BILLINGS, Mont. - The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (14-6) fell short to the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (11-7) with a final score of 70-65.
 
Jalen Tot had another sensational night scoring 27 points on 10-17 shooting with three late three-pointers to try and amount a comeback. The comeback proved too much to overcome as NNU made clutch late free throws to keep a consistent lead. The 'Jackets as a team shot over 45 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from three, and 70 percent from the line but losing the turnover battle 20-11 confirmed why the Yellowjackets came short in the game.
 
"With 20 turnovers we were lucky to even have a chance to win the game so I'm proud of our guys as they battled through mistakes, but at the end of the day we made too many," said head coach Luke Fennelly. "Give credit to NNU for taking advantage, we will learn from this and look forward to another test on Saturday."
 
The first seven minutes of the game was all MSUB. The 'Jackets were playing hard and fast having five steals and nine points on fast breaks to get an early 20-10 lead. Jalen Tot again was leading the way for the Yellowjackets scoring 10 points while shooting 100 percent from the field at this point in the game. Although the 'Jackets were scoring fast their Achilles heel was turnovers, they had totaled 11 in just the first 12 minutes of play. With that the Nighthawks went on an 8-2 run of their own tying the game 24-all. After a back-and-forth battle to finish out the half Jalen Tot hit a buzzer beater three-pointer to give the Yellowjackets a 37-33 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The 'Jackets slowly started to build a lead the first five minutes of play in the second half. Zharon Richmond and Famous Lefthand were the result of this both hitting three-pointers to gain a seven-point lead. This would not last long as the Nighthawks went on a 14-2 run to take a five-point lead. This was mainly due to the 'Jackets struggling offensively, shooting just 35 percent to NNU's 53 percent at this point in the half. With the Nighthawks holding a consistent six-point lead with under three minutes to play Jalen Tot scored 11 straight points including three triples. Although, it was not enough, the Nighthawks capitalized by making late free-throws to close out the game and winning 70-65 over the Yellowjackets.
 
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Zharon Richmond – 10 PTS (4-9 FG, 2-5 3PT), 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK
Famous Lefthand – 9 PTS (3-7 FG, 2-3 3PT, 1-1 FT), 3 REB
Daniel Moody – 5 PTS, 9 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL
 
THE BUZZ: Jalen Tot was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting another 20+ point game. Tot scored 27 points while shooting 10-17 from the field, 6-9 from beyond the arch, and 3-4 from the line. Tot also tallied three rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
 
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team is home again for another GNAC matchup vs Central Washington on February 3^rd at 7:15 PM.