BILLINGS, Mont. – Snapping a 19-day span without playing in Alterowtiz Gym, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team returns to Billings for its final two home games of the regular season against Western Washington and Simon Fraser this Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Both games will start at 7 p.m.
 
Prior to Saturday's game against Simon Fraser, MSUB will honor seniors Sam Elliott, Brent Finn and Damen Thacker. The senior recognition will occur at 7 p.m., then the game will start afterwards. Both the ceremony and the game will be livestreamed on MSUB Sports' YouTube channel.
 
The Yellowjackets (12-11, 8-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) return home after a productive six-game road trip, in which the 'Jackets went 4-2 and rose to the top of the GNAC standings. MSUB is coming off a two-game winning streak against Seattle Pacific and Western Washington – both of which were by double-figures.
 
"I've been in the GNAC for 10 years and I know, from my experience, I haven't walked out of Western Washington and SPU very often with wins – let alone double-figure wins," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "I realize that those teams are good, solid programs within the GNAC, and those nights we had against them were good nights for us."
 
"A coach's biggest fear is that sometimes handling success is tough," Durham added. "We'll see how we handle this success and see if we string some good games together. That's our challenge now – especially playing the same team back-to-back. Western Washington is very talented, they have a lot of pride, and we have to be prepared for a battle on Thursday night."
 
As it stands, MSUB is the top team in the GNAC's Points Value System Standings and is in a three-way tie with Central Washington and Saint Martin's with its 8-5 record.
 
"Our guys know how tough the GNAC is, and we're not overthinking anything," Durham said. "I haven't spent one second thinking about the [GNAC's] point system. I just know that if you put Ws up, those help you. We were just faced with a six-game road trip, and I know you're not going to get really confident with a six-game road trip facing you, but we tried to stay the course."
 
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
Saturday night's game against Simon Fraser will be the final regular-season game in Alterowitz Gym for seniors Sam Elliott, Brent Finn and Damen Thacker. All three players have taken different routes in their careers before playing for MSUB, yet all three have made positive contributions so far this season.
 
MSUB's only four-year senior, Sam Elliott will play his final game in Alterowitz Gym after a four-year career that started in the 2018-19 season. As part of Durham's first recruiting class, Elliott was the only Yellowjacket to log GNAC minutes going into this season, and he's averaged 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game in his career.
 
"In the era of the transfer portal, you really lean on guys like him – especially in our league that's built around junior college players and transfers," Durham said. "Those program guys who are with you for four or five years are critical. Sam's leadership comes from his knowledge of the league and him knowing what I want on a daily basis, and he helps relay that to the team."
 
This season, Elliott's best game was at home against Rocky Mountain College, in which he sank a pair of late threes against the Battlin' Bears that sparked a MSUB comeback. He finished with eight points, six rebounds and two assists in a productive 22 minutes of action.
 
Senior guard Brent Finn will be the only Montana native to be honored on Senior Night. Finn, whose younger brother Blake plays for MSUB's men's golf team, comes to MSUB after spending time at Dawson Community College, Texas A&M International and Montana State. In his first full year with the Yellowjackets – Finn's first year in 2020-21 only had two games – Finn has made six starts, averaged 5.0 points per game and has shot 85.7% from the free-throw line.
 
Finn's poise was most apparent against Seattle Pacific on Jan. 15, as he finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to help dash the Falcons' comeback hopes. The Big Timber native has had four double-figure scoring nights: He helped spark a 23-0 second-half run against Holy Names on Nov. 13 – he eventually finished with 14 points – his 15-point night against Alaska on Jan. 29 was a career-high, plus he had an efficient 5-for-6 night against Black Hills State on Nov. 24.
 
"His maturity and his physicalness stand out to me," Durham said of Finn. "He plays a pretty critical role for us right now as our sixth man. I'm happy he had a chance to come back to Montana and play for us. It's nice to see him have an impact for us and for our program in his two years here."
 
Senior guard Damen Thacker will round out the three players to be honored on Senior Night. Despite playing only one season in a Yellowjacket uniform after spending two years at the University of Idaho, Thacker has made an immediate impact on the team this season – not only with his scoring, but also the experience he provides in the backcourt.
 
