Yellowjackets Host University of Mary Saturday Night

Game Notes in PDF format

OPENING TIP
The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team concludes the season-opening weekend with the University of Mary on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  The Yellowjackets enter with a 1-0 record after a buzzer-beater victory over Colorado Christian in the season opener Wednesday, 72-70.  The University of Mary enters with a 1-1 record after a thrashing of Trinity Bible College Wednesday, 111-43.  MSUB and Mary split two meetings last season as both won on its home court.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are coming off a thrilling 72-70 victory over Colorado Christian in the season opener Wednesday.  MSUB led for majority of the game, but the pesky Cougars made a late run courtesy a a couple of key 3-pointers.  MSUB newcomer, DaVell Jackson, had the answer as he scored on a reverse layup with four seconds left for the game winning bucket.

Jackson leads the team in scoring after one game with 17 points.  He went 6 of 9 from the field and 5 of 7 from the line with three assists and two steals against CCU.  Derrick Wright is second on the team in scoring at 15 points per game.  After a slow start Wednesday, Wright picked it up in the second half, going a team-best 7 of 9 from the field and tallied two key blocks late in the game.  Senior forward Mike McCrary had a solid debut in a Yellowjacket uniform as he scored 12 points on 3 of 8 from the floor.  He stepped out and knocked down two triples and was 4 of 4 from the charity stripe with five rebounds.

The Yellowjackets are in year two of the George Pfeifer campaign with a new look as Pfeifer welcomes nine newcomers and a core of six experienced veteran players creating a new look for the Jackets.  All on board are dedicated to continuing the momentum coming off a 10-17 campaign in Pfeifer’s inaugural season and moving up the very competitive Great Northwest Athletic Conference ladder.

Returning for the Yellowjackets this season is GNAC Honorable Mention selection, Derrick Wright, who averaged 17.1 points last season as he shot 53.8 percent from the field and grabbed 5.8 rebounds per game last year.  Brad Hodge led the team in field goal accuracy last season at a 59.2 clip scoring 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.  In addition, Brett Taylor returns to the Jacket perimeter as he knocked down 45 percent of his long-range shots last year.

Nine new key recruits will have the potential to make an immediate impact as witnessed in the exhibition game at Eastern Washington.  Three key seniors (DaVell Jackson, Lasha Parghalava and Mike McCrary are on the roster with Parghalava and McCrary have Division I experience.  Jackson was a NJCAA All-America selection, while Parghalava played at the University of Hawaii and McCrary played at Cal State Northridge.

RECAPPING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
MSUB won the thrilling season opener on a buzzer-beater, reverse layup from Yellowjacket newcomer DaVell Jackson with four seconds left in regulation for a 72-70 victory.  MSUB led for the majority of the game, but CCU rallied with a couple of key triples late in the game to tie it at 70 with under a minute left.  Down the stretch Derrick Wright had two important blocks and key free throw shooting helped secure the victory.  Jackson received the ball at midcourt with 11 seconds left and dribbled the clock down before he drove to the basket and laid it in for the game-winning field goal.  The senior point guard led the team with 17 points on 6 of 9 from the floor and was 5 of 7 from the line.  He also had three assists and two steals with no turnovers in 32 minutes.

SCOUTING UNIVERSITY OF MARY
The Marauders enter the week with a 1-1 record after a thrashing of Trinity Bible College on Wednesday, 111-43.  In that game, the Marauders had eight players score in double figures led by 18 points from UT Udo off the bench.  The team shot a blazing 70 percent from the field and 46 percent from downtown and outrebounded Trinity 47-25. 

For the year, the Marauders are led by Anthony Moody who leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game.  He leads the team with 13 made field goals and seven assists.  He also is tied for the team lead in rebounds per game at 6.0.  Eric Erdmann is second in scoring at 14.5 points per contest.  He is 12 of 20 from the field and is tied for the team lead in rebounds per game at a 6.0 clip. 

