Dustdevils Trim Jacket Men (12/6/06)
Box Score

LAREDO, TX – The road woes continued for the Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team on Wednesday as the Yellowjackets dropped a heartbreaker to Texas A&M-International, 59-58.  The loss dropped the Yellowjackets to 0-3 on the season.  The Dustdevils, an NCAA II provisional member, improved to 4-1.

The Dustdevils led for the first 15 minutes of the game with their largest lead coming at 28-17 with 9:30 to play in the opening half.  The Jackets used a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to take a five point lead at 33-28.  Freshman Jeff Miner (Gresham, OR) scored seven of his game-high 20 points during that span.

After the Yellowjackets took a 37-34 lead into halftime, the game seesawed for the entire second half.  There were three ties and eight lead changes in the second half with the Dustdevils leading by as many as nine and the Yellowjackets leading by as many as three.  TAMUI took the lead for good with 5:01 to play on a Tracy Johnson jumper.  Johnson’s jumper, which gave the Dustdevils a 59-58 lead, turned out to be the final points of the night.  The Yellowjackets missed six shots during the final five minutes and turned the ball over twice in the final five seconds. 

Miner was 8-of-20 from the field and 3-of-12 from 3-point range.  As a team the Jackets hit 8-of-28 from behind the arc.  Cody Samuelson (Broadus, MT) scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds.  Jonathan Wiley (Westlake Village, CA) netted seven points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.  He also had three steals and blocked two shots.  Freshman Troy Ruff (Custer, MT) also scored seven points off the bench.

The Dustdevils had three players score in double figures led by Chris Swan’s 17.  He was 5-of-11 from 3-point as TAMIU made 12-of-32 from long range.  Angel Encinas had 14 points, and Leon Jacob added 13.  Encias also had a game-high nine assists.  Johnson finished the night with just four points, including the game winner, but he was the big man in the paint with 20 rebounds.

The Yellowjackets will wrap up the two-game Texas road trip on Friday at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.  The Rattlers, picked to finish second in the Heartland Conference, are 3-3 overall.  The game will be broadcast live on AM 970 in Billings and on the web at www.msubillings.edu/athletics with pre-game beginning at 6:15 p.m. MST.  MSU Billings opens the 2006-2007 home schedule on December 16 against West Liberty State, the top scoring team in NCAA Division II last season.  Tip off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.