Yellowjackets Host Seattle Pacific and Western Washington in Final Home Games

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team concludes the home portion of the schedule this week with Seattle Pacific and Western Washington.  The Yellowjackets and league-leading SPU battle Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium, while the ‘Jackets and Vikings square off Saturday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s game is MSUB Men’s Basketball Alumni Night as all former players are encouraged to attend.  Saturday’s game is Senior Night and Family Night.  Seniors Travis Bunker and Michael Hall will be playing their home game in a Yellowjacket uniform.  In addition, player family members will be admitted free to the game.

MSUB enters the week with a 9-14 record overall and a 4-8 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The Yellowjackets are looking to snap a season-long five game skid and have won just two of their past seven games. 

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Hall who averages a team-best 17.6 points per game.  He also leads the team with 133 made field goals and 71 made 3-pointers.  Derrick Wright is second in scoring at 15.8 points per game.  Wright leads the team with a .522 average from the field (128 of 245).  He also leads the team from the charity stripe at 108 of 149 for 73 percent.  He is second on the team in rebounding at 5.8 rebounds per game.  Bunker is third in scoring (13.8) and leads the team in rebounding at an 8.3 clip.  He is third in field goals made with 109 and second in 3-pointers made with 63.   Mario Burns also averages double figures at 10.6 points per game and he leads the team with 147 assists to just 70 turnovers. 

As a team, the Yellowjackets are shooting just south of 46 percent for the year on 600 of 1313 from the field.  MSUB is shooting .376 from range on 158 of 420 and are barely under 70 percent from charity stripe at 339 of 492.  The Jackets are averaging 34.1 rebounds per game and own a +0.9 rebounding average.  The team is averaging 73.8 points per game, compared to 75 for its opponents.

Seattle Pacific enters the week with a 17-7 record and a 10-3 mark in conference play and sit in first place in the league by a half a game over Western Washington and Central Washington.  The Falcons have won four straight and eight of 10. 

This season, SPU is led by Chris Banchero who leads the team averaging 16.0 points.  He also leads the team with a staggering 150 made field goals and a .560 shooting percentage.  Brandon Larrieu is second in scoring at 13.9 points and also is shooting over 50 percent from the field on 126 of 237 for a .532 clip.  Casey Reed is third in scoring (11.4) and second in field goal percentage at .559 (109 of 195).  Rafael Moreira is fourth in scoring at 11.3 points and is shooting a team-high .651 from the field on 110 of 169.  Moreira also leads the team in rebounds at 6.0 per game.  Jeff Downs leads the team from range with 48  3-pointers this season.

As a team, the Falcons are shooting 52 percent from the field, 36 percent from downtown and 66 percent from the line.  SPU averages 33 rebounds per game and scores 79.4 points per game.

SPU has won the last five games in the series, including an 82-79 victory Jan. 10 in Seattle.  In that game, Wright scored a career high 34 points and a furious second half Yellowjacket rally fell just short.  MSUB used a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to 80-79 with 18 seconds left as Bunker was fouled and converted the old fashion 3-point play.  Burns missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Western Washington enters the week with a 17-5 record overall and a 9-3 mark in conference play, just a half-game behind Seattle Pacific.  Ira Graham leads the way averaging 18.6 points per game.  He is a team-best 143 of 267 from the field for a .536 clip.  Graham is second in 3-pointers with 32 and leads the team with 91 made free throws.  Second on the team in scoring is Morris Anderson who averages 12.9 points, while Calin Schell is third at 11.0 and leads the team in rebounds at a 7.7 clip.  Michael Duty and Steve Alford also are averaging double figures.

As a team, the Vikings are shooting just short of 50 percent from the field and are 33 percent from downtown.  WWU is 71 percent from the line and pulls down 42 rebounds per game and allows just 33 rebounds.  WWU also leads the league in scoring at 88 points per game.

The Vikings won the opener by overcoming a five minute scoring drought in the second half and a 21-4 run by the Yellowjackets to pull the Yellowjackets to within one with 44 seconds left.  Anderson made four free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.