ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (9-4) pulled out a dominating 15-point win over the Central Washington University Wildcats (8-4).
A second half offensive surge led the 'Jackets to their third win in a row behind
Emmanuel Ajanaku,
Zharon Richmond, and
Daniel Moody. The Yellowjackets shot just 39 percent from the field and 22 percent from three in the first half and responded exponentially with shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 60 percent from three in the second half. MSUB leaned on defensive rebounding throughout the game as they outrebounded the Wildcats 32-19 on the defensive end. "It was a complete team win tonight, I am proud of our grit and our fight in the second half," said head coach
Luke Fennelly. "I told our guys out defense needed to travel on the road with us and it showed!"
"Road game wins against a very good team are hard to come by so I was happy with our effort guarding the basketball, and our production offensively in the second half," said coach Fennelly. There is a lot to work on, but our guys did a lot of good things tonight and I couldn't be prouder."
In the Nicholson Pavilian,
Jalen Tot got the 'Jackets on the board early after drawing a foul and making both free throws. The Yellowjackets did not shoot the ball well early in the first half, despite a
Daniel Moody poster dunk they didn't have any momentum on offense. They were able to find that spark behind
Steven Richardson who was able to get to the rim multiple times and bringing their deficit withing one at the hallway point in the half. From there it was a back-and-forth battle with both teams shooting under 35 percent from the field and zero percent from beyond the arch.
Ky Kouba gave the 'Jackets their largest lead of the night 22-20 at the five-minute mark after making the first three-pointer of the game in hopes of leading their offense into a rally. The low scoring matchup continued with MSUB leading by just one heading into the half 29-28.
Zharon Richmond opened the second half knocking down a field goal right away, followed by a Moody and-one, and a Moody triple to give the Yellowjackets their largest lead of the night of five. Heading into the first media timeout of the second half the 'Jackets looked like a whole new team. At the 15-minute mark the MSUB offense was shooting over 83 percent from the field and 100 percent from three. Both teams seemed to turn up the heat on offense and were unable to pull away from each other. Halfway through the second half the 'Jackets lead by just three points despite their offensive efficiency. With just under six minutes to go the Yellowjackets extended their lead to 10 behind a pair of crucial buckets and free throws by Emmanual Ajanaku. With the help of the electric offense the Yellowjackets also outrebounded the Wildcats 21-8 in the second half helping them extend their lead and win the game 74-59.
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Steven Richardson – 9 PTS (4-9 FG, 1-2 3FT), 5 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
Daniel Moody – 12 PTS (5-7 FG, 1-1 3PT), 6 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLK, 1 STL
Zharon Richmond – 13 PTS (3-6 FG, 1-1 3PT, 6-8 FT), 4 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
THE BUZZ: Emmanuel Ajanaku was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting 12 points (4-4 FG, 4-4 FT), 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team stays on the road with more GNAC play. The 'Jackets will head to Nampa, ID to take on the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on January 6
th at 7:30 PM.
