BILLINGS, Mont.- Your 2024 GNAC regular season champions, the Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team (20-8, 14-4 GNAC), will be the number one seed with a first round bye in the 2024 GNAC tournament. On Friday, March 8, the Yellowjackets (20-7, 14-3 GNAC) will take on the winner of Central Washington (18-9, 11-7 GNAC) and Seattle Pacific (17-14, 10-8 GNAC) at 7:30pm (PT) at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg, Washington.
 
The Yellowjackets are on a historic pace as they are already at 20 wins, claiming back-to-back 20-win seasons. As are the MSUB women's basketball team, after last week, both Yellowjacket basketball squads clinched the regular season title and is just the fifth time both men's and women's basketball teams from the same institution have done this in GNAC history. With sights on a GNAC tournament championship, if both teams take the cake at the GNAC tournament it will be the first time ever in conference history.
 
Now that the regular season has concluded, let's look at what made the Yellowjackets successful. MSUB averaged 76.9 points per game on the season which ranked third among the GNAC and averages 68.8 points per game in scoring defense which ranks second. Offensively the 'Jackets shot just over 47 percent from the field which ranked fourth in the GNAC and shot 38.5 percent from beyond the arch which is first. The impressive part is only leading in one single category but out of 10 GNAC teams the Yellowjackets ranked top-5 in almost every single category proving how balanced and versatile the 'Jackets are.
 
When the 'Jackets take the court in the second semifinal match-up on Friday night, they will either face the host, #4 seed Central Washington Wildcats or the #5 seed Seattle Pacific Falcons. The Wildcats have been dominant on their home court this year, going 13-1, but their one loss was to the Yellowjackets on January 4^th with a 74-59 final. The Wildcats also lost in Alterowitz Gym to the 'Jackets just over a month ago by a final of 76-69, allowing MSUB to sweep the season series. The other potential semifinal opponent is Seattle Pacific – they were one of the conference foes who handed the 'Jackets one of their four conference losses, defeating them in Seattle on February 24^th by a final score of 91-80. The Yellowjackets defeated the Falcons in their first match-up of the season by a final of 81-75, proving to be closely contested matches throughout the season which could set up for another competitive game on Friday night.
 
If the Yellowjackets advance to the championship on Saturday night, they will play either #6 seed Alaska Anchorage, #3 seed St. Martin's or the #2 seed Northwest Nazarene. The 'Jackets split the season series against all of these three teams.
 
Tournament Format: The top six teams in the GNAC standings at the end of the regular season have advanced to the GNAC Championships (tiebreakers will be applied as necessary). The top two seeds, MSUB and Northwest Nazarene, earn byes to the semifinal round. The quarterfinal round will match the Nos. 3 and 6 seeds in one game and the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the other game. The quarterfinal winners will advance to Friday's semifinals. The semifinal winners will meet on Saturday for the championship. The winners of the GNAC Championships will automatically qualify for their respective NCAA Division II Championships events.
 
Tournament Information: All games will be played at Nicholson Pavilion on the campus of Central Washington University. Tournament passes, good for all men's and women's games, are $60 for adults and $40 for students, children, and seniors. Individual session prices, which include two games per session, are $15 for adults and $11 for students, children, and seniors. All games of the 2024 GNAC Basketball Championships will be streamed live free of charge and can be found here, there will also be broadcast by Shawn Walli and Dustin Daniel. Live stats for all games of the men's tournament will be available here.
 
Some helpful links for the GNAC Tournament can be found below:
TICKETS
ARENA
LIVE STREAM
LIVE STATS
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS