MONMOUTH, Ore. – Just a few nights after playing an overtime game against Simon Fraser, the Western Oregon University men's basketball team went into the extra session again on Saturday against Montana State Billings. The Yellowjackets were able to pull ahead in overtime and hold on for the 87-79 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win inside NPE Gym.
WOU (3-14, 2-7 GNAC) put together an impressive run over the final minutes of the second half to force overtime. With Montana State Billings (10-9, 6-3 GNAC) holding a 68-59 lead with 5:33 to play, the Wolves quickly switched momentum and got right back into the game.
A technical foul on the 'Jackets helped start the run for the Wolves with Cameron Cranston hitting a free throw. John Morrill-Keeler added two from the line before Cranston took over with a three-pointer and then a three-point-play helped complete a 9-0 run and tie the game at 68 with 3:43 to play.
The teams traded free throws to keep the game tied at 70. After Montana State Billings missed a three on their possession, the Wolves went to Cranston, but his fade away attempt just rimmed out. MSUB went to Bilal Shabazz as he connected on a jumper at the foul line extended to move the 'Jackets to a 72-70 lead with a minute to play.
WOU missed a layup attempt and then had to put together a defensive stop to try and tie or go for the win. The Wolves forced a tough off-balanced three attempt by Brent Finn that missed and eventually led to a shot clock violation.
With seven seconds left, the Wolves ran a perfect back play to Morrill-Keeler for a dunk to tie the game off a great bounce pass by Qiant Myers to send the game into OT tied at 72.
MSUB reeled off the first seven points of overtime to take a 79-72 lead. Daisone Hughes connected on a big three-pointer to break the run for the Wolves and cut the deficit to four. After the 'Jackets went back in front by six, Myers hit a layup to keep it a four-point game at 81-77 with 1:12 to play.
The 'Jackets went to Damen Thacker who continued his big night hitting a layup with 50 seconds to play to keep the lead at six. Cranston came back with a layup of his own to keep it at four with 31 seconds to play. Forced to foul, WOU sent Thacker to the line and he would hit four straight foul shots to seal the victory.
WOU came out with lots of energy in the first half and pushed out to a 18-10 lead just over six minutes in. Tyreek Price and Yosani Clay each hit three-pointers to help stretch the lead to eight. The Wolves had the lead out to nine at 30-21 on a jumper by Hughes near the midway point of the first half. With WOU in front at 35-28, Carrington Wiggins took over for the 'Jackets. He closed the half scoring the final 10 points to give MSUB the 38-35 halftime lead.
Just like the start of the game, the Wolves brought the intensity to begin the second half. Following a basket by Shabazz, WOU went on a 9-0 run to regain the lead. Price started the run with a triple. Cranston converted a three-point-play and then Clay capped the rally with a three-pointer for the 44-40 lead three minutes into the second stanza.
With WOU still in front by two, MSUB went on a 7-0 run to go in front at 52-47 just over six minutes in. The Wolves would come back to tie the game at 59 with a three-pointer by Antonio Salinas and jumper by Cranston. That setup the final minutes of the second half.
Cranston led the Wolves with 26 points, along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 42 minutes. Morrill-Keeler had a monster game inside for the Wolves with 18 points and 14 rebounds, along with two assists and two steals in 39 minutes. Price tallied nine points and Clay added six points. WOU went 28-64 (43.8) from the field, 12-29 (41.4) from three and 11-15 (73.3) at the foul line. The Wolves held advantages on points off turnovers (15-9), bench points (16-6) and fastbreak points (9-4).
Thacker paced the Yellowjackets with 30 points and eight assists in 40 minutes. Shabazz added 17 points and nine rebounds. Wiggins tallied 15 points and four rebounds. Nicholas Sebastiao gave the 'Jackets four in double-figures with 11 points. Emmanuel Ajanaku had eight points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. MSUB went 32-63 (50.8) from the field, 12-29 (41.4) from three and 11-12 (91.7) at the foul line. The 'Jackets held advantages in second chance points (11-7) and points in the paint (32-26).
Following the three games at home, WOU will now hit the road for three straight games starting with a Tuesday night game at Seattle Pacific starting at 5 p.m. The Wolves will also play at Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.
