NAMPA, Ida. - The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (10-4) downed the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (7-5) in Nampa, Idaho with a final score of 67-55. "It was a great win for us tonight to cap off a tough road trip," said head coach
Luke Fennelly. We knew it was going to be a tough defensive battle and our guys certainly accepted the challenge."
Although the Nighthawks started off hot in both halves, the Yellowjackets showed persistence and consistency in their process to lead them to a 12-point win. By the final whistle in the match the 'Jackets lead the Nighthawks in almost every major category. MSUB outshot NNU 46.9-29.7 from the field, 40.0-33.3 from three, 79-36 from the line, 38-30 with rebounds, and 11-10 with assists. "We knew they were going to make a run but our guys dug in deep, stayed in the game, and made free-throws when they needed to at the end to seal the victory," said Fennelly.
The Nighthawks put the first points on the board and got out to an early 11-4 lead shooting 100 percent across all fields. The 'Jackets were able to close the distance after a pair of buckets by
Emmanuel Ajanaku to bring their deficit within three. The Yellowjackets, although down in the game, were showing impressive defense, leading the Nighthawks in rebounds, steals, and blocks at this point in the game. After the early NNU lead the game became a back-and-forth battle but turnovers and missed shots kept MSUB from diminishing their deficit. The 'Jackets then flipped the script, capitalizing on Nighthawk missed shots,
Daniel Moody made a contested layup and
Jalen Tot hit a triple to bring them within one point. The Yellowjackets kept their momentum going with an 11-0 run after a half-court buzzer beater by
Jalen Tot to give them the 37-26 lead at the half.
The Nighthawks came out sizzling as they did in the first half, going on an early 5-0 run to help bring them within six points. Again, from there it was another back-and-forth battle until NNU went on a 7-0 run capitalizing on MSUB turnovers and taking the lead by one. The 'Jackets were able to reclaim their lead after a three pointer by
Famous Lefthand at the 9:51 mark, taking a two-point lead. The Yellowjackets then followed that with a pair of buckets by Lefthand and Tot to regain a six-point lead with just under four minutes to go. MSUB was still outrebounding the Nighthawks 38-28 and was a big reason they had reclaimed their seven-point lead with a minute to play in the game. With under a minute to play and both teams with over nine fouls it was a free-throw battle.
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Daniel Moody – 14 PTS (6-9 FG), 7 REB, 5 AST, 1 BLK, 1 SLT
Famous Lefthand – 11 PTS (5-9 FG), 1 REB, 1 STL
Emmanuel Ajanaku – 7 PTS (2-3 FG, 3-4 FT), 8 REB, 1 BLK, 1 AST
Steven Richardson – 7 PTS, 4 REB
THE BUZZ: Jalen Tot was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting 19 points (5-10 FG, 3-5 3PT, 6-6 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team returns home for another conference matchup against Western Washington University on January 11
th at 5:15 PM.
