BILLINGS, Mont. – A tightly contested 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference season continues as the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team welcomes the defending conference champions Seattle Pacific to Alterowtiz Gym in both teams' lone game of the week this Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
Saturday's game not only caps off a three-game homestand for the 'Jackets (6-8, 2-2 GNAC), but also marks the halfway point in the regular season. As it stands, MSUB has 14 games remaining. After the SPU game, MSUB's next home game will be against Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.  Livestream and live stat links can be found at the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.
 
The Yellowjackets are coming off another full week of GNAC play, in which they beat Western Oregon 77-71 at home before their comeback attempt against Saint Martin's fell short in a 70-68 loss. Despite playing a league-leading four games going into this week, the Yellowjackets' .500 record is tied for sixth with Western Washington, which has a 1-1 record in league play. MSUB's four GNAC games have been decided by an average of 2.75 points per game.
 
Seattle Pacific, meanwhile, comes into Billings with an 8-6 record and a 1-2 record in GNAC play albeit off of a 16-day pause. The Falcons' previous three games were postponed due to health and safety concerns, and the preseason pick to win the GNAC title boasts the conference's third-leading scorer in senior guard Divant'e Moffitt, who averages 18.4 points per game.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
The lone GNAC team to play in two games last week, the Yellowjackets split a pair of home contests with a 77-71 win over Western Oregon last Thursday before coming up short against Saint Martin's in a 70-68 loss two days later.
 
Going into last week, the 'Jackets were no stranger to riding on the strength of their stingy half-court defense, which has yielded a conference-best 64.9 points per game on 40.5% field goal shooting. But against the Western Oregon Wolves, MSUB turned in one of its best offensive outings of the season: Led by leading scorer Carrington Wiggins' MSUB-career-high 25 points and a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double from Emmanuel Ajanaku, the 'Jackets shot a season-best 50.9% from the floor. Eight of the nine Yellowjackets to suit up scored in the six-point win that ended up being the largest margin of victory in the GNAC last week.
 
"We've been trying to share the ball and get different guys aside from Carrington Wiggins and Damen Thacker to lift their games up," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "And we saw that last week with Nicholas Sebastiao and Emmanuel Ajanaku. That's been critical, to take the load off of our two guards with other guys stepping up and scoring. And that's been starting to happen."
 
Although the Wolves were content to trade threes all night behind Cameron Cranston's 35 points, MSUB's defense came through when it mattered most. Trailing 62-61 late in the second half, MSUB forced three turnovers in the span of one minute and 13 seconds, then made shots on the other end to seal the deal. Critically, MSUB connected on 65.2% of its field goals in the second half, all while Western Oregon shot 38.7%.
 
This set up a Saturday-night showdown against Saint Martin's.
 
MSUB controlled the game early. The 'Jackets jumped out to an 8-1 lead, Malik Brikat had a pair of quick baskets and the defense forced the Saints to burn an early timeout as their offense couldn't get going. Seven minutes in, Wiggins capped off a personal 5-0 run to give MSUB a 22-12 lead, the defense looked sharp and the 'Jackets looked like they were on their way to a 3-1 GNAC record.
 
But Saint Martin's flipped the script. Boasting the GNAC's second-highest scoring offense at 83.1 points per game, the Saints' offense emerged, cut MSUB's lead to single-digits and went up 34-32 on a three from Alex Schumacher on the final possession of the half.
 
The second half was all Saints before Nicholas Sebastiao and the Yellowjackets' bench came to the rescue. Sam Elliott scored five points in a hurry, Brent Finn found a wide-open Sebastiao for his first of three second-half corner threes and then Damen Thacker gave MSUB a 63-62 lead with 5:29 to play. Two more corner threes from Sebastiao in front of his own bench seemingly put the game out of reach, but the 'Jackets went scoreless in the final three minutes and Schumacher's floater with 14 seconds left handed MSUB a 70-68 loss.
 
