Jackets, Hilltoppers Square Off for Conference Title (3/3/06)

BILLINGS, MT – One game away from the NCAA Tournament.  That’s the position in which both the Montana State-Billings and St. Edward’s men’s basketball teams find themselves.  The two will meet in Austin, TX, on Saturday evening in the Heartland Conference championship game.

The winner of Saturday’s title tilt will be the conference’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, which begins March 10.  In all likelihood no team from the Heartland Conference will receive an at large berth to the Big Dance since there wasn’t a team from the conference ranked in the top 10 in the final regular season NCAA South Central Region poll.  Southwest Baptist University (Bolivar, MO) is currently the top-ranked team in the region, although they still have the MIAA tournament to play this weekend.  The top seed in the region is usually the host of the regional tourney. 

The Heartland Conference championship game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. CST, 6:30 MST.  It will be aired live in Billings on AM 970 and on the web at www.msubillings.edu/athletics by the voice of the Yellowjackets, Pat Boland.

The Yellowjackets will go to Austin with a 20-7 overall record.  They won two of three games against St. Edward’s during the regular season.  The Jackets won a 136-101 shootout in Billings on January 28.  The Hilltoppers topped the Jackets in Austin on February 10, 105-95, before MSU Billings bounced back for an 82-79 win the following night.

MSU Billings is led by Cameron Munoz, who averages a league-best 22.2 points per game.  The national leader in made 3-pointers, Munoz broke the all-time NCAA Division II career 3-point record on Wednesday in the Yellowjackets’ first round playoff win against Oklahoma Panhandle State.  The senior guard has made 144 threes this season and 448 in his career.

Senior forward Mortiz Wohlers averages 19.1 points and 7.7 rebounds a game for the Jackets.  He has been the go-to guy in the paint for the Yellowjackets.  In the playoff win against Panhandle he had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Buddy Windy Boy, a senior guard, has had some of his best games of the season in the past week.  He has led the team in scoring the last two games after having done it only once all season.  He averages 11.6 points for the season and is second on the team with 81 three-pointers.

Sophomore Carlin Hughes and junior Jonathan Wiley will likely be the Yellowjackets’ fourth and fifth starters Saturday.  Hughes leads the nation in assists at just under 10 per game.  He also averages 17.0 points per game.  Wiley adds around four points and four rebounds a game, although in the last four games he has averaged 5.3 points and 8.3 rebounds.

St. Edward’s has been the surprise team of the season in the Heartland.  Picked to finish last in the league in the preseason coaches’ poll, the Hilltoppers are 20-8 overall and were regular season co-champions with the Yellowjackets at 9-3 in the HLC.  St. Edward’s has had success by winning the close games.  After 28 games played, only 132 points separate the Hilltoppers from their opponents.  St. Ed’s defeated Western New Mexico, 77-59 on Wednesday to advance to the championship game.

Forward David Lunn leads St. Edward’s in scoring at 16.7 points per game.  He is shooting 45 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free throw line for the season.  In the Hilltoppers’ win against the Yellowjackets in February, Lunn scored 41 points.

Guard Shawn Weinstein is the Hilltoppers’ top 3-point shooter with 55 triples this season.  He averages 12.9 points a game.  Daniel Pierre adds 12.1 points and a team-best 8.4 rebounds a game.