BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team were defeated in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship semifinals, losing 38-54 to Northwest Nazarene.
 
In the opening game of the day, the Yellowjackets (20-9, 14-4 GNAC) were unable to defeat the Nighthawks (14-14, 9-9 GNAC), who have now defeated the two-seed and three-seed in the GNAC Tournament on their run to the GNAC Championship. The 'Jackets, held the Nighthawks offensively to just the 54 points, below their season average, but were undone by 21 turnovers, and had just nine made shots from the field in each half, as they just couldn't find a way to score consistently against the Nighthawks defense.
 
GNAC Player of the Year Carrington Wiggins led the 'Jackets with 13 points, with three rebounds and two steals. Bilal Shabazz finished with ten points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Abdul Bah scored eight points off the bench, with two assists. Emmanuel Ajanaku had five points and rebounds each.
 
The game began in a similar fashion to how both the regular season meetings between the two teams played out: stifling defense and scoring woes. Two of the top three defensive teams in the GNAC showed their defensive prowess, keeping their offenses off the pace. The 'Jackets picked up six steals and just 2-10 from three point range, while the Nighthawks limited MSUB to just 28.6 shooting from the field. The difference would be Aaron Murphy, who went a perfect 5-5 inside the paint over the opening 20 minutes, helping the Nighthawks score 16 points in the paint. In the final three minutes of the first half, NNU went on a 8-2 run over the final 3:13, building a small cushion to take a 26-19 lead into halftime.
 
The Nighthawks would take that momentum into the second half, building off a sluggish MSUB offense. It took the 'Jackets until 15:11 to make a shot from the field, a drought stretching back to 4:11 in the first half, and the offense shot identically to how it did in the first half. Meanwhile the Nighthawks found ways to score up and down the lineup. Despite some of their top players getting into foul trouble early in the half, nine players scored in the game, and forced 21 Yellowjacket turnovers in the game. The six-seeded Nighthawks would grow the lead to 18, taking home a massive victory and advancing to the GNAC Championship game.
 
Aaron Murphy was the only Nighthawk in double figures with 16 points, shooting 8-12 and collecting six rebounds. Ryzin Bergerson scored nine points, while Aaron's brother Gabriel Murphy had eight points and three steals.
 
THE BUZZ: Wiggins was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game… with his 13 points in the game, Carrington Wiggins has now scored exactly 1,000 career points as a Yellowjacket, a feat only done by 23 players before him.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets now await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night to find out if they will be selected for the West Region Championships and continue their season further.