Anderson's last-second shot pushes MSUB men to 82-80 win over BHSU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Saturday, November 21, 2015 Anderson’s last-second shot pushes MSUB men to 82-80 win over BHSU

Junior Jace Anderson makes a shot with one second left on the clock to push the MSUB men to an 82-80 victory over Black Hills State on Saturday.

SPEARFISH, S.D. – With one second remaining on the clock, a jumper by Jace Anderson gave the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team the lead for good as the Yellowjackets overcame an 11-point deficit over the final seven minutes to defeat Black Hills State University 82-80 at the Donald E. Young center on Saturday afternoon.

Five of MSUB’s 16 3-pointers were made during the comeback effort, as the ‘Jackets were in a 71-60 hole with 7:19 to play. Emmanuel Johnson had two threes down the stretch, and Anderson, Christian Evans, and Marc Matthews each also connected from long range to give MSUB a 75-73 lead with three minutes left after a 15-2 run.

“This is a great team win,” commented MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “We had multiple guys step up and make big shots, and this rally gives us something to build on moving forward.”

BHSU’s Riley Ryan led all players with 31 points, and with 2:36 remaining he drilled a short jumper to even the score at 75-75. The teams traded baskets from then on, as a jumper by Nick Ongarato with 10 seconds left tied the score at 8080.

Moving quickly down the floor, Anderson pulled up from just inside the arc and sank the game-winning shot to give him 13 points on the game. “We knew we wanted the ball in Jace’s hands if Black Hills had scored,” Stevens said. “He made a big-time play and I am happy for him and the guys.”

Matthews was the leading scorer for the ‘Jackets, netting 24 points and also grabbing six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Evans finished with 17 points and four rebounds, and Johnson and Jordan Perry were also in double figures with 11 points apiece.

Ongarato chipped in 24 points to go along with Ryan’s game high, but no other Yellow Jacket scored more than six points. Ryan and Sam Mayer tied for the team high in rebounds with six each.

BHSU outrebounded MSUB 25-17 and shot 60 percent (30-for-50) from the floor, but could not overcome the four-minute dry spell as the ‘Jackets worked their way back into the game late. MSUB shot 59.2 percent (29-for-49) from the floor, 61.5 percent (16-for26) from 3-point range, and made 8 of 9 foul shots (88.9 percent).

Junior Marc Matthews.

The victory was the first of the year for MSUB, which improved to 1-2 on the season.

BHSU fell to 1-2 with the loss.

The game began even, with each team putting together an offensive run during the first half. BHSU ate up more than four minutes with a 7-0 run early on, as a three by Riley made the score 23-15 with 12:19 before the break.

The first of three 3-pointers by Anderson in the game evened the score at 26-26, and eight straight points from Johnson and Matthews built MSUB’s largest lead of the half at 40-33 with 2:47 left. BHSU closed the first period with a 5-0 push, and MSUB clung to a 40-38 edge at the break.

A three by Matthews midway through the second halted a 7-0 run by BHSU, but an ensuing 9-0 stretch put the Yellowjackets’ backs against the wall down by 11 inside of eight minutes to play.

“The guys showed a lot of grit and didn’t fold the tent when we got down,” Stevens said. “We are looking forward to going to Mary and playing on Monday.”

The Yellowjackets committed 19 turnovers in the game compared with 18 by BHSU, and each team had six assists in the evenly-matched affair. MSUB’s blistering mark of 68.2 percent from the field and 75 percent from long range in the second half aided the comeback effort, as BHSU connected on just 3 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.

THE BUZZ: MSUB is currently competing with seven active players on its roster…Anderson was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two teams and is 11-7 alltime against their similarly-named foe.

NEXT UP: The ‘Jackets travel north to challenge the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., on Monday evening in a 6 p.m.

Mountain time game. Live video and statistics will be available for Monday’s game via www.msubsports.com.

--@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--