LACEY, Wash. – Avenging an earlier loss to Saint Martin's, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team handed the Saints their biggest home defeat of the season in 80-69 road win on Thursday night.
 
"I thought we established our presence from the beginning on both ends of the court," MSUB head coach Mick Durham said. "We had a good balance offensively inside and out, and we had a huge night from Carrington. We shared the ball well. It's always nice to get a season split after Saint Martin's beat us at our place."
 
Junior guard Carrington Wiggins scored 21 of his career-high 34 points in the second half – including a stretch in which he scored 11 straight points for the 'Jackets. Fellow guard Damen Thacker finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Bilal Shabazz came off the bench and stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
 
With the win, the Yellowjackets (9-9, 5-3 GNAC) moved up to second in the conference standings behind the Saints (14-5, 7-3 GNAC). Prior to Thursday's game, Saint Martin's was on a three-game winning streak and hadn't lost at home by more than nine points.
 
QUICK HITS

• MSUB held Saint Martin's scoreless for 5 minutes and 32 seconds late in the second half.
•  Emmanuel Ajanaku finished with a game-high 10 rebounds and three blocks to go along with his six points.
• Carrington Wiggins was the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for his career-high 34 points on 12-for-16 shooting, plus three rebounds and three assists.
• Christian Haffner led the Saints with 14 points.

 
The 'Jackets took the lead off Damen Thacker's first basket of the night, then both teams traded baskets in the first five minutes. Saint Martin's took a brief 10-6 lead with 13:15 to go, but a 7-0 run sparked by four points from Carrington Wiggins and a three from Thacker gave MSUB a lead it wouldn't give up for the remainder of the half.
 
Bilal Shabazz got on the board with a three-pointer to make things 16-12, then Brent Finn's fastbreak layup on the next possession gave MSUB its largest lead at that point. The 'Jackets maintained an eight-point lead thanks to threes from Nicholas Sebastiao and Wiggins, who led all scorers with 13 points in the first half. A three from Kyle Greeley pulled Saint Martin's within three, yet MSUB had a 35-32 advantage at halftime.
 
Although the Saints opened the scoring in the second half, Malik Brikat's layup on the next play sparked a 7-0 run that put MSUB up 42-34 with 17:54 to play. The Saints made the score 46-45, MSUB on a transition three from Marky Adams with 12:22 to go, yet Wiggins countered with back-to-back threes – the latter of which gave him his eighth game with at least 20 points this season.
 
Saint Martin's took a 54-52 lead – its first lead of the second half – on a three from Alex Schumacher with 9:45 remaining. But a technical foul on Schumacher on the next play sent Wiggins to the line, who sank two free throws and capped off the five-point play with a three on the ensuing possession.
 
One free throw from Saint Martin's forward Brett Reed cut the 'Jackets lead to two with 9:03 to play, but MSUB's defense held the Saints without a point for the next five-and-a-half minutes. In that same span, Wiggins went on a personal 7-0 run, then Ajanaku added a pair of free throws to cap off the team's 9-0 run before Schumacher snapped the drought.
 
Yet the damage was already done. MSUB had a double-digit lead for the final 5 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing the game shooting 7-for-10 from the free throw line in the final four minutes. Thacker gave MSUB a 14-point lead on his second of two free throws with 1:16 to go, then Sebastiao matched the Yellowjackets' largest lead to make the score 78-64 with 48 seconds to go.
 
KEY STATS

• MSUB made 28 field goals on 20 assists.
• The 'Jackets made 50% of their field goals, which is their second-best mark of the season.
• Saint Martin's went 2-for-7 at the free-throw line, compared to MSUB's 15-for-24 mark.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB travels south to Monmouth, Ore. for a game against Western Oregon this Saturday at 5:15 p.m. MT. Livestream and live stat links can also be found at the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.