Western Washington Defeats MSUB, 93-67 in Home Finale

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BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings Yellowjackets couldn’t overcome poor shooting in a 93-67 loss to Western Washington in the final home game of the season at Alterowitz Gym.  With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 1-28 overall and 1-16 in conference play.  WWU improves to 14-11 and 7-9 in conference play.

Western Washington opened the game with a 17-5 spurt through the first seven minutes as the Vikings started 7 of 11 from the field, while MSUB was 2 of 11.  A three-pointer by freshman John Brooks at the 13:02 mark cut the deficit to 17-8 with under 13 minutes left in the half.  Freshman Cameron Khoury had a pair of hoop-and-harm fouls, cutting the Viking lead to 19-10. 

WWU’s Ira Graham and David Brittinen had a combined 12 points during the first nine minutes of the game. Khoury had seven rebounds and six points to open the game for the Jackets.

A pair of free throws by freshman Aaron Terry cut the deficit to seven points with 8:37 left at 23-16.  It was the closed MSUB had been since the 16:04 mark.  Two free throws by Brooks made the score 28-18 with 6:47 left.

After a MSUB timeout, freshman Aaron Terry got the Yellowjackets as close as they had been to that point with a free throw and a jumper cutting the deficit to 28-21 with 5:14 left.   Moments later, MSUB closed the deficit to 29-23 as Terry got a tip-in off a pair of offensive rebounds with 4:05 left. 

Since the 7:14 mark, MSUB outscored WWU 11-3 cutting the deficit to 31-27 with 2:50 to play capped by a trey from Brooks.  WWU’s Steve Alford connected on a three-pointer and a layup by Calin Schell pushed the lead back to nine with 2:01 left.  The Vikings ended the half with an 11-2 run for a 42-29 lead at intermission.

For the half, the Yellowjackets were just 8 of 36 from the field for 22 percent.  MSUB made just two 3-pointers going 2 for 13 and were 11 of 18 from the line.  Terry led the team with nine points, while Khoury had nine rebounds and seven points. 

WWU cooled off from an impressive start to 48 percent for the half on 15 of 31 from the field.  The Vikings were 4 of 5 from downtown and 8 of 13 from the line.  Graham led the team with 12 points and Western held a 28-25 lead in rebounds, but MSUB held a 10-5 edge on the offensive end. 

The second half started as WWU built the lead to 20 points through the first five minutes of the half.  Graham hit his first three-pointer of the night as the Vikings began the half with a 13-6 run. 

Terry and freshman Kirk Blaine used a jumper and a trey, respectively to cut the deficit to 15 with 14:06 left at 55-40.  The Vikings had the answer again using a 12-2 run, building a 69-42 lead with 9:15 left.  MSUB scored its first field goal since the 14:06 mark as Blaine scored a jumper in the paint with 9:04 to play.  Brooks followed with his third trey of the game moments later for a 69-47 score.

Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Troy Ruff cut the deficit to 17 at 74-57 with 5:34 left.  The momentum began to shift back to the Yellowjackets as they cut the deficit to 16 points culminating in a thunderous dunk by Terry with 4:02 left. 

The Vikings again had the answer and pushed the lead to as many as 29 points down the stretch and settled for a 93-67 win.  Since MSUB cut the deficit to 16 with just over four minutes, WWU went on a 17-7 run to close the game for a 93-67 victory.

For the game, MSUB shot 32 percent on 22 of 68 from the field.  The Yellowjackets were 6 of 25 from beyond the arc and 17 of 31 from the field.  Terry led the way with a team-high 19 points on 7 of 17 from the field.  Brooks added 16 points and Blaine chipped in 10 off the bench.  Khoury had a career-high 13 rebounds for the Jackets. 

The Vikings were led by a game-high 31 points from Graham as he was 12 of 23 from the field.  The team shot just under 50 percent on 35 of 71 from the field.  Western was 7 of 19 from downtown and 16 of 22 from the stripe. WWU outrebounded MSUB 52-44 for the game.                                   

The Yellowjackets close the season at Seattle a week from tonight at 7 p.m. PST.