Jackets Edged by Slim Margin (1/15/07)
Box Score

ODESSA, TX –  Four crucial free throws in the final 29 seconds by University of Texas – Permian Basin was enough to glaze the Montana State – Billings men’s basketball team in a 93-87 barn burner Monday in Odessa, Texas.  The loss drops the Yellowjackets to 2-12 overall while the Falcons improved to 5-10.

The Yellowjackets opted to start the bench players and proved beneficial as the Jackets jumped out the quick six point lead over the Falcons.  Tom D’Amore (Tucson, AZ) and Eric Cunningham (Phoenix, AZ) each hit a 3-pointer to kick start the Jackets’ offense.  By the 14:13 mark, seven different Yellowjackets had combined for the teams’ 20 points.

The Falcons’ Matt Zaney turned the tides for Permian Basin on a layup with 8:35 remaining in the half putting the Falcons up by one.  Neither the Jackets nor the Falcons led by more than four points through the remainder of the half with UTPB taking a one-point advantage to the locker room.

The Yellowjackets let the Falcons carry the momentum through the first two minutes of the second half where Permian Basin crept their lead to six.  Trading buckets, the two teams battled and found themselves knotted at 66 apiece with 11:24 to play on a Cody Samuelson (Broadus, MT) three-pointer. 

The Falcons pressed the Jackets inching away with the lead but Samuelson would hit another 3-pointer to tie the game once again, this time 83-83.  Both the Falcons and the Jackets could sense the urgency in each others shots and would exchange the lead two times in the final 2:19 seconds of the game.  The Falcons ended the Jackets hopes going on a 6-0 run to end the game.

All Yellowjackets scored in the game with five players scoring in double figures.  The Yellowjackets were led by Jonathan Wiley (West Lake Village, CA) with 20 points.  Wiley was 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.  He also grabbed nine rebounds in the game.  Samuelson and Jeff Miner (Gresham, OR) netted 15 and 12 points respectively.  Russell Steplight (Olympia, WA) notched his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“We got into a bit of foul trouble tonight,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “We will need to work on that as we are sending our opponents to the line too many times.”

As a team, the Yellowjackets’ bench combined for 68 of the team’s 87 points.  MSUB shot 34-of-77 from the field and connected on 11-of-26 from 3-point range.  The Jackets out-rebounded the Falcons 44-39 and had seven steals in the game.

“Some of the guys saw good playing time tonight and gained some much needed experience,” added Carse.  “The guys all have good attitudes and are continually learning how to play the game.”

The Falcons’ Rashad Pride led all scorers with 33 points.  He was 13-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.  He also had 12 rebounds for a double-double in the game.  Nedrie Simmons scored 23 points with teammate Anwar Morgan netting 15 points.

As a team the Falcons were 33-of-67 from the field and just 5-of-15 from the perimeter.  Twenty-two of the Falcons points were at the line where they were 22-of-26 in the game.

“Wednesday night is imperative that we get a win in trying to reach our goal of making it to the Heartland Conference tournament; that is our goal for the season.”

The Yellowjackets will wrap up their four-game road trip with a Heartland Conference game against Dallas Baptist University (4-10, 1-2) Wednesday, January 17.  Game time is 6:00 p.m. MST and can be heard on the Yellowjacket Athletics website or on AM 970 KBUL.  The Jackets will have just a two day rest before hosting Lincoln University (3-9, 0-1) in Heartland Conference action at Alterowitz Gym.  Tip off will follow the Lady Jackets game against the Blue Tigers.