MSU Billings Grinds to Senior Night Victory Over Western New Mexico (Mar. 6, 2004)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Any thought of an easy Yellowjackets win on Senior Night disappeared early Saturday.  Two days after cruising to a 34-point victory over Western New Mexico, Montana State-Billings had to battle for an 85-66 season finale win.  Senior guard Jerett Skrifvars nearly posted a triple-double with 20 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.

Both teams were able to get up and down the floor with ease on Thursday when the Yellowjackets rang up a 113-79 win.  With a day off to prepare, each coach made adjustments that turned Saturday’s match up into a more physical and defensive game.

“It was a really hard fought defensive battle,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “We had to fight possession by possession for everything.  To battle like that and come away with a 19-point win really says something.”

Western New Mexico hung within 9 to 12 points for much of the second half after trailing by nine at halftime.  The Yellowjackets finally broke the Mustangs with less than seven minutes left in the game.  Skrifvars dished to fellow senior Bill Day for a baseline dunk with 6:45 remaining to put the Jackets ahead by 17.  After Jerry Martinez each hit one of two free throws to pull Western to within 75-60 with 3:53 to play, sophomore guard Buddy Windy Boy sparked five quick points for the Jackets to give MSU Billings its largest lead of the game at 80-60.

Windy Boy drove the left side and dished to junior Trae Fortier deep on the left wing for Fortier’s third 3-pointer of the game.  Windy Boy then picked the pocket of Mustangs guard Matt Enriquez on the inbound pass and scored on a reverse lay-up that gave the Yellowjackets the 20-point lead. 

Windy Boy finished with a game-high 29 points and seven 3-pointers, four of which came in the first half.  Fortier added 19 points and nine boards.  Day scored nine points on 4 of 8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

“Give a lot of credit to Western New Mexico,” said Carse.  “They had to finish a long season on the road and they fought hard.  Their coach (first year coach Mark Coleman) has them going in the right direction.”

Skrifvars and Windy Boy kept the Jackets above water in the first half, combining for 29 of the team’s 46 points.  After senior Dave Carse torched the Mustangs with eight 3-pointers on Thursday, Western blanketed Carse for much of the first half and limited him to just four field goal attempts.  On Saturday, Carse hit a 3-pointer in each half for six points, moving him to No. 20 in school history for career points with 965.  His two treys also bumped him up to a tie for No. 6 in school history for career threes.  Carse handed out eight of the Jackets’ 21 assists and finished fourth in the Yellowjacket record books with 437.

Two 3-pointers in the first two and a half minutes of the second half drew the Mustangs to within eight.  Enriquez hit one of his three 3-pointers at 17:36 to cut the Yellowjackets’ lead to 51-43.  He finished with a team-high 19 points following his 29-point effort on Thursday.

The Mustangs cut the Jackets’ lead to single digits again when a 9-4 run six minutes later made the score 60-52.  A Carse 3-pointer, a Fortier jumper and a Windy Boy layup on the next three possessions stopped the bleeding for the Yellowjackets and MSU Billings maintained its double-digit lead for the final 10:17 of the game.

The Mustangs’ second-leading scorer, freshman Jason Jackson, was held to just five points on 2 of 12 shooting.  After giving the Yellowjackets fits a month ago in Silver City, Jackson didn’t score in double figures in either game in Billings.  Yellowjacket freshman Jonathan Wiley drew the defensive assignment of guarding Jackson throughout both games, holding him to a total of 13 points in the two games.  Jackson entered the weekend averaging over 14 points a game.

Skrifvars finished the final game of his record setting career with two career highs, one official and one unofficial.  His 17 rebounds bested his previous career high by four.  He also drew three offensive charging calls in the game.

“We set a goal before the game to see who could draw the most charges,” said Carse.  “You knew who it was going to be.”

Skrifvars was known throughout his five years at MSU Billings as a workhorse, but his offensive production will leave his name in the record books for many years.  His 20 points Saturday gave him 1,240 for his career, the tenth most in school history.  He also had 576 career rebounds, seventh most in Yellowjacket history.

The Yellowjackets wrap up the 2003-2004 season at 17-10 overall and 7-8 in the PacWest.  The Mustangs had one of their best seasons since the early ‘90s, finishing 7-19, 4-11.

“It’s going to take some time to reflect on the last two seasons,” said Carse of two teams that many thought had good chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament before being plagued by injuries.  “This week I’m going on the road to recruit, and I’ll go watch the NCAA West Regional.  I’ll have some time to reflect a little on that trip.  One thing we obviously need is more depth.  We’ll be selective in who we recruit, but at the same time we’ll get people who we feel can get us to the NCAA Tournament.”