Yellowjackets Begin Three-Game Home Stand with Saint Martin’s Saturday

BILLINGS, Mont. –   The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team returns home to host its final three-game home stand of the season beginning Saturday versus Saint Martin’s at approximately 7:30 p.m.  The women host Central Washington at 5:15 p.m., all part of Hall of Fame Weekend.

On Friday evening, the Montana State Billings Yellowjacket Athletic Department will host its 20th Annual Hall of Fame and Distinction Ceremony at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 2465 Grant Road in Billings.  There, five new members will be inducted into the Hall of Fame that was created in 1990.  The 1998-99 Elite Eight women’s basketball team, as well as Gina Langer (Volleyball, ‘00), Greg Anderson (Gymnastics, ’86), Mike Conroy as Coach of the Year (’68) and the all-time leading scorer in men’s basketball, Roy McPipe (’74), complete the 2009 class and will increase the MSUB Hall of Fame to a total of 126 inductees.

The evening will begin with a social hour starting at 5:30, followed by a buffet dinner at 6:30 p.m.  Following the meal, the Hall of Fame and Distinction induction ceremony will begin.  The cost for the event is $30 and is open to the public.  Reservations can be made by calling 406-657-2369.

In addition, former Yellowjacket head coach, Mike Harkins, will be in attendance on Saturday and will be introduced at halftime of the men’s game along with the 2009 Hall of Fame inductees.  Harkins is the all-time leader in coaching victories amassing 286 wins and 157 defeats for a .646 winning percentage in his 16 years at the school.

MSUB heads into Saturday’s contest with Saint Martin’s with a 9-13 record and a 4-7 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The Yellowjackets have dropped four straight and five of seven. 

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is senior Michael Hall who is averaging 17.8 points per game.  He also leads the team in field goals made with 128 and 3-pointers made with 70.  Second on the team in scoring is junior Derrick Wright.  He is shooting a team-best 120 of 230 from the field for a .522 average.  Wright also leads the team in free throws made and attempts at 106 of 144 for a .736 clip.  With one more make, Wright will tie Jonathan Wiley (2006-07) for 10th all-time in free throws made in a season. 

Senior Travis Bunker is third in scoring at 13.9 points.  He leads the team in rebounds and minutes played with averages of 8.0 and 39.5, respectively.  Junior Mario Burns is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.6 points.  He leads the squad with 147 assists.  Burns also leads the team with 41 steals.

As a team, the Yellowjackets are shooting 46 percent from the field on 580 of 1257.  MSUB is 154 of 403 from downtown for .382 and is 331 of 476 from the charity stripe for 69 percent.  The Jackets are averaging 34.0 rebounds per game to 33.1 by their opponents and are averaging 74.8 points (75.2). 

In conference play, the Yellowjackets have stepped up their game as they are shooting 48 percent from the field, just under 40 percent from deep and 70 percent from the line.  In addition, the Yellowjackets are rebounding better in conference play at a 35.1 clip and scoring margin is up to 79.4 points per game.

Individually, Hall leads the way in conference play scoring as well at a 19.8 clip.  He has 77 made field goals and 41 made 3-pointers to lead the team.  Wright is second on the squad at 17.6 points.  He had 61 made field goals and leads the team with 72 free throws made.  Wright also leads the team with a 6.6 rebounding average in conference play.  Bunker is third at 14.0 points and has played every minute of conference play for a 40-minute average.  He is pulling down 6.3 rebounds per GNAC contest.

Saint Martin’s enters Saturday’s contest with a 19-7 record and a 7-5 mark in the GNAC.  The Saint’s have won two straight and seven of nine.  The Saints defeated Northwest Nazarene Thursday, 94-88 as Tyler Nixon had a career-high 27 points. 

The Saints are led by Jake Linton this season who leads the team averaging 23.7 points per game.  He is second on the team in made field goals with 162 and leads the team in 3-pointers (76) and free throws made with 216 for an impressive 91 percent average.  He has 123 assists to lead the team as well.

Second on the team in scoring is Bill Richardson who averages 16.7 points per game.  He leads the team with 169 made field goals and is second in made free throws with 95.  Richardson is second on the team in rebounds at a 6.8 clip.  Blake Poole is third in scoring at 14.9 points.  He averages a double-double with 14.9 points and 10.7 rebounds to lead the team.  Poole is third in made field goals with 148 and third in free throws with 89 makes. 

As a team, the Saints are shooting 46 percent from the field, 34 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent from the charity stripe.  SMU is averaging 85.5 points per game as well and pulling down 39.9 rebounds per game.

In the first meeting this season, SMU pulled out a gut-wrenching 88-85 victory Feb. 7 in Lacey.  In that game, Linton had 38 points for SMU, while Bunker had 22 and 12 rebounds for MSUB and Brad Hodge had a career-high 19 points off the bench. 

The Yellowjackets held a 77-71 lead with 2:28 left in regulation, but Saint Martin’s closed the game with a 10-4 run to force overtime. Poole scored four of the seven points in overtime for SMU as the Yellowjackets were just 2 of 7 from the field in the overtime period.