BILLINGS, Mont.
– The Montana State Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team dropped its Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest against Western Washington (9-7, 1-5 GNAC) Saturday evening in Alterowitz Gym.
The Yellowjackets (11-7) fell to 2-3 in GNAC play after an 84-70 loss to the Western Washington Vikings. After starting the season as one of the top shooting teams in the conference, MSUB had another tough night from the field shooting 34.8 percent which is 10 points under their average. The 'Jackets did continue their success with the deep ball and the free throw line, connecting on 10-25 for a 40 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arch and a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line.
Leading the way was
Jalen Tot who ended his night with 27 points on 8-20 from the field, 5-10 from three, and 6-6 from the line while tallying four rebounds, three steals, a pair of assists, and one block. After tonight's game, Tot sits just 66 points away from hitting the 1,500-career point milestone and just 94 points away from 1,000 points in a Yellowjacket uniform.
The Yellowjackets received 62 of their 70 points from their starting five with three of them reaching double digits. Following Tot in scoring was
Brendon Johnson who posted 16 on 5-14 from the field with seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Kael Robinson poured in 13 points on 5-12 with seven rebounds, a team best three assists, and one block.
Game two of MSUB's double-header started as a back-and-forth battle until the Yellowjackets went on an early 10-2 run to take what would be their largest lead of the game 17-12. This was backed behind a pair points from Tot and
Famous Lefthand and back-to-back three pointers from Johnson and
Cooper Dewitt. Both squads traded punches from their until the 'Jackets lost their last advantage of the night 26-25 when WWU went on a scoring rampage. The Vikings hit three straight triples leading them on a 13-0 run, aiding in a 42-33 advantage heading into half time.
The final 20 minutes of the night started competitively, trading buckets for the first seven minutes until the Vikings went on another 8-0 run to take an 18-point lead. The 'Jackets responded with 14 points, nine coming from Tot and five from Johnson but Western Washington had an answer for every glimpse of momentum. The Vikings continued to extend their lead, taking their largest advantage of the night (22) at the 3:50 mark but it was not over yet. The Yellowjackets found some late success, going on a 10-2 run but it was not enough to amount the comeback, falling 84-70 as time expired.
STATISTIC LEADERS
POINTS: Jalen Tot (27);
Brendon Johnson (16)
REBOUNDS: Kael Robinson (7);
Brendon Johnson (7)
ASSISTS: Kael Robinson (3); three players tied (2)
STEALS: Jalen Tot (3);
Brendon Johnson (2)
BLOCKS: Five players tied (1)
THE BUZZ: Jalen Tot was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting 27 points on 8-20 from the field, 5-10 from three, and 6-6 from the line while also tallying four rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block.
UP NEXT: The Montana State Billings Yellowjacket men's basketball team hits the road for a two-game stretch, facing off against the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on January 16
th at 7:30 PM and the Central Washington Wildcats on January 18
th at 7:15 PM (MT). The January 16
th live stream link against NNU can be found
here, and the live statistics link can be found
here.
