MSUB men hit GNAC season-high 17 3-pointers in 90-71 win over UAA Tuesday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, February 9, 2016 MSUB men hit GNAC season-high 17 3-pointers in 90-71 win over UAA Tuesday

MSUB races out to a big lead in the first half and keeps its offense rolling en route to a GNAC single-season team-high 17 3-pointers in Tuesday’s 90-71 triumph over the University of Alaska Anchorage.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Preston Beverly and Emmanuel Johnson each hit five of Montana State University Billings’ Great Northwest Athletic Conference 2015-16 season-high 17 3-pointers in a big 90-71 win over the University of Alaska Anchorage Tuesday evening at Alterowitz Gym. GNAC leading scorer Sekou Wiggs led all players with 27 points, but Beverly led five Yellowjackets in double figures with a team-best 25 on the night.

The Yellowjackets (9-14, 6-9 GNAC) avenged a 20-point loss in Anchorage earlier this season, as MSUB fell to UAA 81-61 on Jan. 12 at the Alaska Airlines Center. After shooting just 39 percent as a team in that loss, MSUB turned the tables and shot 53.6 percent Tuesday evening and 63 percent from beyond the arc.

“Tonight we were a lot better defensively,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens on the difference between the two games. “We didn’t force a lot of turnovers, but we didn’t give up a ton of second-chance points either. They didn’t shoot the ball great, and part of that was our defense.”

UAA (18-8, 11-4 GNAC) scored just nine second-chance points on the evening, with 10 of its 34 rebounds coming on the offensive end. The ‘Jackets posted their third-lowest turnover total of the season with nine, while winning the battle on the boards with 36 rebounds.

Beverly hit the first three of the game in the opening minute to set the tone, and the Yellowjackets had a double-digit lead within the first five minutes. Marc Matthews and Beverly each scored five points during a 12-3 run that pushed MSUB’s advantage to 28-13 midway through the first half.

“Preston was on a mission to play well tonight against these guys,” Stevens said. “It’s great that he got a double-double, but I am more pleased that he had zero turnovers. This was probably his best game of the year.”

Beverly added 13 rebounds and four assists on the evening, and protected the ball better than he had in any game this season with no turnovers. His standout effort came after playing just 12 minutes against the Seawolves in Anchorage and scoring three points. “We just really got off to a hot start, and I think that shocked them a little bit,” said Beverly, who completed his team-best fifth double-double of the season. “They are a really solid team and we knew we had to come out hot from the gate.”

The ‘Jackets led by as much as 25 in the opening period, with backto-back threes by Johnson keeping the margin in the mid-20s inside of two minutes until the break. The Seawolves made just 9 of 29 shots (31.0 percent) in the first half, while the ‘Jackets made a blistering 63.3 percent (19 of 30) including 11 of 16 3-pointers (68.8 percent).

“We were just moving the ball really well in the first half, and shots were falling down so that gave us a lot of confidence,” Johnson commented. “It all starts with our point guard Kendall being aggressive, and that opens up everybody else.”

Kendall Denham was the next-leading scorer with 14 points, and he added three assists, three rebounds, and a steal in a team-high 38 minutes. Matthews and Emmanuel Olufemi each had a dozen points for the ‘Jackets, and Jordan Perry added eight off of the bench in 17 minutes. “All five of our starters were in double figures, and that says we had really good balance tonight,” Stevens said.

“This was about as good as we can play and as good as we can shoot the ball.”

MSUB’s Emmanuel Johnson drives against UAA’s Corey Hammell during Tuesday’s 90-71 win over the Seawolves.

with seven boards.

MSUB’s highest lead was 34 points after a three by Perry early on in the second half made the score 73-39. The Seawolves never made a threatening run, only cutting the deficit to less than 20 points with 2:07 to play.

Brian McGill had 14 points and five assists for UAA, and Corey Hammell added 13 points and six rebounds. Wiggs led the team

AS OF LATE: MSUB is shooting 47 percent as a team and averaging 80 points over its last four games, having won three of those to recover after a seven-game losing skid. “If we look back over the last few games, we have played five really good halves of basketball,” Stevens said regarding his team’s play since trailing Central Washington by 17 points at halftime on Feb. 4 before forcing overtime. “We have started the last two games well, and the guys are getting comfortable with each other.

Tonight we had a good game plan, and we forced them to make tough shots against us.”

“We will just try to build on this, and it was a really big win,” Johnson said. “We knew that we needed it, and our big motivation is just to try to get into the tournament right now.”

TRIPLE VISION: The Yellowjackets topped their own mark of 16 made threes, which was tied with the University of Alaska’s 16 threes for the most in a game so far this season in the GNAC…MSUB’s previous season high came in a win over Black Hills State on Nov. 21…historically, Yellowjacket teams have hit Sophomore point guard Kendall Denham, guarded here by 18 or more threes in a game 23 times, and the all-time school UAA’s Brian McGill, had 14 points and played a team-high 38 record is 26 set on Feb. 18, 1999 against Western New minutes in MSUB’s win over the Seawolves on Tuesday.

Mexico…the GNAC record for threes in a game is 27, set by Alaska Anchorage against Western Oregon on Feb. 22, 2014…MSUB’s percentage of 63.0 from long range was a team single-game high for the season, and was the fifth-highest mark in a single game in Yellowjacket history.

THE BUZZ: Beverly was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Olufemi kept his season-long streak of at least one block in every game alive with two more on Tuesday against the Seawolves…Beverly was one point shy of his season high of 26 points, which he reached on two previous occasions this year…Beverly tied his season high in rebounding, which he reached twice before this season.

COMING UP: The ‘Jackets have three days before their next game, which is set for Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at home against the University of Alaska. The Nanooks play the Seawolves in Anchorage on Thursday, before making the journey to Billings. Alaska defeated MSUB 69-58 on Jan. 14 in Fairbanks. Saturday’s game will be the front end of a doubleheader with the Yellowjacket women, who will honor their two graduating seniors and take on Concordia University at 7:30 p.m. Both games will feature live video and statistics available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.

“Alaska is a really good team coming in, and is a team we played well against up there for the first half,” Stevens said.

“We are going to have to play well, as they are one of the top teams in the league right now. We are looking forward to Saturday, and another chance to play and get our guys better.”

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