Yellowjackets Hold on for Wild Win against Saint Leo (Dec. 21, 2004)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – No lead is safe when two basketball teams combine to shoot 60 3-point attempts and 95 free throws.  Montana State-Billings withstood a feverish comeback attempt by Saint Leo Tuesday night to prevail 113-106 in overtime.  The win over the Lions, the second in as many nights, improved the Yellowjackets to 7-1 while dropping the Lions to 5-6.

MSU Billings led by as many as 23 points in the second half before the Lions rallied to force overtime.  Freshman guard Marquis McCullough scored Saint Leo’s final 10 points of regulation, and his jumper tied the game at 93 with less than two seconds on the clock.  McCullough finished the night with a game-high 30 points before fouling out 21 seconds into the overtime period.  He was 14-of-17 from the free throw line and 2-of-3 from behind the arc.

McCullough wasn’t alone in the disqualified column.  Three Lions fouled out as the team committed 37 fouls.  The Yellowjackets suffered even more losses with four players fouling out and the team committing 34 fouls.  When it was all said and done, the Lions were 33-of-48 from the free throw line, and the Yellowjackets were 37-of-47.

Even though the game was physical for all 45 minutes, the teams still managed to fire up a combined 60 3-pointers.  The Yellowjackets were 16-of-40 from behind the arc, and the Lions were 7-of-20.  The Jackets’ Buddy Windy Boy (Jr., Lodge Grass, MT) was 7-of-17 from downtown and finished with 29 points.  Five of Windy Boy’s 3-pointers and 17 of his points came in the first half when the Yellowjackets built a 48-33 halftime lead.

Freshman guard Carlin Hughes (Perth, Australia) had a breakout night in just his second game of the season.  He was 5-of-11 from 3-point range and scored 22 points before fouling out.  Hughes helped bolster a banged up backcourt that saw the Jackets’ leading scorer, Cameron Munoz, play just 13 minutes.  Munoz missed all of the first half and most of the second before coming off the bench to score 11 points.  He was 6-of-7 from the free throw line as the Lions were forced to foul to stop the clock.

Munoz’s (Jr., Chino, CA) 3-pointer at the midpoint of the overtime period gave the Yellowjackets a six point lead that finally proved to be enough.  MSU Billings hit 13-of-15 from the charity stripe in the extra period.

In all, five Yellowjackets finished in double figures for the game.  Justin Hassell (Sr., Brooklyn, NY) had 18 points and eight rebounds.  He was 14-of-19 from the line.  Cody Samuelson (So., Broadus, MT) had 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists off the bench.  Jonathan Wiley (So., Westlake Village, CA) added eight points and was 2-of-2 from 3-point range before he fouled out.

The Lions also had a handful of double-digit scorers.  Larry Henderson finished with 16 points.  Scott Seifert added 13 points and nine boards.  George Eshesimua tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Jackie Lamons added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Yellowjackets return to action on December 31 when they host Haskell Indian Nations (KS) at 8:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym.