Yellowjackets Fall 76-71 to Colorado Christian

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BILLINGS, Mont. –  Colorado Christian went 13 of 16 in the final 3:57 to pull out a 76-71 victory Saturday afternoon over Montana State Billings at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 3-4 on the year and CCU improves to 3-3 as both teams split the season series.  The Yellowjackets posted a 62-59 victory last night.

"Colorado Christian made more plays than we did tonight," head coach George Pfeifer said. "I was very pleased with our character in that we battled back against a very good CCU team that was picked preseason second in the RMAC." It is really tough to go out and beat the same team two days in a row."

Brendan Puckett led all-scorers with 22 points on 8 of 15 from the field and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc for the Cougars.  Travis Bunker, Mario Burns and Michael Hall each had 15 points for the Yellowjackets in the losing effort. 

The Yellowjackets and Cougars began game two right where they left off last night as Mario Burns slashed to the goal for a score, followed by a 3-pointer from Jordan Long for a 3-2 lead for Colorado Christian early.

Through the first four minutes, the Jackets were 3 of 6 from the field, while CCU was just 2 of 8 in the early going as MSUB held a 6-5 lead.  The teams were scrapping on the floor and diving for loose balls, but points became hard to come by for both teams through the first eight minutes as MSUB went 1 of 6 and CCU went 0 of 5 from the 15:57 mark.  In fact, CCU hadn’t scored a field goal since the 17:14 mark.

A dunk by Justin Neuhaus gave the Cougars a 9-8 lead, but it was short lived as Travis Bunker drained a 3-pointer with an assist from Michael Hall for an 11-9 lead.  The Cougars scored six straight to build a 15-11 lead with just under nine minutes left in the half.

Both teams continued to struggle from the field in a frantic pace game as the Jackets were 6 of 17 from the field and CCU was 8 of 21 through 13 minutes.  The Cougars held a 17-14 lead, but another 3-pointer by Bunker tied the game with seven minutes to play in the half.  It was the second triple of the game for Bunker.  Moments later, Brett Taylor knocked down a trey giving MSUB a 20-17 lead.  Taylor knocked down his second long range shot for a 23-19 Yellowjacket advantage.

A 3-pointer by Brendan Puckett pushed the Cougar lead to 30-25 with 90 seconds left in the half.  Moments later, Hall knocked down a triple followed by a steal and a layup to erase a five point deficit with a minute left.   Colorado Christian went into the half with a 35-32 lead.

For the half, the Jackets were led by 10 points from Bunker on 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc.  He was the lone Yellowjacket in double figures.  Puckett led the Cougars with 11 points.  Both teams upped their percentages during the final 10 minutes of the half as MSUB was 13 of 28 from the field and 5 of 11 from deep.  CCU was 15 of 33 from the field and 4 of 11 from deep.  Both teams were a combined 2 of 3 from the line. 

The second half opened as CCU jumped out to a 7-2 run for a 42-34 lead with 16:37 left.  Out of a Yellowjacket timeout, Hall drained a long two for a 42-36 score.  Hall followed with a 3-pointer, his second of the game, to cut the deficit in half to 42-39.

A long 3-pointer by Long gave CCU its largest lead of the game at 50-41 with 12:28 left.  The Cougars began the second half shooting a blazing 60 percent on 6 of 10, while the Yellowjackets were just 4 of 11 for 46 percent.  In addition, the Cougars started to extend their lead in rebounds, out-rebounding the Jackets 6-2 in the second half and 5-1 on the offensive end. 

The Cougars and Yellowjackets began trading buckets as MSUB would cut the deficit to six or seven, but CCU had the answer on the other end each time. 

Off a 1 for 2 performance at the line by Burns, Tyler Hentzen got a huge offensive rebound and kicked out to Hall for an open 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 56-51 with seven minutes left. After a nice steal by Burns, Burns drove to the lane and cut the deficit to three at 56-53.  Another layup by Burns cut deficit to one at 56-55.  A jumper by Long gave CCU a 58-55 lead with four minutes left. 

Two big buckets, a two and a three by Puckett put CCU up 63-56 with three minutes left, but Bunker answered with a 3-pointer and Hall scored in transition to cut the deficit back to two with two minutes left, 63-61. 

A foul in the act of shooting on Michael Hall put CCU at the line for just the second time today. Tyler House made one of two for a 64-61 lead.  Puckett made both free throws for a 66-61 lead with 1:22 left. 

Jobi Wall made one of two free throws giving the Cougars a 67-61 lead with 47 seconds left.  Two good looks at 3-pointers by Hall would not go down and the Jackets had two foul.  House made one of two free throws.  Burns drove to the hoop and was fouled for the old-fashion three-point play with 23.1 seconds left. 

A 3-pointer by Ryan Meehan made things interesting with 16 seconds left and cut the deficit to three.  A quick foul put House back on the line and made both for a 72-67 lead.  Burns drove the length of the court and Wright cleaned up the mess.  Again CCU made both free throws.  Burns scored on another layup to cut the deficit to 74-71 with 5.4 seconds left.  House made two more free throws and went on for the 76-71 victory.