Yellowjackets Defeat Anchorage 65-60; Won Five of Last Seven

Box Score

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BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team pulled out a hard-fought 65-60 victory in its final regular season home game Saturday evening versus Alaska Anchorage at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  With the victory, the Yellowjackets improved to 14-9 on the year and 8-6 the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  With the loss, the Seawolves fell to 16-9 overall and 7-7 in conference play.

“I feel like we are playing good basketball right now,” Yellowjacket head coach George Pfeifer said.  “Our seniors made senior plays on senior night and I thought we defended well.”

The Yellowjackets shot an even 50 percent from the field on 23 of 46 from the floor.  The Jackets were 10 of 23 from beyond the arc and 9 of 16 from the charity stripe.  Senior DaVell Jackson led the way with 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists.  Mick McCrary added 13 points, while DeAndre Chambers and Brad Hodge each had 12 points.

Alaska Anchorage shot struggled from the field shooting 40 percent on 19 of 47 from the floor.  The Seawolves were helped out by shooting 13 of 28 from beyond the arch and 9 of 12 from the line.  Kevin White scored 14 points as did Brandon Walker in the losing effort. 

With the victory, MSUB now has won five of its last seven.  It could have been six of seven if not for the last second heroics of No. 1 in the West Region, Seattle Pacific, with a 3-pointer as time expired for a 78-75 victory in Alterowitz Gymnasium a week ago.

The Jackets dominated inside to the tune of 20-8 in points in the paint and held a 31-27 lead in rebounds. UAA led 16-10 in points off turnovers, 6-5 in second chance points and 14-6 in bench points.

MSUB scored the first two points of the game, but the Seawolves used a 19-8 run over the first 10 minutes to build a 19-10 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.  The Jackets cut the deficit to 19-17 with layups from McCrary and Jackson, followed by a triple from Chambers.

Brett Taylor hit a triple with just over three minutes left to give MSUB its first lead since the opening minute at 23-22.  The game remained within three points the rest of the half as UAA held a 29-28 lead at intermission.

Just as in the first half, the Jackets scored the opening bucket of the second half and regained the lead for good on a Derrick Wright layup for a 30-29 lead.  Chambers hit another triple moments later as the lead swelled to six with 18:21 left.

A Kevin White triple tied the game at 37 with 16:22 left, but Jackson had the bookend answer to a 14-7 run for a 53-44 lead with six minutes left.  Jackson hit just his fifth triple of the year to highlight the run.

The Seawolves wouldn’t go quietly as they cut the deficit to three on a Walker triple, but McCrary answered right back with a triple and the lead went back to nine at 59-50 with 3:02 left.

UAA’s Casey Robinson hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 26 seconds left brining the Seawolves within three at 61-58.  Two huge free throws by Jackson seconds later swelled the lead to five.  A layup by Drew Robinson cut the deficit to three, but Jackson hit two more free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory. 

The Yellowjackets close out the regular season next week with two very important games at Central Washington and at Western Washington.  Both the Wildcats and Vikings won the earlier meetings with the Yellowjackets this season in Billings.  MSUB battles CWU Mar. 4 at 7 p.m. and WWU Mar. 6 at 7 p.m.