FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Wednesday, December 7, 2016 Preview: ‘Jacket men host Rocky Saturday
Playing its final game before the holiday break, MSUB’s men’s basketball team hosts Rocky Mountain College Saturday in a game broadcast live on ESPN Radio 910 KBLG. BILLINGS, Mont. – Coming off of its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win of the season Monday, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team will prepare to play its final non-conference game of the season Saturday night at home against Rocky Mountain College. The Yellowjackets (5-4, 1-1 GNAC) will host the Battlin’ Bears (4-5, 0-2 Frontier Conference) at Alterowitz Gym, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The game will be the second half of a doubleheader with MSUB’s women’s basketball team, as it hosts the University of Great Falls at 5 p.m. Saturday’s men’s and women’s games are sponsored by Verizon Cellular Plus, whose two store locations in Billings are offering discounted tickets for $2 throughout the week. Tickets will also be available at the gate for $8 for the general public, $4 for seniors, students in grades 7-through-12, and MSUB faculty, and free admission for all MSUB students and children in grades six and under.
MSUB will look to get even with RMC, as the Bears handed the ‘Jackets a 78-73 loss at the Fortin Center earlier this season on Nov. 15. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 910 KBLG locally in Billings, and on the web at www.espn910.com. The game will also feature live video with play-by-play commentary, and live statistics available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here. “This is a big game for us, and we are going to treat it just like a GNAC game,” commented junior guard Kendall Denham. “We went over there and they beat us, so it’s our turn to hand them a loss.” MSUB is coming off of a 79-71 win over reigning GNAC champion Western Oregon University on Monday, after starting conference play on Saturday with a 92-82 loss to Concordia University. MSUB enters Saturday’s game having won four of its last five games overall. “We are going to try to keep the message pretty simple moving forward; every day we are going to try to get better,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “We want our guys to enjoy success like we had on Monday, but also when we have tough or adverse times, that’s another chance for us to get better.” LESSINGER LEADS TEAM EFFORT: Monday’s victory over the Wolves came thanks to a full team effort in the second half, as all 10 players who were suited up played at least 10 minutes in the game. Redshirt freshman Zack Lessinger stood out on the defensive end, leading the team with a season-high nine rebounds and causing WOU problems underneath the hoop.
Zack Lessinger (right) led MSUB with nine rebounds off the bench in the team’s 79-71 win over Western Oregon Monday.
It was Lessinger’s best individual performance since the Yellowjackets’ season opener, when he led the team with 18 points and added six rebounds. MATTHEWS TOPS 20 AGAIN: Leading the team with 20 points on Monday, senior Marc Matthews bumped his season scoring average up to 12.6 points through his first nine games. It was Matthews’ third 20-point effort of the season, and he also had four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Matthews converted six 3-pointers last week to move up one spot to No. 9 in MSUB history, with 157 in his career. He passed Chris Herriford’s mark of 154 on Monday, and has a chance to catch No. 8 Dave Carse (193) and No. 7 Titus
Warmsley (195) this season. The senior will also become just the 22nd player in MSUB history to reach 1,000 career points, as he needs just 31 more to reach the career milestone. MSUB Men’s Basketball All-Time 3-Point Leaders Rk. Name 3-Pointers Career Points (Rk.) 1. Cameron Munoz 451 1,879 (2nd) 2. Markus Hallgrimson 371 1,470 (6th) 3. Buddy Windy Boy 305 1,278 (10th) 4. Mark Hamilton 286 1,463 (8th) 5. Reece Gliko 231 1,388 (9th) 6. Danny Phillips 222 -7. Titus Warmsley 195 1,467 (7th) 8. Dave Carse 193 -9. Marc Matthews 157 969 (--) 10. Chris Herriford 154 1,252 (11th) BEVERLY KEEPS NUMBERS UP: After earning GNAC Player of the Week honors last week, sophomore Preston Beverly had two more solid performances in the team’s first conference games. Beverly scored 14 points and added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the loss against Concordia. He followed with a 13-point, 8-rebound effort against the Wolves, and continues to lead the team with 16.8 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. EVANS SCORING IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Joining Beverly and Matthews as a double-digit scorer for the ‘Jackets, sophomore Senior Marc Matthews needs 31 more points to reach 1,000 in his Christian Evans had two more big games last week. Evans led career at MSUB. the team with 18 points against Concordia, and then came through with nine points including a dagger three that sealed the win over Western Oregon. Evans is averaging 12.1 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds, while shooting well from both the field (52.3 percent) and the 3-point arc (42.9 percent). ANDERSON KEEPS HEATING UP: Senior Jace Anderson had a season-best four assists in the win over the Wolves, and has continued his hot shooting from long distance. He has converted on 10 of his last 21 shots from beyond the arc, and is averaging 8.8 points per game. He’ll look to replicate his performance the last time the ‘Jackets played the Bears, when he made 4 of 9 threes and scored 14 points. CINCO FINDING RHYTHM: After being held scoreless in his last two road games, freshman guard Cinco Durr came alive and scored 20 points last week for the ‘Jackets. Durr came within two of his season high, as he scored 13 against Concordia on Saturday. He followed by matching his personal best with four assists against the Wolves, a feat he has achieved four times this season as he leads the team with 27 assists total. TEAM FIGURES: MSUB ranks sixth in the GNAC with 79.6 points per game, and is No. 7 in the conference in scoring defense with 76.7 points allowed per game. MSUB is also among the conference’s elite teams in defending against the 3-
point shot, ranking second by holding opponents to just 32.7 percent from beyond the arc. The ‘Jackets are in the top half of the league in rebounding margin at plus-3.8, as MSUB out-rebounds opponents 38.2-34.4 on average. Saturday, December 10 – Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears – 7 PM Alterowitz Gym | Billings, MT 2016-17 Record: 4-5, 0-2 Frontier Conference Head Coach: Bill Dreikosen, 17th Season The Bears have not won since defeating MSUB on Nov. 15, losing four straight games as well as an exhibition game at Montana State University. Opening Frontier Conference play last week, RMC lost to Carroll College 98-84 before falling to Montana Western 80-74. Saturday’s game will be an exhibition game for the Bears, but will count for the ‘Jackets. Riley Bradshaw leads RMC with an average of 16.4 points per game, and has a team-best 38 assists through nine games this year. The senior is also a premier free-throw shooter, converting 42 of 45 shots so far this season (93.3 percent). Zach Hinton, Chad Kananen, and Taylor Longo are each also in double figures in scoring. Hinton averages 12.7 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game, while Kananen averages 11.8 points and is the team’s top 3-point shooter at 34.5 percent. Longo is averaging 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, and leads the team with 18 steals. As a team the Bears are out-scoring opponents 82.0-77.7, and are out-rebounding the opposition 41.7-35.1. The Series: One of the longest-standing series in MSUB history, the ‘Jackets lead the 87-year affair 88-81 in 169 games not including exhibitions. MSUB is 51-30 all-time at Alterowitz Gym, and has won two of the last three meetings at home. Last Time Out: Kananen erupted for 23 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the 3-point arc, leading the Bears to the earlyseason win. Beverly scored 18 and had eight rebounds, while Christian Evans posted a 17-point, 14-rebound doubledouble at the Fortin Center on RMC’s campus. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--