BILLINGS, Mont. – Holding off Northwest Nazarene University in a low-scoring Great Northwest Athletic Conference affair on Saturday at Alterowitz Gym, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team claimed a 54-48 triumph to stay perfect in league play.
 
The Yellowjackets (10-4, 4-0 GNAC) made it four consecutive GNAC wins to start their conference schedule. "This was a very physical game from the beginning, and we just made enough plays offensively to hold on in the second half," said MSUB head coach Mick Durham. "League wins aren't always a thing of beauty, and today we had to rely on our defense to win it. I am proud of our guys for figuring out a way to get it done, and this was a good weekend for us holding home court."
 
Carrington Wiggins went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line and led all players with 18 points, while Jalen Tot made a team-high five field goals on his way to a dozen points. Bilal Shabazz paced the Yellowjackets with 10 rebounds, while adding four blocks, three assists, and five points.
 
The Nighthawks (4-8, 1-3) were led by Ryzin Bergersen who had 14 points and was the team's lone player to reach double figures. NNU held a commanding 45-33 advantage on the glass, but it shot just 25.4 percent (15-for-59) as it failed to turn a good rebounding performance into scoring opportunities.
 
After the Nighthawks got off to a 6-2 start over the first four minutes of play, Bilal Shabazz knocked down his first three of the night at the 15:19 minute mark to pull the 'Jackets within a point. NNU went scoreless for the next five minutes of play but managed to keep the game close, a theme that endured for the entirety of the first half.
 
The Yellowjackets' lead peaked at 22-13 after a pair of Wiggins 3-pointers midway through the first. Neither team scored for nearly three full minutes after that however, with a trey by Christian Rose finally breaking the lull with 5:46 to go before halftime. The Nighthawks took advantage of a long cold stretch by MSUB to pull the score even at 22-22, and a last-second bucket by Abdul Bah broke a scoreless streak of 7:59 to give MSUB a narrow 24-22 lead heading into halftime.
 
Emmanuel Ajanaku got the second half started with a loud dunk, and the Yellowjackets never surrendered their advantage. Ajanaku's dunk kick-started a 9-0 run by MSUB, which led 31-22 after NNU went scoreless over the first 3:20 of the second half.
 
NNU chipped away and got within a bucket down 35-33 at the 12:51 mark, but the Yellowjackets responded with a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Jalen Tot to keep command in their hands. It took the rest of the game for NNU to get back into it, but the Nighthawks managed to tie the score at 48-48 on a pair of free throws from Gabriel Murphy. The Yellowjackets held tough however, with Wiggins and Shabazz combining to go 4-for-4 from the line and Bah adding a layup to help MSUB close out the win.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 37.3 percent in the game (19-for-51), including a line of 6-for-18 from long range (33.3 percent). MSUB also made 10 of 12 free throws (83.3 percent). The Nighthawks' poor overall shooting game included a line of 5-for-24 from three (20.8 percent) and 13-for-19 from the foul line (68.4 percent).
 
Steven Richardson had a game-high five steals, to go along with nine points, four assists, and a pair of rebounds for MSUB. Bah contributed eight points and three boards, and Jimmy Brown finished with four rebounds and an assist in 16 productive minutes off the bench.
 
THE BUZZ: Shabazz was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Saturday was MSUB's second-lowest point total of the season and its lowest of the year in a victory…MSUB is now 20-24 all-time against NNU and is 13-10 in games played in Billings.
 
AHEAD: The 'Jackets continue GNAC play next week with a road trip to the West Coast, taking on Western Washington on Jan. 5 and Simon Fraser on Jan. 7. Live coverage for next week's games will be available online here.