Jackets’ Season Ends in Austin (2/24/07)
Box Score

AUSTIN, TX – Playing to keep their season alive, the Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team lost 84-67 Saturday night at St. Edward’s University.  With a win, the Yellowjackets would have earned the right to host a play-in game against Dallas Baptist University next Tuesday for a chance to go to the Heartland Conference Tournament.  The loss ended the Jackets’ season at 6-21 overall and 4-8 in the Heartland Conference.  The Hilltoppers (22-5, 10-2) claimed the Heartland Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

“I’m very proud of the guys,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “They competed and were tied at halftime.  We’ve been in that position a lot this year.  We didn’t respond well to the physical play in the second half.  St. Edward’s has been the champion of the league two years in a row, and they’re a very good team.”

The Yellowjackets didn’t let their season slip by without a fight.  They withstood the emotion of the Hilltoppers’ senior night to keep the game close.  Even though their last lead of the game came at 2-1, the Jackets stayed with the conference champs.  They fell behind by eight with seven minutes to play in the first half, but tied the game at 32-32 by intermission.  Four-straight free throws by Cody Samuelson (Broadus, MT) and Carl Johnson (Rapid City, SD) closed the final gap before the half.  Troy Ruff (Custer, MT) made two of his three 3-pointers, and Russell Steplight (Olympia, WA) scored eight of his 10 points in the first half.

The Jackets didn’t go away until midway through the second half.  St. Ed’s jumped to a quick seven-point lead to open the half, but MSUB closed the distance.  A Ruff 3-pointer with 15:03 to play pulled the Yellowjackets to within one at 45-44.

Following Ruff’s 3-pointer, the Hilltoppers went on a 14-1 run over the next five minutes, putting the game away by the midpoint of the second half.  St. Ed’s led by as many as 23 late in the half.

The Jackets’ Jonathan Wiley (Westlake Village, CA) scored a game-high 24 points in his final game as a Yellowjacket.  He was 6-of-13 from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line.  Ruff finished the night with 13 points, hitting 3-of-6 from behind the arc.  Samuelson added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hilltoppers had five players score in double figures.  Kenneth Edwards had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Cory Griffin scored 14 points off the bench.  Shawn Weinstein netted 13 points, and Jeff Obersteller and Cornelius Gilleylen had 10 points apiece.