"We have to finish," Durham said. "With a new team, we have to do a better job in the last five minutes of games because the games have been so close. That's hard to do until you have that experience as a group. It's hard to simulate that in practice. But we've talked about it a lot in practice and we've watched a lot of film. And we have to keep fine-tuning our defense as we go."
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY FALCONS
Record: 8-6 (1-2 GNAC)
Head coach: Grant Leep (6^th year)
Head-to-head record: 31-46
Last meeting: Feb. 13, 2020 (83-62, Seattle Pacific)
 
The Falcons, who have had their last three games postponed due to health and safety protocols, will return to action against the 'Jackets on Saturday. Back on Dec. 30, 2021, the Falcons lost 88-83 at Alaska Anchorage despite a season-high 24 points from sixth-year guard Harry Cavell.
 
Expectations for the Falcons were high going into the 2021-22 men's basketball season – especially after returning leading scorers Divant'e Moffitt and Harry Cavell from their 2019-20 GNAC Championship team, plus Shaw Anderson from two years ago. The fact that SPU retained almost everyone after not only their shortened 2020 campaign, but also after the NCAA's one-time transfer waiver only made those expectations higher.
 
"I think the reason they were picked first [in the GNAC] was because they legitimately have on paper, three all-conference type players in Divant'e Moffit, Harry Cavell and Shaw Anderson," Durham said. "And they've been solid. Coach Leep has that program where he wants it, and they've been solid for a long time."
 
Picked as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, Moffit leads the Falcons with 18.4 points per game, plus a GNAC-leading 276 points on the season. Sixth-year wing Cavell (13.4 points per game, 40.8% from three), Shaw Anderson (13.0 points per game) and Zack Paulsen (10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds per game) round out the double-figure scorers for SPU.
 
"He's a big point guard," Durham said of Moffitt. "That's what's caused us problems in the past: his size and ability to get to the basket. And Cavell has so much experience, being a sixth-year player, and he's gotten better each year. He has a ton of energy and is very athletic. Anderson can score down low and score from three, so he's pretty multi-dimensional."
 
Yet the road hasn't been easy for the Falcons. SPU kicked off the season at the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic – in which they beat No. 20 Alabama-Huntsville 77-71 but fell 64-59 to the defending national champions and then-top-ranked Northwest Missouri State – but fell out of the national rankings. A two-game losing streak in California, then three-game win streak followed, giving SPU momentum going into the opening GNAC week. In a finish that mirrored MSUB's on opening weekend, SPU lost on last-second Central Washington free throws and beat Northwest Nazarene by one point in overtime.
 
Record aside, the Falcons still look like a formidable team. Their opponents' .699 combined win-percentage give the Falcons the toughest schedule in all of Division II. Plus, their losses to Chico State and Southeastern Oklahoma State have looked better over time: Chico State is now No. 4 in the nation and is one of five remaining unbeaten teams in Division II, while Southeastern Oklahoma State is 11-2 and atop the Great American Conference with a 6-1 record.
 
"I think we have a chance," Durham said of Saturday's game. "I think we can match up, we just have to finish the job. I feel better about how we match up with them this year than how we did a few years ago."
 
STAT CORNER

• Damen Thacker has already made a mark on MSUB's all-time rankings with his 88.1% free-throw shooting this season, which not only ranks fifth all-time at MSUB, but also leads the GNAC. Connecting on 52 of his 59 attempts so far, the senior guard also ranks 26^th in all of Division II.
• After two more double-figure scoring nights last week, Carrington Wiggins ranks seventh in the GNAC at 16.0 points per game. His 224 points in 14 games is the second-most amongst all GNAC players, trailing only Moffitt's 257 points.
• MSUB's defense is still one of the best in Division II, allowing only 64.9 points per game (27^th-nationally) on 40.5% shooting (38^th-nationally).
• Emmanuel Ajanaku's 6.2 rebounds per game ranks eighth in the GNAC and leads all freshmen in the conference.
• Speaking of freshmen, Nicholas Sebastiao's 42.9% clip from three is the seventh-best in the league and second amongst all freshmen. His 24-for-56 three-point shooting leads the 'Jackets.

 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets host Seattle Pacific for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday night. Livestream and live stat links for both games can be found on the men's schedule page at msubsports.com.