BILLINGS — Playing host Saturday in its first conference game of the regular season, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team would come from behind to take down Seattle Pacific University, emerging with a 77-70 victory in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
With both squads facing off in their first conference contests of the 2025-26 season, the Yellowjackets (8-2, 1-0 GNAC) would be forced to play from behind for a majority of the game.
But after a strong start from the Falcons (3-2, 0-1 GNAC), the Jackets would hit their stride in the second half, outscoring SPU 51-37 across the final 20 minutes of action to rally back and take the win on home court.
Facing off against his former team after transferring to MSUB for the 2025-26 season, Mason Landdeck would have a career game, setting a new career-high for single game scoring with 32 points; 21 of those points would come in the second half for the senior, who would shoot 8-for-17 from the field with four 3-pointers, along with shooting a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line.
Landdeck would also add in five assists and a pair of rebounds for the Jackets. Behind him, Croix Cox and Cam Malray would each score 11 points, with Cox adding six rebounds and a steal to his stat line, while Malray totaled three rebounds, crucially scoring all of his points in the second half to help the Yellowjackets comeback efforts.
Miles Gurske would post eight points and rebounds each, while fellow SPU transfer to the Yellowjackets Jonas La Tour would also make an impact against his former team, scoring six points and adding a pair of assists, and a steal.
Brandon Tchouya would score four points with three rebounds, while Pedro Ellery would score three, and Jakob Milling would post two points with three rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Both teams would post nearly identical shooting percentages, with MSUB shooting 49.1% overall and Seattle Pacific shooting 49.0% from the field. The difference in the game would come from the Yellowjacket's ability to get to the free throw line, where MSUB would go 18-25, making six more attempts than the Falcons in a tightly contested ballgame.
After Seattle Pacific would open the game with the first made basket, it would kick off a stretch of six in minutes where the Jackets would hit a basket to even the score, only for the Falcons to regain the lead.
MSUB would finally take it's first lead of the game following a three-point play from Landdeck, but a subsequent 5-0 run would see the Falcons take the lead right back, maintaining that advantage for the rest of the half.
SPU would push their lead out to as large as 11 points with 4:57 remaining in the first half, but MSUB would respond with a run of their own, outscoring the Falcons 9-2 over a three-minute stretch to cut the lead to four.
But the Falcons would finish the half with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer with just two seconds remaining, restoring a seven-point cushion as they led 33-26 at the break.
Coming out the halftime, Landdeck would score MSUB's first five points to help the Jackets match the Falcons, followed immediately by a five-point run by Malray. But the Falcons would continue to match the Yellowjackets in the early stages, keeping their lead in the early stages of the second half.
But Landdeck would continue to force his way to the free throw line to create points, before a three by Ellery would help spark a 12-3 run for MSUB, who would even the score at 51-51 with 10:14 remaining in the game. T
he Falcons would end the run with a three of their own, but after a layup from Malray to cut the gap to one, a thunderous dunk on the fast break by La Tour with an assist from Landdeck would see the former Falcon duo guide MSUB ahead of their former squad.
And while the Falcons would continue to battle and keep the game close, they would never be able to regain the lead form MSUB for the remainder of the game, with the Jackets clutching up from the line, making 16-20 second half free throws , and finishing the game on a 10-2 run to complete the comeback and take the win on their home court.
