Seawolves top Yellowjacket men 74-58 Saturday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, February 9, 2017 Nanooks rally late, hand ‘Jacket men 83-74 loss Thursday

MSUB leads with 11 minutes to play, but Alaska puts together a rally down the stretch and defeats the Yellowjackets 8374 in Fairbanks on Thursday.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A late 7-0 run by the University of Alaska gave the host a lead it held onto for the final 10 minutes of play Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Court, as the Nanooks defeated the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team 83-74 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

The Yellowjackets led for much of the game and the first part of the second half up until the run by Alaska, but MSUB made just 5 of 14 shots and committed five turnovers during the nine-minute span that determined the outcome of the game.

Meanwhile, the Nanooks made 9 of 12 shots during the same time period, building their lead to as many as nine points as they distanced themselves down the stretch. Brandon Davis led all players with 22 points, and Zach Pederson added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double for Alaska.

Nahjee Matlock had 16 points and a game-high six assists, and LaDonavan Wilder (13 points), and Bangaly Kaba (11 points) were also in double figures for Alaska. The Nanooks stayed alive in the race for a berth in the GNAC Championships, moving to 12-13 overall and 7-9 in league play.

With the loss, MSUB fell to 13-10 overall and is one game over .500 at 8-7 in conference games. The ‘Jackets were led by 19 points apiece from Preston Beverly and Marc Matthews, the former falling just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.

Kendall Denham was also a double-figure scorer with 11 points for the Yellowjackets, who posted their second-lowest assists total of the year with just seven.

The ‘Nooks started the game strong and led for the first 12 minutes, until a jumper by Denham pulled the score even at 2424. It was the start of a 10-0 run that featured back-to-back threes by Denham and Beverly and gave the ‘Jackets their largest lead to that point in the game up 32-24 with 6:30 to go before halftime.

MSUB led by as much as 10 in the opening half, but settled for a 38-35 lead at the break as Alaska embarked on a 9-2 run to finish the period.

Preston Beverly (1) led MSUB with 19 points and nine rebounds, but Alaska got hot down the stretch and defeated the ‘Jackets 83-74 Thursday.

The Yellowjackets’ solid shooting percentage of 48.5 (16-for-33) in the opening half didn’t carry over to the second, as the cold spell at the end of the game lowered the team to just 40.6 percent over the final 20 minutes. MSUB shot 44.6 percent overall in the game (29-for-65), made 10 of 25 threes on the evening (40.0 percent), and endured a tough night from the foul line making just 6 of 10 shots.

It was a different story for the Nanooks meanwhile, as they shot just 41.2 percent in the first half (14-for-34) and caught fire to finish the game at 55.6 percent (15-for-27) in the second. The Nooks weren’t a threat from the perimeter, making just 3 of 10 treys, but they got to the foul line often and converted on 22 of 28 attempts (78.6 percent). Alaska finished the game at 47.5 percent from the field (29-for-61).

Five of those makes from the line came over the final two minutes, as Alaska thwarted MSUB’s late press and closed out the game.

Kamal Tall finished behind Beverly with eight rebounds, and Cade Alcorn contributed five boards off the bench. It wasn’t enough to prevent MSUB from being outrebounded however, as the Nanooks had four players in addition to Pederson who had three or more rebounds.

Michael Kluting scored all nine of Alaska’s bench points, as the home team relied almost exclusively on its starters for its scoring production. The Nanooks committed just nine turnovers in the game, while MSUB had 14. Beverly added two assists, two blocks, and a steal to his points and rebounds, and played a team-high 36 minutes.

THE BUZZ: Matthews was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB’s assist shortage Thursday came after the team’s best single-game performance in that category last time out, as the ‘Jackets had 22 last Saturday against Central Washington…MSUB and UAF split the season series, after the ‘Jackets defeated the Nanooks 99-94 on Jan. 14 at Alterowitz Gym in Billings, Mont…the ‘Jackets are now 41-27 all-time against Alaska, but are 11-20 in games played in Fairbanks.

AHEAD: MSUB remains in Alaska to take on Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night. Tipoff against the Seawolves is set for 9 p.m. Mountain time at the Alaska Airlines Center. Live video and live statistics will be available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.

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