Yellowjackets Fall to Mustangs, 85-77 (2/25/06)
Box Score

SILVER CITY, NM -  Playing with a lot of emotion and not much rest, the Montana State-Billings men’s basketball team fell to Western New Mexico University Saturday, 85-77, Saturday.  The loss drops the Jackets to 19-7 overall.  The Mustangs improved to 8-19 in what would be their final game in the Heartland Conference.  The Mustangs will make the move to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference next year.  The Yellowjackets and Hilltoppers of St. Edward’s will share the Heartland Conference regular season title as they both finished the season 9-3 in conference play.

In a season that came down to coin flips, MSUB ended up the No. 2 seed in the conference playoffs while St. Edward’s, having an identical conference record to the Jackets, came out as the No. 1 seed.  Oklahoma Panhandle earned the No. 3 seed and will travel to Billings for a March 1 playoff game against the Yellowjackets.  St. Mary's will play at Western New Mexico on February 27 in a play-in game with the winner traveling to St. Edward's for a playoff game on March 1. 

“We have been tired and playing as best we can,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “We are tied with St. Edward’s for the title and hopefully we will get to play twice for our fans at home.  The guys played quality minutes and I am proud of them.”

The leading scorer in the game was Buddy Windy Boy (Sr., Lodge Grass, MT) who netted 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the perimeter.  Cameron Munoz (Sr., Chino, CA) knocked down three 3-pointers for 15 points.  Munoz is now tied for the NCAA-II record for career 3-pointers.  He currently has 443.  One 3-pointer in front of the home crowd Wednesday will give Munoz sole possession of the lofty record.  Moritz Wohlers (Sr., Wolfenbuttel, Germany) added 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.  Jonathan Wiley (Jr., West Lake Village, CA) matched his career-high 14 rebounds and netted four points.

The Mustangs were led by Kris Taylor with 18 points and eight rebounds.  Mike Sells and Matt Enriquez each added 16 points with Jason Jackson netting 12.

The Yellowjackets will host No. 3 seed Oklahoma Panhandle Wednesday, March 1 in the first game of the Heartland Conference playoffs.  Tip off is 7:30 p.m.  Purchase your tickets in advance by the calling Yellowjacket Athletics Department at 657-2369.