Jackets' Five Fall by Five at Hawaii-Hilo (Feb. 21, 2004)
Box Score

HILO, HI – Five was nearly enough Saturday night, but the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets gave up a 13-point halftime lead and lost to Hawaii-Hilo, 84-79.  The Jackets, who had only five players in uniform for the game, were led by ten 3-pointers and 32 points from sophomore guard Buddy Windy Boy.  Both were career-highs, and the ten 3-pointers tied Windy Boy for the fifth highest single game total in school history.

Following a close loss at Chaminade on Thursday and the narrow defeat at Hilo on Saturday, the Yellowjackets fall to 15-10 overall and 6-8 in the PacWest with two games remaining, most likely dashing their NCAA Tournament hopes.  The win improved the Vulcans to 15-7 and 7-5, keeping them alive for a shot at an at large bid to the tournament.

Windy Boy took over the first half with seven 3-pointers and 23 points as the Yellowjackets built a 46-33 lead at the break.  The Yellowjackets were 8 of 18 from behind the arc in the first half and finished the game with 15 threes.  All five players scored in the first half, with Jerett Skrifvars netting 12, Bill Day six, Dave Carse three and Jonathan Wiley two.  Skrifvars was fouled on a 3-pointer with time running out in the half and hit two of three free throws to send the Jackets into the locker room with a double-digit lead.

It didn’t take the Vulcans long to erase the Jackets’ lead in the second half.  Eight straight points from Justin Griffin cut the lead to three just four minutes into the half.  Griffin finished with 27 points.  Three-pointers from Windy Boy and Carse gave the Yellowjackets a 56-50 lead just over five minutes into the half.

The Vulcans finally took the lead at the 9:19 mark on a Joe Travis jumper.  Travis had a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds.  The 61-60 lead was the Vulcans’ first since the 4:30 mark of the first half.

The Yellowjackets trailed by as many as nine points with 57 seconds to play, but rallied with consecutive 3-pointers from Windy Boy and Skrifvars to cut the lead to three with 29 seconds left.  Ryan Abrahams hit two free throws with 26 seconds remaining to give UH-Hilo a five point lead, and the Yellowjackets missed two field goal attempts in the final seconds.

Skrifvars scored 22 points in the game, adding nine rebounds and three assists.  Carse scored a dozen points on four 3-pointers and handed out six assists.  Day added eight points and nine rebounds.  Wiley finished with five points, five assists and six boards.  All five players played the entire 40 minutes, with Skrifvars, Windy Boy and Day each finishing with four fouls.

MSU Billings hosts Western New Mexico on March 4 and 6 in the final two games of the season.  The game on the sixth will be senior night for Carse, Day and Skrifvars.