by Hayden Foltz
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket men’s basketball team (18-6, 12-2 GNAC) punched their ticket to the GNAC Tournament after a 93-72 victory over the Western Oregon Wolves (5-16, 2-11 GNAC).
After catching fire halfway through the first half of play the Yellowjackets put on a clinic, showing why they are the top team in the GNAC. Not only did MSUB outshoot the Wolves but won the turnover battle with authority scoring 24 points off of 16 turnovers from WOU. The ‘Jackets also leaned on the deep ball with 12 made three pointers while shooting 50 percent.
Daniel Moody got the ‘Jackets going early, winning the top-off and scoring on the first possession via and-one. After the Wolves answered on their first possession there was a four-minute lull in scoring for both squads, until Jalen Tot broke the silence with a deep three. By the halfway point both squads were struggling to find consistency on offense with both shooting under 33 percent from the field and only 23 total points in the game. The Yellowjackets were finally able to create some separation on Western Oregon after going on a 13-4 run to take the 27-16 lead, their largest of the game. The ‘Jackets continued their late offensive surge heading into the half up 42-28 behind Famous Lefthand, Tot, and Moody who combined for 33 of their 42 first half points.
The Yellowjackets picked up where they left off scoring on their first five possessions including three of them from beyond the arch. At the 16:06 mark the ‘Jackets took their largest lead of night at 23 after a 17-10 run in their first four minutes of play of the second half. Jalen Tot was on fire going 3-3 from beyond the arch during the stretch and now had 21 points at this point in the game. The Wolves did their best to stay in the ballgame, but MSUB did a great job of keeping a comfortable lead. The contest started to shake out to be a true team effort as the Yellowjackets now had 17 team assists and every active player on their roster had now scored at least two points. The ‘Jackets continued their dominance throughout the final minutes of play to claim at __ victory and securing their spot in post season play.
THE BUZZ: Famous Lefthand was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
