Yellowjackets Win Fifth-Straight (1/12/05)
Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, TX – The Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team rallied, then held on, for its second-straight road win on Thursday night.  The Yellowjackets, who fell behind by 14 in the first nine minutes, came back for a 72-67 win at Incarnate Word.  The win was the fifth-straight for the Yellowjackets, who improved to 10-2 overall.  The Cardinals dropped to 7-8.

Incarnate Word opened the game with an 11-2 run and it took the Yellowjackets nearly eight minutes to get into double digits.  With 11:21 remaining in the opening half, the Cardinals led 26-12 and were poised to blow the game open.

The Yellowjackets responded with eight-straight points from Carlin Hughes (So., Perth, Australia) to get within 10 points by the nine minute mark.  A 3-pointer from Cameron Munoz (Sr., Chino, CA) and a lay-up from Lucas Walker (So, Launceston, Australia) cut the deficit to five by the eight minute mark.

Munoz’s 3-pointer during that 18-4 run was historic as it was number 372 for his career, giving him sole possession of the MSU Billings school record for 3-pointers made in a career.  He passed Markus Hallgrimson who held the record of 371.

A Moritz Wohlers (Sr., Wolfenbuttel, Germany) three-point play in the paint with 5:10 remaining in the first half erased the Cardinals’ lead and gave the Yellowjackets their first lead of the game at 31-30.  Courtesy of a Buddy Windy Boy (Sr., Lodge Grass, MT) 3-pointer that beat the buzzer, the Yellowjackets took a 39-35 lead into halftime.

The Jackets started slow again in the second half, not scoring for the first four minutes.  Antario Williams’s dunk with 16:07 to play gave the Cardinals a 40-39 lead, but the lead was brief.  Wohlers knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the Yellowjackets’ next possession and MSU Billings never trailed again.  While they couldn’t pull away—their largest lead of the second half was 10 points—the Yellowjackets managed to keep the Cardinals at arm’s length the rest of the way.  Wohlers hit four-straight free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the win.

Wohlers led all players with 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.  He was 7-of-10 from the free throw line and also pulled down five rebounds.  Walker and Hughes each finished with 13 points and Windy Boy had 10.  Three of Windy Boy’s points came on a critical 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining and the Yellowjackets clinging to a two-point lead.

Munoz scored nine points on three 3-pointers.  Munoz and Hughes each handed out a game-high five assists. 

The Cardinals were led by 17 points from Williams, 10 of which came in the first 10 minutes of the game.  Paul Connolly and Mikyl Bradshaw each netted 15 points.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “Moritz and Buddy really played big time games.  Buddy does so many things for us.  He is doing all the things we need right now.  It feels good to get a win, especially two in a row on the road.  I think we still have a lot of room to improve, but we’re getting better.”

The Yellowjackets will take Friday off before facing defending Heartland Conference champion St. Mary’s University on Saturday.  The Rattlers were 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the conference going into Thursday’s conference game against Lincoln.  Tip off for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in San Antonio.  The game will be aired live on AM 970 in Billings following the Lady Yellowjackets’ game that starts at 5:30 p.m. in San Antonio, 4:30 MST.