"We have a good relationship," Durham said of Thacker. "What you get from Damen is that he's the same person. He's consistent, win or lose. He's ready. He's got a great demeanor and he's a great person, which is one of the biggest impacts he's had on our team. On a day-to-day basis, you know what you're getting out of him."
 
A combo guard who can fill the stat sheet in a myriad of ways, Thacker is a top-10 scorer in the GNAC at 14.9 points per game (10^th-GNAC), dishes out a team-high 3.7 assists per game (7^th-GNAC) and leads the team with 1.4 steals per game (10^th-GNAC). All told, Thacker is one of the most productive transfers in the GNAC this season: He has a 30-point game, four 20-point games and a double-double in a Yellowjacket uniform with at least five games to go. Right now, Thacker's 83-for-97 clip (85.6%) from the free-throw line is the seventh-best single-season mark in MSUB program history.
 
"More than anything, from day one he's come in, trusted us coaches and has really shown great leadership," Durham said. "With [Thacker] we didn't need just a player – we needed someone to take and take control and be the natural leader at the point guard position, and he's done that."
 
Pick a game, and Thacker has had a hand in it. Early in the season, there was the 22-point, six-assist outing against Cal State San Marcos, the 19-point night against South Dakota Mines where he also recorded six steals, or his GNAC debut against Northwest Nazarene, which was a memorable one. Against the Nighthawks, Thacker recorded his first double-double in a MSUB uniform with 19 points and 11 rebounds and – in a coincidental twist – made a game-tying layup over Tru Allen, the younger brother of Thacker's former University of Idaho teammate, Trevon Allen.
 
Since then, Thacker has had a proclivity for big scoring nights, fearless defense and coming through in big moments. His then-career-high 26 points propelled MSUB past GNAC-leading Central Washington, then his NBA-range three helped MSUB tie the game against #4 West Texas A&M in the Holiday Hoops Classic a week later.
 
The Meridian, Idaho native has found his rhythm as of late, recording MSUB career-highs of 30 points and eight assists against Western Oregon on Feb. 5, then making a season-high seven threes against Alaska Anchorage in a 25-point outing three days later. Earlier this week against Western Washington, Thacker scored his 2,000^th collegiate career point before finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds.
 
LAST TIME OUT VS. WESTERN WASHINGTON
The Yellowjackets don't have to look back too far to recall their first game against the Vikings.
 
On Monday night, MSUB had its best offensive showing of the season in a 91-64 win over Western Washington University. The 'Jackets made 60% of their field goal attempts, connected on 50% of its three-pointers and finished 21-for-24 from the charity stripe in a game that was never particularly close.
 
After Western Washington took a 4-2 lead at the 18:19 mark, MSUB bolted ahead with a 22-0 run over the next 6 minutes and 36 seconds. In that span, the 'Jackets made five of their first six three pointers, whereas the Vikings went 0-for-5 and committed three turnovers. MSUB had a 53-32 lead at half, which was a season-best in terms of total points and scoring-margin.
 
"We've gotten better offensively – I really think we have," Durham said. "There have been times where we've really struggled to score, but I think different guys have stepped up, aside from Thacker and Wiggins. We've shown we can be pretty consistent on the defensive end and with our rebounding, but we've become a pretty good team on nights where we can shoot the ball."
 
The second half was more of the same. The Yellowjackets withstood an early scoring flurry from the Vikings by countering with back-to-back threes from Carrington Wiggins, and MSUB's lead dipped under 20 points for only 49 seconds. Emmanuel Ajanaku took over late with a 4-0 run and by forcing turnovers, MSUB's defense locked down on the perimeter, limiting WWU to 1-for-9 from three in the second half, and the 'Jackets made 13 of their 14 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
Carrington Wiggins seemingly couldn't miss. The junior guard tied MSUB's third-most accurate shooting night (with at least 10 made field goals) on 11-for-12 shooting to earn his 28 points. He also finished 4-for-5 from three, matching WWU's four threes all by himself. His counterpart Damen Thacker had a night to remember as well: The senior guard surpassed 2,000 collegiate career points midway through the first half, then posted his fifth 20-point game of the season in his 20-point, eight-rebound, five-assist outing.
 
