ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team didn't need any late heroics this time around against the Central Washington Wildcats.
 
All nine Yellowjackets scored, the team shot a season-best 54.5% from three and the team never trailed in a 90-77 romp at Central Washington on Thursday night. The Yellowjackets (13-13, 9-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) had a balanced offensive attack against the Wildcats (14-8, 8-7 GNAC), as four players finished in double-figures.
 
"This is about as resilient of a team as I've ever been around," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "They keep bouncing back and they don't let one game affect the other. We had a great start and rode that momentum all game. Damen Thacker was outstanding, but Bilal Shabazz and Sam Elliott were huge for us. Our rebounding has been a bright spot all year, and it was one for us again tonight."
 
Damen Thacker led all scorers with a 30-point night – including nine-straight points in the second half to put the Wildcats at arm's length – to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Bilal Shabazz notched his first MSUB career double-double with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Elliott also had a MSUB career high with 10 points, plus reigning GNAC Player of the Week Carrington Wiggins added 16 points and tied the team-high with four assists.
 
The win moved MSUB up to fourth in the GNAC standings (in terms of true win-loss percentage) with a 9-7 record, setting up Saturday night's regular-season finale at second-ranked Northwest Nazarene.
 
QUICK HITS

• MSUB never trailed throughout the game and had double-digit leads in both halves.
• Damen Thacker was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for his 30 points – including nine-straight in the second half – on 11-for-19 shooting, plus 8 rebounds and four assists.
• Xavier Smith led the way for the Wildcats with 21 points.

 
In a sign of things to come, Damen Thacker sank his first three field goals of the ballgame, plus Bilal Shabazz made his first three of the night to help the Yellowjackets take an 11-6 lead before the first media timeout. Although Central Washington tried to turn up the tempo early, the Wildcats couldn't connect in transition. Once MSUB controlled the tempo of the game, the Yellowjackets scored early and often.
 
When Durham went to his bench midway through the first half, the reserves shone. In his best outing of the season, Sam Elliott burned the Wildcats in the pick-and-roll. The senior from Kalispell, Mont. got the bulk of his points in the first half – first on a layup, then off a three when Jo Jones found him wide open at the top of the key. Back-to-back threes from Shabazz and Jones helped MSUB push its lead to 12, then Shabazz scored the next five points for the Yellowjackets to make it a 37-25 ballgame.
 
MSUB kept piling it on Central Washington in the first half. Blanketed by two defenders, Thacker double-clutched a three that sparked a 10-0 run that included a breakaway dunk from Carrington Wiggins, another three from Elliott out of the pick-and-roll, then capped off when Wiggins gave MSUB a 17-point lead with 2:30 to play. Going into halftime, MSUB had a 47-35 lead.
 
The Wildcats clawed back into the game to open the second half and cut MSUB's lead to single-digits with a free throw from Matt Poquette to make the score 49-40 with 17:03 left. Sebastiao's lay-in brought the lead back to 10, but the Wildcats pulled within six, 52-46.
 
Then Thacker took over.
 
The senior guard scored the next nine points for MSUB: first with a jumper, then he weaved from one side of the arc to the next and created enough space for a three and then with a dunk that got the MSUB bench to its feet. After trading baskets with CWU's David Thompson, Thacker crossed up Thompson's teammate Isaiah Banks, then hit Banks with a spin move and nailed a midrange jumper to make the score 61-52, MSUB.
 
The haymaker of the night came on a 10-0 run from MSUB over the span of 3 minutes and 31 seconds. Central Washington's Micah Pollard made a three to make it a 67-59 ballgame with 9:20 remaining, but the Yellowjackets would rattle off 10 straight points and take their largest lead of the night. Ajanaku started things off with another lay-in at the rim, then Wiggins finished a right-handed layup through contact and calmly sank the ensuing free-throw. Nicholas Sebastiao's corner three in front of MSUB's bench on the next possession gave MSUB a 75-59 lead, then Shabazz found Brikat in transition for a layup to give the Yellowjackets their largest lead of the night, up 77-59.
 
From there, the Yellowjackets cruised. Although the Wildcats tried putting pressure on MSUB with their press, the Wildcats never cut the lead to single-digits. Yet another three from Thacker put MSUB up 82-67 with 2:30 to play, then the 'Jackets made their last eight free-throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
KEY STATS

• MSUB shot a season-best 54.5% from three.
• The Yellowjackets outrebounded the Wildcats by a 39-30 margin.
• Thursday night was MSUB's first win in Ellensburg since beating the Wildcats 96-69 on Feb. 4, 2017.

UP NEXT: MSUB's regular-season finale is against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at msubsports.com.