BILLINGS, Mont. - The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (19-6, 13-2 GNAC) upset the #8 team in the country the Saint Martin's Saints (20-4, 10-4 GNAC) with a final score of 83-78.
Alterowitz gymnasium was packed as it not only featured the two top teams in the GNAC where they honored their seniors, but MSUB Athletics also partnered with the Native American achievement Center to pay tribute to Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women by wearing red to show their support for No More Stolen Sisters. The matchup was everything you could ask for as both squads battled back-and-forth and in the final minutes MSUB clutching out the win. "Tough win by our guys, I'm just extremely proud of their grit and toughness throughout the whole game," said head coach
Luke Fennelly. "Our defense in the second half ultimately was the difference holding them to only one three pointer and 30 percent from the field."
The Yellowjackets were impressive all night as they had five players in the double digits including a 28-point performance from
Jalen Tot and a 17-point season high from
Steven Richardson. The 'Jackets outshot the Saints from the field and beyond the arch and had 28 made free-throws. This was a result of 40 total fouls from both squads, proving how intense and chippy the game was.
After honoring their five seniors,
Beni Fungula,
Daniel Moody,
Steven Richardson,
Zharon Richmond, and
Emmanuel Ajanaku the long-awaited rematch vs the #8 Saint Martin's Saints didn't start out well in the eyes of the 'Jackets. The Saint's came out hot going on a 12-5 run while shooting just under 75 percent from the field. MSUB quickly evened the score going on a 9-2 run behind
Famous Lefthand who had six of them. The Yellowjackets kept their momentum going and gained their largest lead of the night at the 9:19 mark after
Jalen Tot hit a deep three to take a 29-19 lead. The next five minutes was back-and-forth basketball with the Saint's closing the gap to just a four-point lead for the 'Jackets. The highly intense got chippy in the final minutes of the opening half with 16 total personal fouls from both squads and both with bonus opportunity. Both teams traded punches, but it was MSUB who headed into the locker room up 49-42 at the half.
The Yellowjackets came out hot again in the second half going on a 21-12 in the first six and a half minutes of play. By the 13:22 mark the Yellowjackets had amassed their largest lead of the game at 16 points thanks to
Jalen Tot and
Steven Richardson doing most of the heavy lifting. The Saints didn't go away capitalizing with eight unanswered points from a seven-minute stretch of scoreless basketball from MSUB. A lot of this was a result of the 'Jackets being in foul trouble having 10 team fouls already in the second half. With SMU within four points the Yellowjackets needed a spark fast, a spark was what they got when
Jalen Tot took control scoring seven consecutive points to put MSUB back ahead by 11. The final minutes was everything you could expect from these two squads, the Saints clawed their way back again and bringing it within one point with 27 seconds left. With the crowd on their feet and pressure on the line
Zharon Richmond did what he does, closing out the game by making two late free throws to take the 83-78 victory.
HEAR FROM FENNELLY:
"You live for those type of games against a highly ranked opponent and our guys really stepped up to the challenge and competed for all 40 minutes."
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Jalen Tot – 28 PTS (9-16 FG, 5-10 3PT, 5-8 FT), 6 REB, 3 AST
Zharon Richmond – 12 PTS (9-10 FT), 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 BLK
Daniel Moody – 12 PTS (2-5 3PT, 4-5 FT), 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
Famous Lefthand – 10 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST
THE BUZZ: Steven Richardson was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting 17 points while shooting 6-8 from the field, and 3-5 from beyond the arch. Richadson also tallied seven rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block!
UP NEXT: After a bye, the Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team heads to Seattle, WA to take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons on February 24
th at 2 PM (PST).
