Yellowjackets Fight Hard, But Fall to Saint Martin’s, 87-66

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BILLINGS, Mont. – Saint Martin’s University posted an 87-66 victory over Montana State Billings Saturday evening at Alterowitz Gym.  With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 1-23 on the year and 1-12 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  SMU improves to 11-11 on the year and 6-7 in conference play.

MSUB freshman Aaron Terry had a game-high 22 points as he was 7 of 13 from the field and 8 of 13 from the line.  Freshman Brett Taylor had 12 points off the bench and freshman John Brooks added 10.

The Saints had five players in double figures led by 15 points and seven rebounds from Brendan Campbell. 

The game started at a very quick and frantic pace as both teams exchanged buckets through the early going.  A trey by SMU's Justin Alexander at the 17:18 mark sparked an 18-4 run over the next 5:23 for a 22-9 lead.  Taylor ended the spurt with a three-pointer at the 11:55 mark.

A tip-in, dunk and a trey capped by Nick Smith increased the lead to 16 points with 8:41 left in the half.  The Saints pushed the lead to as many as 22 points and settled for a 47-26 lead at halftime.

Terry led the way for the Jackets in the first half with six points.  MSUB struggled in the opening half shooting just 36 percent on 9 of 25 from the floor.  From downtown, the Jackets were 4 of 14 and were 4 of 7 from the line. 

Saint Martin’s shot 54 percent for the half of 18 of 33 from the floor.  The Saints were 6 of 11 from beyond the arc and 5 of 10 from the line.  SMU held a 19-17 lead on the boards and forced MSUB into 15 first half turnovers.

The second half started as SMU jumped out to a 24-point lead on a jumper by Campbell with 18:45 left, but MSUB cut the deficit to 15 points using a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to make the score 52-37 with 15:52 left.  The Saints extended the lead back to 22, but the young Yellowjackets kept chipping away and got it down to 13 points with a hoop-and-harm foul from Terry with 5:13 left.

SMU had the answer again and increased the lead to 21 points for an 87-66 victory.

Terry exploded in the second half with 16 points and went 6 of 11 from the line to help the Yellowjackets cut the deficit.  The team shot better in the second half (13 of 29) for 45 percent and shot 40 percent for the game.  MSUB went 10 of 28 from downtown for the game and was 12 of 22 from the line.

The Saints cooled off in the second half to 45 percent, but shot an even 50 percent for the game on 32 of 64.  SMU was 7 of 19 from deep range and went 16 of 26 from the charity stripe.

The Yellowjackets head to Alaska this week, but return home, Feb. 28 against Central Washington at 7 p.m.  Live video streaming, free live stats, and free internet broadcast of home games can be found on the Yellowjackets web site.