January 12, 2008
 
Second Half Rally Falls Short Against Seattle Pacific, 62-56

Box Score
Season Stats

BILLINGS, Mont. – Down by as many as 12 points with under 10 minutes remaining, the Montana State Billings men’s basketball team rallied back to as close as four points, but fell to Seattle Pacific Saturday night at Alterowitz Gym, 62-56. With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 0-14 and 0-3 in the GNAC, while the Falcons improve to 11-2 and 3-1 in conference play.

Freshman Troy Ruff (Custer, Mont.) led the Yellowjackets with 15 points on 5 of 11 from the field, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. SPU was led by Rob Diederichs and Rob Will who each had 17 points.

The first half began as Seattle Pacific raced out to an early 8-3 lead courtesy of a pair of 3-pointers by Rob Diederichs and Jojay Jackson. MSUB battled right back with a 5-0 run to tie the game at eight with 15:32 to play in the half.

MSUB took the lead for the first time moments later on back-to-back 3-pointers by Ruff for a 14-11 lead. A pair of free throws by sophomore Tyler Hentzen (Brea, Calif.) gave MSUB its largest lead of the half at 16-12 with 12:40 to play.

The Falcons took the lead back on a 3-pointer by Jared Moultrie with 5:22 left, but the long-range Yellowjackets came right back with a 3-pointer by freshman Kirk Blaine (Gillette, Wyo.) to retake the lead at 4:47, 24-23. MSUB held a 29-27 lead at halftime.

The 29-27 lead by the Yellowjackets was the first halftime lead of the season. MSUB shot 50 percent for the half on 8 of 16 from the field. From downtown, the Yellowjackets were 7 of 13 (54 percent) and were a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. SPU was 9 of 27 from the field, 5 of 16 from beyond the arc and 4 of 9 from the line.

In addition to the poor shooting by SPU in the first half, Marques Echols, the team’s leading scorer at 19 points per game, was 0 of 5 from the field and had just two points from the charity stripe.

The second half started as MSUB opened an early four point advantage with 17 minutes left, but the Falcons began to heat things up. Echols hit his first field goal of the game - a 3-pointer with 16:56 left which started a 16-4 run over the next four-plus minutes, putting SPU up 49-38 with 10:53 left.

Credit the Yellowjackets as they did not give up. MSUB kept fighting hard and chipping away at the deficit over the next seven minutes.

The Jackets used a 16-9 run during the span, capped by a layup by Hentzen with 3:04 to play, making the score 58-54.

A layup by Will pushed the lead to six with 1:04 left at 60-54. Two free throws by Billings freshman Brett Taylor cut the deficit to four, but that was as close as MSUB would get, falling 62-56.

In what was their best defensive performance of the season, the Yellowjackets held SPU to 62 points. In addition, MSUB held Echols to just eight points on 2 of 12 from the field and 2 of 10 from beyond the arc. The 62 points was the Falcons’ third-lowest output as a team this season.

For the game, MSUB was 17 of 41 from the field for 42 percent. The Yellowjackets were 11 of 25 from long range and 11 of 15 from the line. SPU was 21 of 51 from the field, 10 of 28 from beyond the arc and 10 of 20 from the line.

The Jackets hit the road for two games this week at Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.  MSUB will be back at Alterowitz Gym, Thurs., Jan. 24 at 7 p.m., against Alaska Fairbanks.  Live video streaming, free live stats, and free internet broadcast can be accessed online.