Monday, January 8, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team locked up the first GNAC Team of the Week honors of 2024 with two victories to remain the only undefeated program in conference play last week.

The Yellowjackets improved to 4-0 against GNAC opponents (10-4 overall) with road wins over Central Washington, 74-59, on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene, 67-55, on Saturday. The results see the team alone at the top of the conference standings with a four-game win streak as it heads home for the first time since the start of December.

On Thursday, the Yellowjackets used a strong second half to turn up the offense and defeat the Wildcats in Ellensburg. After going into halftime with a slim 29-28 advantage MSUB kicked into high gear, outscoring Central Washington 45-31 to secure the win. Perimeter defense proved to be another key advantage for the Yellowjackets as they held the Wildcats to a stifling 1 for 24 from three-point range, including 0 for 12 in the first half.

Senior forward Zharon Richmond led all players with 13 points, shooting 50% from the field and 75% from the free throw line. Richmond also picked up four rebounds, three assists and two steals on the night. Along with Richmond, fellow senior forward Daniel Moody and junior center Emmanuel Ajanaku both notched 12 points on the night to finish in the double digits. Ajanaku was perfect on the night, going 4 for 4 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free throw line while also pulling down six rebounds to go with two assists.

On Saturday, MSUB was led to victory by a dominant performance from junior guard Jalen Tot who led all players with 19 points while shooting 50% from the field, including 3 of 5 from beyond the three-point arc and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Along with his scoring effort, Tot also pulled in three rebounds to go with two assists, one block and a steal.

Tot was one of three players to score in the double digits for Montana State Billings in Nampa along with Moody and junior guard Famous Lefthand. Moody came through with 14 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists while Lefthand notched 11 points while shooting 66.7% from the field.

As a team, the Yellowjackets had to contest with a Northwest Nazarene team that came out of the gates hot in both halves. They pushed back strong in both frames, including an 11-0 run to cap off the first half that ended with a half-court buzzer-beater by Tot. As the game came down to the wire, MSUB’s 78.9% shooting from the free throw line proved to be a deciding factor in securing the win.

Montana State Billings will be back in action at home this week as it hosts regionally-ranked Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.