Head coach Randall Herbst is in his first year as head coach of the Marauders.  He previously was at UNO as an assistant coach from 2007-2009.  UNO played two games at MSUB during the 2007-08 season.

A WIN OVER MARY WOULD...
• Give the Yellowjackets a 2-0 record on the year.
• Only be five wins away from 1,000 career wins.
• Would be the fourth win in the series for MSUB giving it a 4-1 record in the series.
• Would be the first 2-0 start for MSUB since the 2005-06 season when it started 5-0.

LAST TIME THEY MET
The Marauders and the Yellowjackets split two meetings last season as both teams won on their respective home courts.  The Yellowjackets won the opener 70-67 in overtime as four MSUB players were in double figures.  Three free throws and a 3-pointer by former Yellowjacket Mike Hall in the final 26 seconds sealed the victory.  Mary won the return game just under a week later with an 83-72 win.  Hall had a game-high 23 points leading two players in double figures.  MSUB shot 57.8 percent for the game, but went just 12 of 20 from the charity stripe in the losing effort.  Jordan Wilhelm paced the Marauders with 19 points.

WENDY’S THREE’S
Anytime the Yellowjackets hit seven 3-pointers in a game, everyone in the crowd will receive a free coupon for one small chili at Wendy’s.  The Yellowjackets hit exactly seven triples versus Colorado Christian Wednesday.

NEWCOMERS STEP UP
In their first outing of their MSUB careers, the new faces accounted for 47 points and 16 rebounds of the Yellowjackets’ 72 points and 30 rebounds, respectively, versus Colorado Christian.

THE WRIGHT REJECTION
Senior Derrick Wright tallied three blocks on Wednesday versus Colorado Christian, two of which were huge down the stretch.  Wright swatted Jobi Wall twice on 3-pointers that would have cut the Yellowjacket lead to either one or two in the final two minutes of the game.  Wright has two blocks on the year.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team stands at 993-877 and need just six wins to hit the 1,000 career victories list.  The earliest MSUB would play for its 1,000th win would be a Dec. 21 home game versus Dixie State.  There are 67 Division II schools that have over 1,000 career victories entering the 2009-2010 season.

DIVISION ONE FLAVOR
George Pfeifer continued the tradition of bringing in talent from Division I this year as he signed Lasha Parghalava (Hawaii) and Mike McCrary (Cal State Northridge).  Last season, Pfeifer had the services of Mike Hall (Idaho) and Travis Bunker (Wyoming).

NINE NEW JACKETS
Pfeifer has nine new faces for his 2009-2010 team.  MSUB returned six players from his first season and now has two Division I transfers, to go along with three junior college transfers (DaVell Jackson, DeAndre Chambers, Tyrone Williams), three freshmen (Joel Barndt, Robby Trabing, Andrew Hickman) and a transfer from Carroll College in Jason Tanascu.

GET YELLOWJACKET GEAR
Fans can now purchase their Yellowjacket apparel through the MSUB athletic website.  Please log on to www.msubillings.edu/athletics and click on the apparel icon.  MSUB and Cuda Apparel have teamed together to bring Yelllowjacket fans custom apparel.  Fans are still encouraged to continue their support of Jackets and Company, too.

JACKETS PICKED FIFTH
The Yellowjackets were picked preseason fifth by the conference coaches.  The Jackets tallied 52 points, one point behind fourth place Alaska Anchorage.  Seattle Pacific was tabbed league favorite.

LISTEN TO COACH PFEIFER
Fans can listen to the weekly Coach Pfeifer Show on the internet each Tuesday.  Log on to www.msubillings.edu/athletics to listen to Pfeifer’s thoughts on the previous week and the coming weeks throughout the season.

WATCH/LISTEN TO HOME GAMES
Fans can listen to all MSUB men’s basketball home games by logging on to www.musbillings.edu/athletics and click on live broadcasts.  Ken Adelblue provides the play-by-play for each home game.