Jackets Survive Swords for Sixth Straight “W” (Feb. 10, 2005)
Box Score
BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings
survived a late charge from Chaminade Thursday, winning 82-79 for
the Yellowjackets’ sixth-straight PacWest victory. The win bumped
the Jackets a half game ahead of the Silverswords for third place
in the PacWest standings. MSU Billings improved to 14-6 overall
and 6-4 in the PWC. Chaminade dropped to 14-9, 7-5. The top two
teams in the standings each have three conference losses. The
same teams meet at Alterowitz Gym Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
The Yellowjackets have been finding ways to
win over the past few weeks with three of the six wins coming by
ten points or fewer. On Thursday, the veterans stepped up with
key plays when they needed to.
Maybe the biggest play of the game was Buddy Windy Boy’s (Jr., Lodge Grass, MT) 3-pointer with 3:38
remaining. Chaminade Zack Whiting’s 3-pointer had just cut what
was a 20 point lead down to six and the momentum belonged to the
Silverswords. Windy Boy answered Whiting’s triple for three of
his nine points after a crisp pass from Jonathan Wiley (So., Westlake Village, CA) found him open on
the left wing.
“We try not to let up [when we’re ahead],”
said Yellowjacket co-captain Cameron Munoz (Jr., Chino, CA). We try to put the hammer
down. Chaminade was able to make a run. Give them credit. I
think we’re playing well right now, but there’s still room to
improve. We knew at the beginning of the year that we had a lot
of new faces and it was going to take time to grow. We still need
to learn to put teams away.”
The Jackets seemed to have the Swords on the
ropes at the end of a first half that saw both teams struggle
offensively. MSU Billings was just 4-of-15 from 3-point range in
the half and Chaminade shot just 43 percent from the floor and 58
percent from the line. The Yellowjackets used back-to-back
baskets from Munoz and Justin Hassell (Sr., Brooklyn, NY) to open a 10 point lead at
the break.
The biggest boost of the first half came from
sophomore Cody Samuelson (Broadus, MT) who scored 11 of his career-high
13 points in the opening half. After Lucas Walker (Fr., Launceston, Australia) went down early with
a hand injury, Samuelson came off the bench to spark the offense
with several drives to the hoop. His efforts helped MSUB outscore
Chaminade 44-28 on points in the paint. He also grabbed five
rebounds.
“Cody played big time with Lucas going out,”
said Munoz. “He took the ball to the basket and also pulled down
some big boards.” Samuelson missed much of the second half with
an injury of his own, but is expected to be back for Saturday’s
game.
MSU Billings opened its lead to 20 in the
first six and a half minutes of the second half and seemed to be
in control of the game. Munoz’s 3-pointer, one of four on the
night, at the 13:27 mark put the Jackets up 59-39. Chaminade
chipped away at the lead after that point, eventually pulling to
within one with 26 seconds remaining.
Although the Yellowjackets shot just 65
percent from the line in the game, they knocked down the free
throws they needed to down the stretch. Beginning with a pair of
free throws from Carlin Hughes (Fr., Perth, Australia) with 2:11 to play,
MSU Billings hit 7-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Munoz led all players with 23 points, hitting
4-of-16 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the line. He has
averaged 21.5 points during the current winning streak after
returning from an injury that plagued him in the middle of the
season. He has made 29 threes during that stretch (4.83 per game)
and shot nearly 92 percent from the free throw line.
“I’m getting a lot healthier,” Munoz said
after the game. “I haven’t had my legs for a while. It’s
important for a jump shooter to be able to get up, especially in
the final minutes of a game. I’m definitely feeling better.”
That’s good news for the Yellowjackets, who have four conference
games in eight days beginning Saturday.
Hassell finished with his league-leading
eighth double-double of the season. He scored 16 points and
grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. Hughes added 12 points and
four assists. He was 4-of-4 from the line in the final two
minutes of the game.
Wiley scored seven points and dished out a
game-high five assists. He also blocked three shots, including a
3-point attempt by Dylan McCune that could have tied the game with
31 seconds left. Wiley now has 30 career blocked shots, moving
him to eighth in the school record book.
The Silverswords were led by Whiting’s 21
points. He also had seven rebounds and five assists. Corey
Campbell scored 20 points off the bench on 9-of-15 shooting.
Chris Reaves added 17 points and four rebounds.
Note: At halftime of Saturday’s
MSU Billings/Chaminade game, the six new inductees to the
Yellowjacket Hall of Fame and Distinction will be introduced.
They will be formally inducted at a brunch at 10:00 a.m. Saturday
morning. The men’s game will follow a women’s game between
MSU Billings and North Dakota State which tips off at 6:00.
Click HERE for photos of
the Yellowjackets vs. Chaminade |
