LACEY, Wash. – Coming off its best regular-season finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference era, the 4-seed Montana State University Billings men's basketball team will square off against 5-seed Central Washington in the first round of the GNAC Championships, held at the campus of Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Wash. this Thursday at 5:15 p.m. PT.
 
All games of the GNAC Men's Championships will be livestreamed on GNAC.TV. Tickets can be purchased either at the GNAC's website, or at the door. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at msubsports.com.
 
Should MSUB advance, the 'Jackets will play the winner between 1-seed Saint Martin's and either 8-seed Western Washington or 9-seed Western Oregon on Friday, March 4. Western Washington and Western Oregon square off in the play-in game on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
 
Picked 10^th out of 10 teams in the GNAC Preseason Poll, the Yellowjackets have outperformed expectations. Led by a stifling defense and a dynamic backcourt of GNAC Newcomer of the Year and unanimous first-team selection Carrington Wiggins, plus honorable mention selection Damen Thacker, the Yellowjackets (13-14, 9-7 GNAC) are making their first appearance in the conference tournament since 2019. Additionally, this is the second time MSUB has made the conference tournament in head coach Mick Durham's tenure.
 
"We had a pretty satisfying finish," Durham said. "You could always think of a game or two that could've went another way, but we also won a couple close games. Given what we were expected to finish, finishing fourth and getting a first-round bye makes me feel good overall – especially in such a competitive league. We're excited to keep playing."
 
This week, the team will be chasing its first GNAC Championship title since 2011-12, in which the fifth-seeded Yellowjackets upset Western Oregon, top-seeded Western Washington and 2-seed Alaska Anchorage to punch their tickets to the NCAA DII Tournament. Coincidentally, that tournament was also held in Lacey, Wash., and that team was led by GNAC Newcomer of the Year and first-team selection Antoine Proctor.
 
All told, the Yellowjackets have a 3-4 record in five GNAC Championships appearances. MSUB has made the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament nine times.
 
THE SERIES VS. CENTRAL WASHINGTON
CWU Record: 15-8 (9-7 GNAC, 5^th place)
Head Coach: Brandon Rinta (4^th season)
Last meeting: Feb. 24, 2022 (90-77, MSUB)
All-time record: 8-22
 
Meeting in the GNAC Championships for the first time ever, the Yellowjackets and Wildcats will kick off the quarterfinals at Saint Martin's on Thursday afternoon.
 
"They're going to make adjustments too, so I'm expecting a different Central team this time," Durham said. "Not that we didn't surprise them – we went out and we played very well against them at their place – but we're going to have to play very well again. We know we're going to be in a battle."
 
On paper, this showdown is a clash of styles: MSUB boasts the best scoring defense in the GNAC at 66.6 points per game while limiting opponents to making only 41.9% of their field goals, which ranks second-best in the conference. The Yellowjackets are willing to sit back and defend for the entire shot clock, pack the paint and limit opponents to only one shot per possession. With that said, however, the Yellowjackets have become a more well-rounded team as of late, shooting better than 40% from three on three occasions and having five 80-plus-point games in the month of February.
 
"We've definitely gotten better offensively – there's no question about it," Durham said. "But there have been those nights where we score 80 or 90 points, then we turn around and score 36 and 41 points. We've been a little bit like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on offense, but we have to hope our defense shows up for the tournament. We led the league in scoring defense, so if that shows up, whatever we get on offense is a bonus. Nights we shoot it well, we're pretty dang tough because we are so good with our defense and rebounding."
 
Meanwhile, the Wildcats are more than content to turn every game into a track meet. With GNAC Player of the Year Xavier Smith (19.0 points per game) at the helm and three more double-figure scorers alongside him in David Thompson (15.2 PPG), Marqus Gilson (13.1 PPG) and Matt Poquette (12.4 PPG), Central Washington has the conference's highest-scoring offense at 83.4 points per game. The team shoots 49.4% from the floor and is the best free-throw shooting team at 77.4%. This team can score.
 
"They're a very good offensive team," Durham said. "They lead the league in scoring, they have the GNAC Player of the Year in Xavier Smith and David Thompson is another really good guard. It's going to be quite the challenge. I think we have their attention given how we played against them this year."
 
Yet both teams' games this season have been starkly different.
 
In Ellensburg, MSUB blitzed the Wildcats and never trailed thanks to 30 points from Thacker and a barrage of threes in the first half from stretch forwards Bilal Shabazz and Sam Elliott – both of whom finished in double-figures. Even though Central Washington dictated the pace at first, the 'Jackets kept pace and ended up outscoring the Wildcats in an up-tempo, high-scoring affair.
 
Thacker set the tone early with eight of MSUB's first 11 points before the first media timeout, then the whole team hit threes. Wiggins, Shabazz, Elliott and Jo Jones made four-straight threes to take a 33-21 lead with 7:46 left in the first half, then the Yellowjackets extended their lead to 17 late in the first half off another basket from Wiggins.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 9-for-15 (60%) from distance and 17-for-33 (51.5%) from the field off baskets from seven different players. This balanced scoring trend would continue, as all nine 'Jackets who logged minutes found the scoring column that night.
 
Padded with a 47-35 lead at half, the Yellowjackets kept their distance from the Wildcats as the hosts tried clawing back in the game. Although the Wildcats would pull within four points, nine-straight points from Thacker scoring at all levels, then a 10-0 run in 3 minutes and 31 seconds sparked by Emmanuel Ajanaku gave MSUB a commanding 77-59 lead with 6:08 to go. MSUB would handle the Wildcats' press and make its free-throws late to notch its second 90-point outing of the season. The Yellowjackets' 54.5% shooting was also a season-best, plus MSUB outrebounded the Wildcats by a 39-30 margin.
 
"Our biggest difference last week was our rebounding," Durham said. "We rebounded well and basically gave them only one shot. They're so efficient shooting offensively, so limiting them to one shot was a pretty critical factor."
 
But the second meeting between the two teams was more lopsided and was higher scoring than the first.
 
When the teams first met on Dec. 4, neither team shot well in the first half. Both teams connected on fewer than 40% of their field goals in the first half, and neither team led by more than six points. The Yellowjackets would lead throughout the second half thanks to a high-scoring night from Thacker, who finished with a then-season-high 26 points, yet a 9-0 Wildcat run tied the game at 56 with 3:10 to play.
 
Tension built in the final three minutes. Thacker gave MSUB the lead late twice, only for Central Washington to make threes and take a 61-60 lead with 2:06 remaining. Wiggins helped MSUB take a three-point lead late, yet the 'Jackets couldn't quite shake the Wildcats. Clinging to a one-point lead with 24 seconds left, MSUB made a costly turnover – that is, until Thacker bolted from the far corner of the court for a chase-down block on David Thompson's wide-open layup attempt. On the ensuing possession Thompson was fouled, but he split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 64, setting up MSUB's last possession with the shot clock turned off.
 
With seconds waning, Thacker drove to the corner and took an off-balance, contested midrange jumper. But Malik Brikat was at the right place at the right time, scooping up Thacker's miss and tipping in the put-back with 0.7 seconds remaining. MSUB's 66-64 win was its first of GNAC play.
 
Nearly three months to the day since Brikat's game-winner, both teams will meet again for their most important game yet.
 
"We need to be good on the offensive end and we need to not shoot quick, bad shots, because that's what gets Central Washington going," Durham said. "We know they're going to score, but if we can have them score over us – rather than in transition – that's going to help our cause a lot better."
 
UP NEXT: MSUB and Central Washington square off in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Men's Basketball Championship at Lacey, Wash. at 5:15 p.m. local time. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at msubsports.com.