Hilltoppers Shoot Past Yellowjackets (1/7/07)
Box Score
Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – Hot shooting, including a dozen 3-pointers, lifted St. Edward’s to a 91-60 win over Montana State-Billings in men’s basketball action Sunday night at Alterowitz Gym.  The non-conference win improved the Hilltoppers to 11-4 overall, dropping the Yellowjackets to 2-9.  MSUB defeated St. Ed’s in a conference counter Saturday night.

The Hilltoppers threw the knockout punch early Sunday, racing to a 17-7 led in the first five and a half minutes.  Shawn Weinstein, the leading scorer in the Heartland Conference, knocked down three of his five 3-pointers during that early run.  The Yellowjackets’ only lead of the game came at 3-2 on a Jeff Miner (Gresham, OR) 3-pointer.  Once Weinstein’s triple with 14:27 to play in the half gave the Toppers a double digit lead, they never led by fewer than 10.

“Last night’s game was totally different,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “We let some guys get some time tonight that haven’t played much.  I think we learned a lot tonight.  It was a good opportunity for our young guys to get some experience.  Our kids had good attitudes, and they worked very hard.  Hopefully we’ll get stronger.”

The Hilltoppers’ lead hit 20 with four and a half minutes to play in the first half, and they took a 44-23 lead into the break.  After falling behind by 30 early in the second half, the closest the Yellowjackets were able to get was 18 when a Miner 3-pointer made the score 68-50 with 9:14 to play.  MSUB ran out of gas at that point, and St. Ed’s pulled away down the stretch.

Weinstein finished with a game-high 27 points for the Hilltoppers.  Post players Jeff Obersteller and Taylor Mullenax each added 16 points as St. Ed’s outscored MSUB 36-20 in the paint.  Cornelius Gilleylen came off the bench to score 11 points, nine of them coming from behind the arc.  The Hilltoppers were 12-of-26 from 3-point land and shot 51 percent from the field.

The Jackets were led by Russell Steplight’s (Olympia, WA) 20 points.  Playing his second game of the season, Steplight was 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-9 from the line.  Eric Cunningham (Phoenix, AZ) added 15 points and three assists.  Miner finished the night with 10 points.

“Our goal is to get into the Heartland Conference tournament,” said Carse.  “Right now we’ve only played two conference games, and we’re 2-0.  We’ll just keep working to get better.”

The Yellowjackets hit the road for four games, including two conference games, starting January 12.  The trip starts with two games at Oklahoma Panhandle State next Friday and Saturday.  MSUB will play at Texas-Permian Basin on January 15 and at Dallas Baptist on January 17.