEXT: MSUB returns to non-conference play with a road game at Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found at the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.