MSUB Men's Basketball Recap 1/21/16

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, January 21, 2016 Falcons push Yellowjackets’ skid to 5 games, MSUB falls 81-71

After leading at halftime, MSUB slips in the second half as Seattle Pacific wins its fourth straight game and the ‘Jackets lose their fifth in-a-row.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Despite holding the top men’s basketball team in all of the NCAA Division II in rebounding margin to a mark of just plus-seven on the evening, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team came up short in an 81-71 loss to visiting Seattle Pacific University on Thursday night at Alterowitz Gym. The Falcons (14-4, 7-3 GNAC) won for the fourth time in as many games by edging the ‘Jackets on the boards 34-27. SPU entered the game with a rebounding margin of plus-13.1 to lead all Division II schools. Preseason all-GNAC pick Mitch Penner led all players with 20 points, while Brendan Carroll added 18 and Gilles Dierickx had 17.

“We put our emphasis on rebounding all week, and we did a nice job on the boards tonight,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “We didn’t give up a lot of offensive boards, and I was pleased with our effort, but we sent them to the line too much.”

Of SPU’s 34 rebounds, only seven came on the offensive end, but the Falcons capitalized by making 34 of 41 foul shots to score more than a third of their points from the line.

Emmanuel Johnson had a team-best 15 points for MSUB, which lost its fifth straight game and fell to 6-11 on the year and 3-6 in conference play. Preston Beverly was MSUB’s other double-figure scorer, netting 13 while picking up four rebounds and an assist in 23 minutes.

The game was evenly matched from the opening tip, with neither team leading by more than four points in the opening 10 minutes. The first three of the game by Beverly edged the ‘Jackets in front 24-22 midway through the first, and helped fuel the team offensively.

Beverly kept the flow going inside of one minute to go in the first, netting an off-hand layup to make the score 36-34 in favor of the ‘Jackets. A steal by Marc Matthews that led to a layup for Kendall Denham on the next sequence pushed SPU to call a timeout, and the ‘Jackets took a 38-37 lead into the locker room.

“Preston and EJ played well and kept us in the game offensively,” Stevens said on the freshman-senior combination. “They stuck with the game plan, and didn’t let their guys pound them on the boards.”

Senior Emmanuel Johnson scored a team-best 15 points on Thursday against the Falcons.

The Falcons began to sneak away as the second half opened, and a three-point play by Bryce Leavitt after an MSUB missed layup swung the Falcons’ lead to eight points at 50-42. The ‘Jackets got to within five points a minute later, but SPU never looked back once it extended its lead to double figures on two free throws by Penner at the 9:30 mark.

Playing 33 minutes, Matthews matched Beverly for the team high in rebounds with four and chipped in nine points on 7 of 8 accuracy from the free-throw line. Emmanuel Olufemi scored eight points and had three rebounds in nine minutes, while Kamal Tall made all three of his shots from the field to finish with seven points in 12 minutes.

“I thought Emmanuel and Kamal played well tonight,” said Stevens. “This was as well as Kamal has played all year. Our bigs are playing well, but we just need to get a little bit more production out of our guards.”

The Yellowjackets made just 11 of 30 (36.7 percent) shots including 1 of 9 (11 percent) from 3-point range in the second half, as MSUB was out-scored 44-33 over the final 20 minutes. The ‘Jackets made 14 of 19 free throws, and had nine assists against just eight turnovers.

SPU also took a step back in terms of shooting in the second half, excepting the foul line where the Falcons made 25 of 27 shots in the period. Overall on the game SPU made 21 of 42 field goals (50 percent), 5 of 11 3-pointers (45.5 percent), and shot 82.9 percent from the line (34-for-41).

The Falcons had 10 assists and 10 turnovers, and benefitted from six blocks compared to just one for MSUB. Dierickx and Leavitt tied for the team high in rebounding with seven, while the latter had a team-best three assists.

THE BUZZ: Johnson was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Olufemi kept his season-long streak of at least one block in every game alive as he had the lone rejection for the ‘Jackets…MSUB has now lost seven of the last eight games against SPU…Johnson scored in double figures for the sixth game in-a-row.

NEXT UP: MSUB is back in action on Saturday night, taking on Saint Martin’s University in another 7:30 p.m. start time at Alterowitz Gym. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two GNAC opponents, and will mark the midway point in the conference schedule.

“Saturday is a big game for us,” said Stevens. “If we want to reach our goal of playing in the conference tournament, Saturday is a game in which we have to come out on top.”

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