Yellowjackets Hand Tigers HLC Loss (1/20/07)
Box Score
Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team stopped a five-game losing streak, cruising to a 95-84 win Saturday over Lincoln University.  The Yellowjackets improved to 3-13 overall and 3-2 in the Heartland Conference, while the Blue Tigers drop to 4-11 and 1-4 in league play.

The Blue Tigers hit four 3-pointers in the first three and a half minutes of the game before the Yellowjackets were able to put a stop to the Tigers’ perimeter attack.  Lincoln led the game until the 14:24 mark of the first half before the Jackets’ Tom D’Amore (Tucson, AZ) knocked down one of his career-high eight 3-pointers to give the Jackets the lead which they would never relinquish.

The Yellowjackets opened up a double-digit lead on a Troy Ruff (Custer, MT) 3-pointer with 12:39 to play in the half.  The Jackets went on a 6-0 run to end the half, holding the 54-38 advantage.  The 16-point lead was the largest the Jackets have taken to the locker room thus far in the season.

Midway through the second half, it looked like the Jackets would run away with the game, but a sluggish shooting span allowed the Tigers to score seven unanswered points to bring the game back to a 16 point spread.  The Tigers’ Jared Boone hit a 3-pointer with 3:48 left to play, narrowing the Jackets’ lead to 10.  The Yellowjackets held on down the stretch icing the win by 11.

D’Amore led all scorers with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field and 8-of-16 from the perimeter.  He also recorded a career-best six steals in the game.  Eric Cunningham (Phoenix, AZ) picked up his first double-double of his career with 13 points and a career-high 12 assists.  He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.  Cody Samuelson (Broadus, MT) also recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards.  He was 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-9 from long range.  Jonathan Wiley (West Lake Village, CA) and Ruff rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Yellowjackets netting 15 and 13 points respectively.  Ruff’s 13 points and three 3-pointers were career-highs.

As a team the Yellowjacket were 36-of-66 from the field and 14-of-34 from 3-point range.  The team shot 9-of-15 from the charity stripe for a cool 60 percent.  The Jackets out-rebounded the Tigers 45-30.

The Tigers had four players score in double figures and were led by Boone's 23 points.  Boone was 8-of-22 from the field but made his money from long range shooting 7-of-15.  Ralph Mata netted 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and was 5-of-10 from 3-point range.  He also handed out eight assists in the game.

As a team the Tigers were 28-of-67 from the field and 16-of-32 from 3-point range.  They were 12-of-16 from the line for 75 percent.

The Yellowjackets host St. Mary’s University (9-7, 2-1) on Wednesday, January 24, for a Heartland Conference game before hosting University of the Incarnate Word (8-9, 3-2) on January 27 and 28.  Friday night’s game will be a conference counter while Saturday’s will count as a region game.  All three games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.