Yellowjackets Drop Second Straight on Hawaii Trip (Jan. 6, 2005)
Box Score

HILO, HI – After trailing by 20 points, Montana State-Billings rallied but fell short at Hawaii-Hilo Thursday night, losing 76-61.  The Yellowjackets dropped to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in the PacWest.  Twenty-fifth ranked Hawaii-Hilo improved to 14-1, 2-1.  The same teams meet on Saturday with tip off set for 5:00 p.m. MST.  The game can be heard on AM 970 KBUL.

The Yellowjackets led until the first media timeout of the game at the 15:00 minute mark of the first half.  Buddy Windy Boy’s (Jr., Lodge Grass, MT) 3-pointer put the Jackets up 8-7.  Hawaii-Hilo took its first lead at 9-8 with 14:48 left in the first half and never trailed again.  The Vulcans took a 43-25 lead into halftime after building their lead to as many as 20.  The Yellowjackets rallied to within seven points with less than eight minutes to play in the second half, but Hawaii-Hilo recovered to pull away for the 15-point win.

“We’ve come out good both nights we’ve been here,” said Yellowjacket coach Craig Carse.  “When people penetrate, they are going to get layups.  If we continue to allow penetration, we’re not going to be able to fast break. If we’re going to have people penetrate, we’re not going to be able to stop people.  We’re going to have to shore it up some way.  We tried some zone early tonight to try to slow it down.  The kids played hard and played smart tonight.  We’ll continue to work hard and the kids will continue to work hard.”

The Yellowjackets were led by Windy Boy’s 19 points.  He was 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range.  The Jackets shot just 16 percent from behind the arc in the game—making 4-of-25—and only 30 percent from the field.

Justin Hassell (Sr., Brooklyn, NY) finished with 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.  He notched a double-double with 11 rebounds.  Freshman Lucas Walker (Launceston, Australia) added 10 points off the bench.

Hawaii-Hilo was led by Skip Esene’s game-high 26 points.  He sparked the first half run that erased the Yellowjackets’ lead and turned it into a double-digit advantage for the Vulcans.  Alex Cabagnot added 17 points.