Jackets Drop Aggies in Defensive Battle (1/6/06)
Box Score          Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – Five players scored in double figures for the Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team in a hard-fought 88-77 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday night.  The Yellowjackets improved to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the Heartland Conference, dropping the Aggies to 1-12, 0-1.

Panhandle held leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the first minute and a half of the game.  An offensive put back by Carlin Hughes (So., Perth, Australia) and a lay-up by Moritz Wohlers (Sr., Wolfenbuttel, Germany) gave MSU Billings its first lead of the game at the 18:00 mark of the first half, and the Yellowjackets never trailed again.

MSU Billings was on the verge of blowing the game open late in the first half, outscoring the Aggies 22-10 in a span of less than eight minutes.  A fast break lay-up from Buddy Windy Boy (Sr., Lodge Grass, MT) with 4:23 left in the first half put the Yellowjackets ahead 45-26.  MSUB eventually settled for a 51-37 halftime advantage.

The Aggies’ deficit hung around 10 points for much of the first eight minutes of the second half before they went on a run to trim the Jackets’ lead to just five at 63-58 and again at 68-63.  Wohlers and Cameron Munoz (Sr., Chino, CA) combined for 12 of the Yellowjackets’ final 20 points down the stretch to help MSU Billings pull away for the 11 point victory.

Wohlers and Munoz each finished the night with 20 points to lead all scorers.  Wohlers was 6-of-8 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.  Munoz dropped in five 3-pointers.  Windy Boy finished with 16 points and three 3-pointers.  Hughes and Lucas Walker (So., Launceston, Australia) each added a dozen points.  Hughes also had 10 assists for a double-double.  Jonathan Wiley (Jr., Westlake Village, CA) led the Jackets with eight rebounds.

The Aggies were led by 15 points and 15 rebounds from Aaron Harrison.  He was 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.  Eddie Moss added a dozen points and Nick Malinowski finished with 10.  The Aggies out-rebounded the Yellowjackets 51-34 and had a 14-12 edge on second chance points.  The Yellowjackets scored 28 points off 20 OPSU turnovers.

“I’m very, very proud of the guys,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “They played hard.  We didn’t have the depth that we would like.  We didn’t shoot the ball tonight like we usually do.  They played good defense.  We have another tough one coming up tomorrow.”

The Yellowjackets and Aggies will square off at 4:00 p.m. Saturday at Alterowitz Gym following the Lady Jackets’ 2:00 p.m. game with OPSU.  It will be the final home game for MSU Billings for nearly three weeks as they hit the road for five-straight games.  The Yellowjackets next play in Billings on January 28 when they host St. Edward’s (TX).