Yellowjackets Rebound With A Hard-Fought, 62-59 Victory Over Colorado Christian

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BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team pulled out a hard-fought, come from behind victory over visiting Colorado Christian Friday evening at Alterowitz Gymnasium, 62-59.  With the victory, MSUB improves to 3-3 on the year, while CCU falls to 2-3.

“I thought it was a good win for our basketball program,” head coach George Pfeifer said.  “Colorado Christian is a very well coached basketball team, we are very happy we came up with the victory.”

The Yellowjackets jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but three 3-pointers, two by Jordan Long and one by Jobi Wall off the bench gave the Cougars an 11-6 lead with 14 minutes left in the half.  CCU used an 8-0 run to take the lead before a layup by Mario Burns quelled the run.

A 3-pointer by Michael Hall tied the game at 11 with just over 13 minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back buckets in the paint by Tyler House but the Cougars back up four with 11:59 left.

The Cougars caught fire and built the lead to 21-15 on the heels of a midrange jumper by Long.  Since the 11:20 mark, CCU went on a 12-4 run for a 27-17 lead with 6:10 left.  During the run, the Yellowjackets were just 2 of 8 from the field, while CCU was 4 of 7.

Out of a Yellowjacket timeout, a hoop-and-harm foul for Derrick Wright, followed by a 3-pointer by Hall and a steal and layup, cut the deficit to 27-25.  Back-to-back layups by Wright tied the game at 29 with 3:21 left. 

The Yellowjackets regained the lead on the old fashion 3-point play by Burns as he went the distance and was fouled on a layup, 34-31.  Moments later, Burns made 1 of 2 at the line for a 35-31 lead.

From the 6:10 mark, the Yellowjackets closed the half on an 18-4 run and held CCU without a field goal in the final 3:01 of the half.  For the half, the Yellowjackets were led by nine points from Travis Bunker and Wright to lead the team.  MSUB shot 50 percent from the field on 14 of 28.  The ‘Jackets were just 2 of 7 from downtown and 5 of 6 from the line.

“I was very pleased that we were able to come back from a 10-point deficit in the first half,” Pfeifer said.  “We were able to get the lead at half and they made a run at us in the second half and we were able to hunker down.”

In contrast, the Cougars were 10 of 25 from the field for 40 percent.  Colorado Christian knocked down four 3-pointers and was 7 of 8 from the line.  CCU held a 15-11 lead in rebounds.  Long led the Cougars with 10 points as the only player in double figures.

A bucket by Long with 17:43 left in the second half was the first field goal for the Cougars since the 3:01 mark of the first half, cutting the Yellowjacket deficit to 38-34.  A dunk by Justin Neuhaus cut the ‘Jacket lead to 40-39 with 15:30 left.

Wright battled hard inside for two buckets to put MSUB back up 44-39 with 14 minutes left.  Both teams got a bit ragged over the next few minutes as House stopped a drought by both teams cutting the Yellowjacket lead to 44-43 with 11:53 left.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brett Taylor and Bunker put the Yellowjackets up 52-43 with 10:15 left.

A triple by Long and a bucket by Long cut the Yellowjacket lead to 55-50 with six minutes left.  Nick Gill knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 55-53 with 5:30 left.  The Cougars used a 10-3 run since the 10:15 mark to get back into the game. 

A much-needed bucket by Tyler Hentzen swelled the lead to 57-53 with just over four minutes left.  CCU responded with a bucket to make the score 57-55. A big offensive foul by Long gave the Yellowjackets the ball with 3:48 left.

“It was great that Tyler back which gave us some depth inside which we didn’t have in the previous few games.”

Two free throws and a Yellowjacket miscue, gave the ball back to CCU with under two minutes to play.  Bunker took a key charge to end the threat of the Cougars tying the game or taking the lead on that possession at 59-57.  

Wright scored on an inside move near the basket for a four point advantage for MSUB with just under a minute to play.  Long knocked down a jumper as the shot clock was running down to cut the lead in half at 61-59 with 36.2 seconds left.

A missed layup by Hall on an outlet pass off the inbounds gave the ball back to CCU with 21.8 seconds left with a chance to tie or take the lead.  A traveling call on Wall gave the ball back to the Yellowjackets with 16.7 left. 

Brad Hodge was quickly fouled and went 1 of 2 at the line still giving the Cougars life.  A missed 3-pointer at the buzzer by Brendan Puckett sealed the 62-59 victory for the Yellowjackets.

For the game, the Yellowjackets shot 43 percent for the game from the field on 25 of 57.  The Jackets were 5 of 15 from downtown and were just 7 of 16 from the line.  Wright led four players in double figures with 17 points and six rebounds.  Bunker recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and 13 rebounds.  Hall was held to a season-low 11 points, while Burns chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.

Long paced the Cougars with 23 points, while Neuhaus was the only other player for CCU in double figures. 

The Yellowjackets and the Cougars will meet again tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. following the women’s game versus Mesa State at Alterowitz Gymnasium.