HILO, Haw.— The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team (5–0) kept its undefeated start alive on Saturday night, mounting an impressive second-half surge to secure an 80–72 win over Westmont College (0–2) at Vulcan Gymnasium.
The Yellowjackets found themselves trailing early and struggling to match Westmont's shooting from the perimeter, but MSUB's trademark grit showed once again after halftime. Despite being outshot overall, the Jackets controlled crucial facets of the game—most notably the battle on the boards and turnover conversion. MSUB outrebounded the Warriors 31–24 and turned 16 forced turnovers into 21 points, ultimately providing the separation needed to complete the comeback.
Leading the charge offensively was
Miles Gurske, who delivered a well-rounded performance with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Gurske's impact went beyond scoring; he also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out six assists, anchoring the offense during key stretches.
Jonas La Tour continued his red-hot shooting streak, finishing with 17 points on a blistering 88 percent from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 night from beyond the arc.
Brandon Tchouya, coming off a double-double in MSUB's previous contest, added 13 points alongside five rebounds and contributed defensively with a block and a steal.
La Tour set the tone early by scoring MSUB's first basket of the night, converting a floater off a feed from
Jakob Milling. The Warriors responded quickly with a 6–0 run, but the Yellowjackets briefly regained control behind a Milling three and another inside finish from La Tour. The opening half became a tug-of-war, with neither team able to gain more than a two-point edge until Westmont connected on consecutive threes at the 8:20 mark.
La Tour nearly single-handedly kept MSUB within striking distance, pouring in eight straight points—including back-to-back triples—to trim the deficit to 31–27. Westmont answered again from long range to stretch the lead back to nine, but the Jackets responded with a timely bucket from
Gabe Hatler and a deep three from Gurske. Despite the push, MSUB entered the locker room down 40–35.
The second half opened with a slower tempo, with the teams combining for just seven points in the first four minutes. La Tour snapped the lull with his third three of the night, and moments later
Croix Cox electrified the bench with a two-handed dunk to pull MSUB within two. That set the stage for a momentum-shifting sequence from
Pedro Ellery, who erupted for seven consecutive points—including two threes and a tough and-one finish—to give the Yellowjackets their first lead of the half at 49–45.
From there, MSUB began to take control. While Westmont continued to battle, Tchouya's putback kept MSUB ahead by four, and Milling added a smooth hook shot to widen the margin. Gurske helped put the game out of reach at the 1:16 mark with a pair of free throws that pushed the lead to 13. The Warriors made a late push with aggressive full-court pressure, but their attempts at a comeback fell short as the Jackets maintained their composure and sealed the 80–72 victory.
