BILLINGS, Mont. – Saint Martin's shot effectively in the first half; however, their offense went cold down the stretch to doom the possibility of a comeback attempt. Montana State Billings took advantage to take the 79-59 victory on their home court on Saturday night.

Saint Martin's (5-19, 3-13 GNAC) tallied a solid 50 shooting percentage from the field goal range in the first half to keep Montana State Billings' (10-14, 5-11 GNAC) lead within reach. However, the second half was unkind to them as they shot only 33 percent from the floor which the Yellowjackets capitalized on to take the win. CJ Jennings and Alex Schumacher combined to score over half of the Saints' points with 37. Jennings totaled 21 points for the night, followed by Schumacher with 16 off the bench. Marky Adams held the team on the defensive end with 12 rebounds and nearly grabbed a double-double. 

Points were hard to come by for Saint Martin's in the opening minutes, but they managed to break the spell with six straight points to tie it up at 11-11. The Yellowjackets took the lead, which they pushed to as many as 10 down the stretch to put the score at 28-18.

At the four-minute mark, SMU became hot from beyond the arc with three 3-pointers, to cut the lead to three at 30-27; however, this did not last. MSUB held the advantage to end the half, putting the score at 41-35.

The Yellowjackets took off running and opened up the second half holding the Saints scoreless for the first three minutes. By the 15-minute mark, they grabbed a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 14.
SMU struggled to find an offensive rhythm for the rest of the half, shooting only 33 percent from the floor and 23 percent beyond the arc. The baskets continued to fall for MSUB, and despite best efforts, the Saints were unable to showcase a comeback. Montana State Billings stretched their lead to 20 by the buzzer, giving them their largest lead of the game to seal the victory.

Along with his 16 points, Schumacher grabbed seven rebounds and four assists, while Jennings ended with two rebounds and two assists. Adams tallied nine points, and John Moore marked six points, three rebounds, and two assists.

On the night, the Saints as team shot 23-for-55 (41.8 percent) from the field, 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) beyond the arc, and 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) at the line. SMU grabbed 32 rebounds, collected 10 assists on 13 turnovers, along with three blocks and four steals.

SMU continues their road game stretch next week and travel to Western Washington Thursday, February 20. Tip-off will be at 7:00 p.m. with live stats and video available at smusaints.com.