Yellowjackets Fall on Senior Night, 76-68

Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought 76-68 decision, Saturday evening on Senior Night to Western Washington.  With the loss, MSUB falls to 9-16 on the year and 4-10 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while WWU improves to 19-5 and 11-3 in conference play.

“The thing I was most proud of tonight was when it was 50-39, we put the peddle down and I thought we fought hard and get it to three with under a minute left and the ball,” head coach George Pfeifer said.  “I am very pleased with our effort our kids made both mentally and physically tonight.”

Prior to the game, the Yellowjackets honored two seniors who were playing their final home game as Michael Hall and Travis Bunker, both team captains, were honored.  Bunker and Hall transferred to MSUB for their senior year.

“I wish Mike could have shot the ball better tonight on Senior Night, but I was pleased with Travis’ performance with his eighth double-double and seven assists epitomizes his game and he did a great job on (Morris) Anderson as well,” Pfeifer added.

Derrick Wright led the way for MSUB with 23 points as he was 9 of 15 from the field.  Bunker chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year.  Brad Hodge added 11 points off the bench.

WWU had five players in double figures led by a double-double from Morris Anderson with 11 points and 11 assists.  Calin Schell had 11 points as did Ira Graham, all in the second half.  Cameron Severson and Michael Duty had 12 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.

Five free throws in the final minute by Western Washington swelled a three point lead to a 76-68 victory as MSUB rallied for a 9-2 run in the final 3:09 to get within 71-68.  MSUB had three looks in the final minute, but were unable to capitalize.

The Yellowjackets opened the game with the early lead as senior Travis Bunker nailed a triple giving the Yellowjackets an 11-6 lead with 14:48 left, Morris Anderson came right back for the Vikings and nailed a triple and the teams were tied at 13 with less than 12 minutes left in the half.

Junior Mario Burns ended the 12-2 spurt by the Vikings and scored the first Yellowjacket field goal since the 13:33 mark.  Junior Brad Hodge followed with a 12-foot jumper to pull the ‘Jackets within 18-17 moments later.

Back-to-back buckets from Calin Schell pushed the Viking lead to 30-22 with 2:22 left in the first half.  After starting 6 for 12 for MSUB and 5 for 11 for WWU, the teams really cooled off as MSUB was just 4 of 14 and WWU was 5 of 14 from the field since.

A 3-pointer from senior Michael Hall of the third assist of the game by Burns proceeded to cut the deficit to 33-31 as WWU head coach, Brad Jackson, took a timeout with 34 seconds left in the half.  It was just the second 3-pointer of the game for the Yellowjackets.

For the half, MSUB shot 43.8 percent on 14 of 32 from the field and was 2 of 9 from downtown and 1 of 2 from the line in a very quick moving first half.  Derrick Wright led the way with 12 points of 6 of 9 from the field for the Yellowjackets.

WWU was led by 10 points off the bench from Cameron Severson who was 4 of 7 and 1 of 3 from deep.  As a team, the Vikings shot 45.2 percent on 14 of 31 from the field.  They were 3 of 11 from long range and 2 of 3 from the line.

The Vikings held a 23-14 lead in rebounding.  MSUB held a 22-14 lead in points in the paint in the opening stanza.

A quick 4-1 start in the second half capped by a Hall jumper gave the Yellowjackets a 36-35 lead with 18:12 left.  It was the first lead for the Yellowjackets since the first half.

WWU’s leading scorer, Ira Graham, missed a long jumper, but the rebound came right back to him and he stepped back and knocked down a triple which was his first made field goal of the game as he started 0 for 4, giving WWU a 39-36 lead. 

Moments later, a big triple from Anderson, his second of the game, gave WWU its largest lead of the game at 46-38 with 15:49 left.  Graham then got a layup off a steal building the lead to 50-39 with 14:09 left.  Since the 18:12 mark, WWU has outscored MSUB 15-3.

A nice pass from Bunker to a wide-open Wright for two cut the deficit to 50-41 and gave Wright his 18th point of the game.  Bunker knocked down a triple on the ensuing possession, cutting the deficit to 50-44 as WWU needed a timeout.

A triple from Brett Taylor brought the Yellowjackets to within five with just over eight minutes left at 60-55.  A Graham triple pushed the Viking lead back to nine at 65-56 with seven minutes left.

The teams began trading buckets as WWU kept the margin between 8-10 over the next four minutes and 69-60 with 3:54 left.

A 3-pointer by Taylor kept the Yellowjackets within striking distance at 69-63 with just over three minutes left.  Moments later, Bunker hit a triple for his eighth double-double of the year and cut the deficit to 71-66.  Two free throws by Hodge made it 71-68 with 2:40 left.

For the game, the Yellowjackets were 25 of 56 from the floor and were 6 of 18 from beyond the arc.  MSUB was 12 of 20 from the line.  WWU was 29 of 68 from the field and was 6 of 20 from deep.  The Vikings were 12 of 18 from the line in a very even game on both sides.

WWU out-rebounded MSUB 43-34.

The Yellowjackets complete the regular season next week when they travel to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, looking to snap a six game skid.