LACEY, Wash. – Montana State Billings rode the hot hand of guard Carrington Wiggins, who posted a career-high 34 points to upend the Saints at home 80-69 on Thursday night.
 
Saint Martin's (14-5, 7-3 GNAC) who entered the night on fire, winning 10 of their last 11 games, was unable to stop the efforts of Wiggins. Montana State Billings (9-9, 5-3) led most of the game, refusing to give in to the multiple runs by the Saints over the 40 minutes. Four different Saints finished in double-digits, led by Christian Haffner's 14 points, followed by Kyle Greeley and Alex Schumacher at 13, and Brett Reed's 12.
 
Saint Martin's jumped out to the first lead of the game at 10-6 nearly seven minutes into the game. Despite the slow offensive start, the Saints' defense had limited MSUB to just three field goals in over seven minutes.
 
A 3-pointer from Damen Thacker of MSUB gave the Yellowjackets an 11-10 lead, and MSUB led the rest of the half. Saint Martin's trailed by as many as nine in the first half but started to build momentum by the end of the half. SMU closed out the final two and half minutes with a pair of 3-pointers from Haffner and Greeley, all the while holding MSUB scoreless. By the end of the first 20 minutes of action, Saint Martin's had cut the lead down to just three.
 
 
Reed opened the second half with a basket making it a one-point game before the Yellowjackets fired back with seven straight of the their own. Saint Martin's went to work once again to close the gap.
 
SMU caught fire beyond the arc midway through the second half, and after 3-pointers from Haffner, and Greeley again, it was a Schumacher 3-pointer that put SMU on top 54-52. However, the lead did not hold long due to a technical foul issued against the Saints. The Yellowjackets converted both free throws and scored on the following possession to regain the lead.
 
After the foul, MSUB held the Saints scoreless for the next six minutes of action and stretched open a 13-point lead. Saint Martin's was unable to rebound in time, falling by 11.
 
Saint Martin's game against Seattle Pacific on Saturday was postponed earlier on Thursday, leaving the Saints to travel to Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday, February 8 for their next matchup. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.