BILLINGS, Mont. – It's not over until the final buzzer sounds…literally.

The Western Washington University men's basketball team scored eight points over an 11-second stretch to record an 83-80 overtime victory over Montana State Billings Thursday night on Alterowitz Court, capped by a half court buzzer-beater from sophomore guard D'Angelo Minnis as time expired.

The Vikings held an 18-point second-half lead, but MSUB rallied to overcome the sizeable deficit and led late in regulation until senior forward Luke Lovelady hit a game-tying free throw to push the game to overtime.

MSUB got off to a quick start in the extra period building a six-point lead at 78-72 with 40 seconds remaining. Western got a big three-pointer from Lucas Holden to cut the deficit to three points at 78-75. Following a pair of free throws by MSUB with the clock at 19 seconds, the Vikings achieved almost the impossible by scoring eight points over the final 11 seconds of the game.

Minnis hit a deep three-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock and Daniel Hornbuckle made a big defensive play forcing a jump ball with the possession arrow in favor of the Vikings. Junior Jalen Green connected on a fadeaway jump shot with less than three seconds on the clock to tie the game, and then intercepted a long pass on the inbounds play setting up the half court dramatics from Minnis. 

The sophomore guard received a quick pass from Green around midcourt and banked it home for the 83-80 victory.

Green finished with 23 points on 11-for-16 shooting, adding four assists, three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Minnis scored 19 points and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, Lovelady added a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double and Hornbuckle had 10 points and five steals.

The victory was a bit of redemption for the Vikings following a 27-point home loss to the Yellowjackets on Monday in Carver Gym. WWU snapped a mini three-game losing streak to improve to 13-11 overall and 6-8 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Entering the game in a first-place tie in the GNAC, MSUB dropped to 12-12 overall and 8-6 in conference play.

The Yellowjackets were led by a game-high 31 points by Carrington Wiggins, going 10-for-16 from the field.

WWU trailed 78-72 with 39 seconds remaining in overtime, and after a long offensive set, Lucas Holden hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 78-75. Carrington Wiggins hit a pair of free throws to grow the lead back to five points with 19 seconds remaining in the extra period. WWU then scored eight unanswered points, with Minnis hitting a three-pointer with 11 seconds left, Jalen Green hitting a game-tying jump shot and then the buzzer-beater by Minnis as time expired.

The Vikings got off to a great start holding a 42-27 lead over the Yellowjackets in the first half, shooting 45.7% in the half on 16-for-35 from the field. WWU held MSUB scoreless over the final 4:47 of the first half, going on a 7-0 run to take the 15-point lead into the halftime break. An early 11-0 run gave the Vikings a 19-7 lead and a late 7-0 spurt put the Vikings ahead by 15 points, capped by a Daniel Hornbuckle three-pointer with 15-seconds remaining. D'Angelo Minnis led WWU with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting (3-for-4 3FG) in the half, followed by 10 points from Jalen Green (5-for-6 FG). WWU committed only three turnovers in the first 20 minutes, while forcing MSUB to turn the ball over 12 times with seven steals by the Vikings.

The Vikings were up nine points following a dunk by Luke Lovelady at the 4:15 mark (67-58), but the officials called the second technical foul in the game on Lovelady jump-starting a 10-0 run for MSUB giving the Yellowjackets a 68-67 lead. Lovelady hit a free throw with 16-seconds remaining to tie the game at 68-68 to force overtime. WWU held an 18-point lead at 55-37 with 13:20, but MSUB went on a late 21-6 run and scored 10 consecutive points to take a one-point lead before Lovelady's game-tying free throw.

This marked the time WWU played the same opponent in consecutive games since ending the 2011-12 season with a 98-83 victory over MSU Billings, and then losing in the first round of the GNAC Championships to the Yellowjackets 82-78.

WWU forced 20 MSUB turnovers, the most in a defensive effort by the Vikings in GNAC play this season. The strong defensive performance led to 31 points off turnovers. Western's 10 steals were also third-most in a game this season.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and MSUB from Thursday's game:

The Vikings and Yellowjackets split the season series with each team winning on the road (MSUB won 91-64 in Bellingham on Monday). WWU leads the all-time series 25-10 and are 10-6 all-time in games played in Alterowitz Gym.

While the regular-season conference champion and seeing for the GNAC tournament will be decided on a new points system, here is an updated look at the league standings following Thursday's game. View the conference schedule, scores, stats and updated standings at GNACSports.com.

The Vikings (13-11, 6-8 GNAC) remain on the road traveling to play Seattle Pacific on Saturday with tip-off at 4:15 pm inside Royal Brougham Pavilion. Links to watch a live webcast and follow statistical updates the game vs. the Falcons are available at wwuvikings.com/Live. WWU will also play a makeup game at Western Oregon on Monday in Monmouth.

The 2021-22 WWU Men's Basketball schedule and game results can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/21-22_MBB, complete with links to purchase tickets and live coverage links for webcast and live stats.

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 11 seasons. WWU is a six-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA II Elite 8 three times. The Vikings won the 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western has 20-win seasons in three of the last four years (and seven of nine) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is the 12th winningest Division II program with its 1,527 all-time victories.