All five starters scored at least eight points. Making his fifth-straight start, Bilal Shabazz scored 12 points, dished out a team-high six assists and had three steals – the latter two setting new MSUB career-highs. Ajanaku's 11-point, 10-rebound double-double was his second of the year, Nicholas Sebastiao finished with eight points, plus Malik Brikat chipped in eight points, two blocks and a steal off the bench.
 
"I think our roles are a little more established," Durham said. "We were a completely new team coming into the season with a lot of new guys, and it takes a while. Hopefully we're gelling here at the right time."
 
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Record: 10-10 (5-7 GNAC)
Head coach: Steve Hanson (6^th season)
Head-to-head record: 16-4
Last meeting: Feb. 29, 2020 (74-73, Simon Fraser)
 
The only team yet to square off with MSUB this season, Simon Fraser comes to Billings after playing at Seattle Pacific this Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. As of the GNAC's last PRS calculations on Feb. 12, Simon Fraser is tied for seventh with Western Washington.
 
One could make an argument that Simon Fraser's season has been hampered the most out of any other GNAC team. After starting the conference season 1-0 with an overtime win over Western Washington, Simon Fraser didn't play another GNAC game for over one month. Like the 'Jackets, Simon Fraser has had a busy February with make-up games: Head coach Steve Hanson's squad has gone 2-4 in the month of February, which included a three-game road trip at Western Oregon and both Alaska schools from Feb. 1-5.
 
Nevertheless, SFU has hung its hat on its defense and with its deep, athletic frontcourt. Center Julian Roche – the only 7-footer in the conference – is Simon Fraser's leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, and ranks second in the conference by averaging 8.9 rebounds per game. Wilfried Balata (12.7 points per game) and Jordan Lyons (10.3 points per game) round out SFU's double-figure scorers, and point guard David Penney leads the offense to the tune of 8.4 points and 4.8 assists per game – the latter of which ranks third in the GNAC.
 
As a whole, SFU only allows 72.3 points per game (5^th in the GNAC) and out-rebounds opponents by 3.2 boards per game.
 
"They play hard and they'll get after you defensively," Durham said of Simon Fraser's players. "They're a veteran group led by Balata, Singh and Roche in the frontcourt. They're a good, solid team with those three guys, and I think David Penney is a solid point guard too."
 
Simon Fraser also shored up its wings with a pair of HBCU transfers in the aforementioned Lyons (Mississippi Valley State) and Jahmal Wright (Maryland Eastern Shore) – both of whom have quickly become difference-makers this season. Lyons averages 10.3 points per game on 59.7% shooting from the field – good for second in the league – yet he does most of his work inside the arc; he has only attempted one three-pointer this season. Wright, on the other hand, has had three productive games as of late, averaging 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game – both of which are well above his season-averages.
 
"Lyons and Wright are two of our more athletic guys in our league," Durham said. "But without their two bigs, they're a little undersized. Simon Fraser will play a four-out offense with Singh on the perimeter with Roche on the inside. And both bigs can shoot. They'll rotate in and out, so we have to make sure to guard them out there too."
 
STAT CORNER

• MSUB still ranks in the top-30 nationally in scoring defense and in field goal percentage defense.
• Not only did Carrington Wiggins and Damen Thacker scored in double-figures in five of the six games during the Yellowjackets' road trip, but they also both set MSUB career-highs along the way. Wiggins surpassed his career-high with 34 points against Saint Martin's on Feb. 3, then in the next game, Thacker had a 30-point outing for his most productive scoring night as a Yellowjacket.
• Wiggins and Thacker are the only GNAC duo to be ranked in the top 10 categories in points per game, free throw percentage and made three pointers.
• Over the past three games, MSUB has shot better than its season-average of 31.9% from three – including a season-best 50% against the Vikings.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB hosts Western Washington this Thursday at 7 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.