Jackets Win Shootout with Hornets (12/19/05)
Box Score          Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – Emporia State ran out of bullets first Monday night in a men’s basketball shootout with Montana State-Billings with the Yellowjackets winning 118-110.  The Jackets scored over 100 points for the fifth-straight game to stay unbeaten at 5-0.  Emporia State, nationally ranked all season up until this week, fell to 8-4.

The Yellowjackets jumped to an 18-7 lead in the first four minutes of the game behind three 3-pointers to open the game from Carlin Hughes (So., Perth, Australia).  After being stunned in the opening minutes, the Hornets recovered quickly and used a 14-1 run to take their first lead with 12:11 remaining in the first half.

The inside-outside game of Hughes, Cameron Munoz (Sr., Chino, CA), Buddy Windy Boy (Sr., Lodge Grass, MT) and Moritz Wohlers (Sr., Wolfenbuttel, Germany) combined for 53 of the Yellowjackets’ 60 first half points.  Hughes and Windy Boy each had 11 at halftime, with Wohlers scoring 17 and Munoz 14.  Munoz, Hughes, and Windy Boy combined for 10 first half 3-pointers.

MSU Billings broke from a 60-46 halftime advantage and seemed to cement the game away early in the second half.  A 3-point play in the paint by Wohlers with 16:16 to play gave the Yellowjackets their biggest lead of the game at 73-51.  MSUB held onto the large lead until about the 12:00 mark before the Hornets made their run.  After Cody Samuelson’s (Jr., Broadus, MT) layup with 11:59 to play gave the Jackets a 87-69 edge, the Hornets’ Tyrell Sledge and Leroy Dawson started pouring in points.

Sledge had just one point at halftime but dropped in 26 in the second half, including six 3-pointers.  Dawson, a junior college transfer who just became eligible, scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the second half.  The tandem made 12 of the team’s 16 3-pointers in the game.

Sledge’s 3-pointer with 8:16 remaining cut the Yellowjackets’ lead to single digits for the first time since the 6:09 mark of the first half.  The Hornets continued to chip away, drawing within 108-106 with 2:38 to play.  A Munoz jumper on the Jackets’ next possession extended the lead to four, and MSU Billings put the game away at the free throw line.  Munoz’s basket at 2:23 was the Jackets’ last field goal of the game.  From that point they were 8-of-10 from the line.

Wohlers scored a career-high 33 points and 14 rebounds in the paint.  He was 8-of-13 from the field and 17-of-20 from the line as the Jackets went to him early and often in the post.  The Yellowjackets were playing without forward Lucas Walker (So., Launceston, Australia) who missed the game with an illness.

Munoz finished with 30 points, hitting 10-of-16 from the field and 6-of-10 from behind the arc.  Hughes finished with 19 points and seven assists.  He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line, all coming in the second half.  Samuelson added 18 points, a career-high.  He was 7-of-11 from the field.  The Yellowjackets shot 55 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line.

Windy Boy scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range.  He became the 21st player in school history to score over 1,000 points in a career with his eighth point in the first half.

“They’re a well coached team,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “Any time you can win against a good time like that you’ve done something.  We played solid.  We didn’t have Lucas, but I thought Moritz Wohlers was outstanding.  Still, the guys we have to get the ball to are Cameron and Buddy.  We’ve got to get Cameron more looks.  Buddy didn’t get the looks at all.”

For the Hornets, Dawson was 10-of-22 from the field and 6-of-13 from 3-point range for his 33 points.  He was also 7-of-8 from the line.  Sledge’s 27 points came on 8-of-20 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from the line.  Shawn Herrman added 24 points and nine rebounds, and Ryan Blevins finished with 14 points.

“They played outstanding ball,” Carse said about the Hornets.  “They came in and showed us that they can shoot threes, too.  They had 16 and we only had 15.  We hit some free throws and we played good enough to win, so I’m happy with that.”

The Yellowjackets are now idle until after Christmas.  They travel to Kingsville, TX for the Texas A&M-Kingsville tournament on December 29 and 30.  They will face East Central University (OK) and host Texas A&M-Kingsville.  Their next home game will be January 4 when they host Western New Mexico in their Heartland Conference opener.