FAIRBANKS, Alas. - The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (20-7, 14-3 GNAC) claimed sole possession of the GNAC regular season title after taking down the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks (8-17, 6-11 GNAC) with a final score of 81-58.
After MSUB Women's basketball 74-65 win over UAF and MSUB men's basketball 81-58 win over UAF both Yellowjacket squads clinched the regular season GNAC title. Both programs winning the regular season title from the same institution has only happened four times in GNAC history with the last being in 2012-13.
HEAR FROM FENNELLY:
"I am just proud of our guys being ready from the tip off tonight, it's been a tough and resilient group all year and that continued to show tonight. Extremely grateful for this team and the work they've put in and they deserve this regular season GNAC title!"
The Yellowjackets claimed sole possession of the GNAC regular season title in dominating fashion after taking down the Nanooks by over 20 points.
Zharon Richmond let the way for the 'Jackets after scoring a career high 31-point performance while shooting 12-14 from the field and 4-5 from beyond the arch.
Daniel Moody also had an impressive night posting yet another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Despite these stellar performances, MSUB played some of the best team basketball they had shown all season. The 'Jackets finished with 24 team assists and had five players in the double digits.
With the 'Jackets just one win away from clinching the regular season GNAC title they came out with that in sights.
Daniel Moody got them on the board with an early deep ball followed a
Zharon Richmond layup and a
Steven Richardson triple to take the early 8-0 lead. The Yellowjackets stayed hot going on another 15-4 run and had amassed a 19-point lead by the halfway point in the first half. At this point MSUB had found a majority of their success from beyond the arch having already made five three pointers and were shooting nearly 60 percent from the field. The 'Jackets offense kept their pace behind Richmond and Moody who combined for 24 points and went into the half up 41-21.
The Nanooks didn't lay down as they came out in the second half matching every Yellowjacket point making it a back-and-forth battle for the first five minutes of play in the second frame. This didn't last long after the 'Jackets went on a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the night (25) with a 55-30 lead. At this point in the game the 'Jackets were dominating in almost every major offensive category, outshooting the Nanooks 55 to 30 percent from the field, 49 to 19 percent from three, and 20 to 8 with team assists with four players in double digits. At the 4:51 mark in the second half, Richmond scored his 31
st point of the game, a new career high for the senior forward to keep their 25-point lead. From there the Yellowjackets ran out the clock to take the 81-58 victory of Alaska Fairbanks.
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Daniel Moody – 14 PTS, 12 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL
Emmanuel Ajanaku – 10 PTS, 9 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK
Jalen Tot – 11 PTS, 6 AST, 2 STL
Steven Richardson – 10 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL
THE BUZZ: Zharon Richmond was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting a career high 31 points while shooting 12-14 from the field, 4-5 from beyond the arch, 3-5 from the line, with a pair of rebounds and assists!
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team finishes out their regular season in the last frontier with their last GNAC matchup of the year at Alaska Anchorage on March 2
nd at 7:30 PM (AST).
