The Retort

Yellowjackets Down Dominican 82-54

Thu February 4th, 2010 by MSUB Athletics For The Retort

Five players in double figures sparked the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team to an 82-54 victory over Dominican University of California in the first game of the Dixie State Tournament Friday evening, December 4. With the win, MSUB improved to 3-1 on the year, while Dominican fell to 2-4. MSUB’s Derrick Wright led all scorers with 18 points, while teammate Brad Hodge tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“Defense and rebounding were the keys tonight,” head coach George Pfeifer said. “We forced 21 turnovers and out-rebounded them by 20 and played with a lot of energy. I am really pleased with our effort as we worked on a lot of things over the holiday and tomorrow will be a very difficult challenge against Dixie State.”

The Yellowjackets held Dominican to just 32-percent from the field on 16 of 50 from the floor. MSUB shot 46-percent on 28 of 60 and was 6 of 13 from beyond the arc and 20 of 25 from the charity stripe. The Penguins were just 2 of 9 from the line. MSUB had 34 defensive rebounds alone and 47 for the game as Dominican had just 27 total rebounds and just 19 on the defensive end.

Wright led all-scorers with 18 points on 6 of 8 from the field and 6 of 6 from the line. He had seven rebounds. Hodge had 11 points and 10 rebounds on 5 of 7 from the field. Lasha Parghalava had a MSUB personal-best 14 points on 5 of 15 from the field and 2 of 5 from long range. DeAndre Chambers had 15 points off the bench on 6 of 11 from the field and a team-best 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. DaVell Jackson chipped in 12 points to go along with four assists and a game-high seven steals.

The Penguins were led by 14 points from Austin Bryan and 10 points from Alex Ward.

The Yellowjackets got off to a quick start as they held a 46-19 lead at the intermission. MSUB showed no ill effects of a poor shooting performance at Augustana College its last time out as it built a 20-8 lead just over 10 minutes into the contest. A pair of free throws by Jackson extended the lead to 28-12 with 5:53 left in the first half.

MSUB built as many as a 30-point cushion in the opening period and settled for a 27-point advantage at halftime.

The Jackets held Dominican to just 26-percent shooting in the opening half on 6 of 23 from the field. The Penguins were just 1 of 5 from downtown and 6 of 10 from the line. MSUB was 14 of 31 from the floor, 4 of 8 from deep and 14 of 18 from the line.

In the second half, MSUB built the lead back to 30 on five occasions and settled for the 28-point victory. MSUB had a season-high 14 steals and 47 rebounds in the game.