FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, November 22, 2016 Hot shooting boots MSUB men to 89-69 win over Chadron State Tuesday
Christian Evans notches a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double, and the Yellowjacket men’s basketball team shoots 48.6 percent from the field in a convincing 89-69 win over Chadron State on Tuesday. CHADRON, Neb. – Shaking off an early-season shooting slump on Tuesday evening, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team shot 48.6 percent from the field and rolled to an 89-69 road win over Chadron State College at the Chicoine Center. Entering the evening shooting just 37.7 percent on the season, the ‘Jackets bettered the mark by more than 10 percent and had five players reach double figures in the victory. Overall MSUB converted 35 of 72 shots from the field. “I am really happy with the effort of our guys tonight,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “The effort all year has been great, and tonight the men made enough shots to get the win. I also feel like we can shoot it better than we did, but obviously the offensive rebounding effort was exceptional.” Leading the team was sophomore Christian Evans, who was dominant with a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double. It was Evans’ third double-double of the year, and eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end.
Preston Beverly scored 13 points and added six rebounds, Marc Matthews scored a dozen, and Kamal Tall and Kendall Denham had 11 apiece. “We had great balance around the lineup and Evans off of the bench was huge,” Stevens said. “We are looking forward to getting down the road, getting a couple of days of practice, and getting another chance on Friday to get better.” The victory lifted MSUB’s record to 2-3 on the year, and snapped a twogame losing skid. Chadron State is yet to win its first game, falling to 0-3 with the loss. The Eagles were led in the scoring department by Darius Polley and Michael Johnson, who had 13 points each. A fast-break opportunity was capitalized upon five minutes into the game, as Beverly found Matthews with a behind-the-back pass that helped give the ‘Jackets a 12-4 lead. MSUB built on the early momentum, and a tough take to the basket by Denham midway through the half gave the ‘Jackets their largest lead to that point at 207.
Junior Kendall Denham scored 11 points and added three rebounds to help MSUB to a convincing win Tuesday.
After Beverly hit the front end of a pair of foul shots to make the score 31-18, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to get back into the game. Two free throws from Warren Gordon with 90 seconds until the break brought the home team within four points, and Chadron State kept the deficit manageable at 41-37 heading into the locker rooms.
The Eagles kept themselves in the game with excellent accuracy from the foul line, making 14 of 15 shots in the opening 20 minutes. The ‘Jackets started the second half strong, but a 6-0 run capped with a dunk by Polley cut their lead back down to four points and pushed Stevens to take a timeout. The decisive run in the game came directly out of the pause, as the ‘Jackets out-scored the Eagles 18-2 over the next six minutes and built a commanding 69-49 lead. Chadron State got as close as 14 points down the stretch, but the ‘Jackets never fell in danger of relinquishing their advantage. Tall and Sven Jeuschede matched Beverly with six rebounds each in the game, as the ‘Jackets commanded the boards to the tune of 45-27. Nearly half of MSUB’s rebounds came on the offensive end – 20 of 45 – as the Yellowjackets scored 24 second-chance points compared to just five for the Eagles. Though MSUB made only 6 of 20 shots from the arc (30.0 percent), the Eagles had an even tougher time as they converted just 2 of 11 long-range shots (18.2 percent). Chadron finished 29-for-34 from the foul line (85.3 percent) compared to MSUB’s 13-for-19 (68.4 percent). THE BUZZ: Evans was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…he was one rebound shy of his career high, set one week ago, and six points shy of his career-high 29 set last season at the University of Mary…the MSUB and Great Northwest Athletic Conference record for offensive rebounds in a game is 13 by Austin Hudson on Feb. 6, 2014
against Alaska…the team record for offensive rebounds is 30, held jointly by Western Washington (Dec. 2, 2005), Western Oregon (Jan. 7, 2006), and Seattle Pacific (Jan. 5, 2012)…MSUB improved to 8-5 all-time against the Eagles, and won for the first time at the Chicoine Center breaking an 0-4 road record. NEXT UP: MSUB heads to Colorado for a pair of games over the weekend, taking on Colorado Mesa University on Friday night and Western State Colorado on Saturday afternoon. Both games will feature live video and live statistics, available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--