Men's Basketball | 1/26/2012 8:15:00 PM

Box Score [Box score]

BILLINGS, Mont. - Even on a night when Kyle Long became just the 49th member in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau there would not be much cheering on the Western Oregon side as the Wolves fell at Montana State Billings 79-57 on Thursday.

Freelander scored a season-high 14 points in the game, with 12 of those coming in the opening period. Blair Wheadon led the Wolves (14-5, 7-3 GNAC) with 18 points and James Gehring contributed 12 points and team-leading nine rebounds. Jaxon Myaer paced four Yellowjackets in double figures with 14 points.

The Yellowjackets (11-7, 6-4 GNAC) led 37-34 at the half thanks to a 7-1 run to close out the period. They would then score seven of the first eight points in the second half thanks in part to Cameron Cusworth's 3-pointer and tip-in, to increasing the Yellowjackets lead to nine (44-35). They would push the lead to as many the 22 points at the end.

The Wolves were hurt on teh glass all night as MSU Billings outrebounded them 46-27 and outscored them 18-7 on second chance points.

Long's 1,000th point came from back-to-back shots as his first three points tied the game up at 14-14. He followed up by making a layup to help the Wolves take a two-point lead (16-14). He now joins Blair Wheadon as the second pair of Western Oregon student-athlete teammates to score over 1,000 points in Wolves history. Robert Day and Kevin Tyner were the last duo to achieve this mark during the 2002-04 seasons.

Western Oregon will look to put this game behind them, as they get ready for their I-5 rivals Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Jan. 28th. Tip off will be at 4:00 pm.