Yellowjackets Head to Augustana College for First Road Game of the Season

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OPENING TIP
The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team heads on the road for the first time this season at Augustana College Tuesday evening.  The Yellowjackets dropped a hard-fought 81-79 decision to Augustana last year in Billings.  The Vikings earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are 2-0 on the year after a pair of close, down-to-the-wire victories last week versus Colorado Christian and the University of Mary.  MSUB edged Colorado Christian in the season opener 72-70 on a reverse layup from DaVell Jackson with four seconds left to earn the victory.  On Saturday, the Jackets held the University of Mary at bay for most of the game, but a couple of late 3-pointers by the Marauders made things interesting as MSUB held on for a 72-68 win.

Leading the way for MSUB this season is Jackson who leads the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game.  He leads the team in made field goals (11) and has 11 assists on the year to just three turnovers.  Jackson has nine steals on the year, too.  Mike McCrary also is averaging 13.5 points per game, while Derrick Wright leads the team averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.  DeAndre Chambers leads the the team with five made 3-pointers on the year.

As a team, MSUB has five players averaging double figures.  The team is shooting an even 50 percent for the year from the field and are 42 percent from beyond the arc (13 of 31).  In the opener, MSUB knocked down its free throw chances, but on Saturday the Jackets really struggled to the tune of just 10 of 23 from the charity stripe for a 60 percent season average (27 of 45). 

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 UNIVERSITY OF MARY
MSUB had another last-minute victory on Saturday as it downed the University of Mary, 72-68 for a 2-0 start.  MSUB was led by 19 points from Brad Hodge who was a game-best 9 of 13 from the field, including a late tip-in that helped seal the victory.  MSUB had four players in double figures, including 10 points, eight assists and seven steals from DaVell Jackson who was Wednesday’s hero with a final seconds layup to give MSUB a 72-70 win over Colorado Christian.  Against Mary, MSUB led for the majority of the second half, but poor free throw shooting by the Yellowjackets and some timely 3-pointers from the Marauders got the visitors back into the game and they had a 68-67 lead with 2:37 left.  Tip-ins from Chambers and Hodge gave the Yellowjackets the lead back and sealed the victory.

SCOUTING AUGUSTANA
The Vikings enter the game with a 2-0 record and are playing their first Division II game of the season as they downed NAIA foes Jamestown College and the University of Sioux Falls in their first two games.  Augustana has won 20 games in each of the past two seasons under head coach Tom Billeter.  This season the Vikings are led by Cody Schilling who leads the team averaging 22 points per game.  He is a team-best 17 of 33 from the field to go along with a 6.5 rebounding average.  Cameron McCaffrey is second in scoring at 13 points per game.  He is 4 of 8 from range which is good for second on the team and he leads the team with seven assists.  Kenny Brown leads the team with six made 3-pointers.  As a team, the Vikings are shooting 47 percent from the field on 60 of 128.  The team has 16 made 3-pointers for 39 percent and are shooting 58 percent from the line on 30 of 51.  They are pulling down 37 rebounds per game, but are giving up 38.5 boards per game.

A WIN OVER AUGUSTANA WOULD...
• Give the Yellowjackets a 3-0 record on the year.
• Only be four wins away from 1,000 career wins.
• Would be the first road non-conference win for MSUB since the 2006-07 season.
• Would be the first 3-0 start for MSUB since the 2005-06 season when it started 5-0.

LAST TIME THEY MET
Augustana exited Billings with a hard-fought 81-79 victory over MSUB last season.  Both teams had two players scoring 20 points or more as MSUB was led by 22 points from former Yellowjacket Mario Burns on 7 of 13 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line.  Derrick Wright added 21 points off the bench for the Yellowjackets.  Augustana was led by 29 points from Eric Krogman who was 7 of 11 from the field and 13 of 14 from the line with 12 rebounds.  Lee Stephens was a game-best 11 of 15 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line for 27 points.  The Vikings shot 52 percent in the game, but MSUB tied the game with 13 seconds left on a Burns layup.  Lee and the Vikings had the last laugh with four seconds left as he scored on a layup off an in bounds play for the game-winner.  MSUB came all the way back from as many as a 10 point deficit in the second half.

ROAD UNKIND
The road has been unkind to the Yellowjackets in recent years.  Last year MSUB was 1-10 on the road and the year before 0-10.  Since the 2000-01 season, the Yellowjackets are just 18-76 in road games.  Moreover, the Yellowjackets are just 2-31 on the road since 2005-06.

TROUBLE FROM THE LINE
After opening the season shooting 17 of 22 from the line versus Colorado Christian, the Yellowjackets really struggled on Saturday from the charity stripe.  MSUB was just 10 of 23 from the line for 43.5 percent, but still came away with the victory, 72-68 over the University of Mary.

WENDY’S THREE’S
Anytime the Yellowjackets hit seven 3-pointers in a home 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.  MSUB followed with six triples on Saturday versus Mary and have 13 for the year with one Wendy’s Three’s Winner.

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 two 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 four on the year and 22 for his MSUB career.  He needs just five rejections to move into the top 10 all-time in school history.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
The Montana State Billings men’s basketball team stands at 995-877 and need just five 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 Yellowjacket 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.