Matthews' career high sparks second-half rally, 'Jackets down Clan 94-83

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, December 31, 2015 Matthews’ career high sparks second-half rally, ‘Jackets down Clan 94-83

Marc Matthews scores a career-best 27 points on 5 of 7 from 3-point range, helping the Yellowjacket men to a 94-83 win over Simon Fraser on New Year’s Eve. BILLINGS, Mont. – Five 3-pointers in the opening 3:30 of the second half turned a halftime deficit into a 17-point lead, and a career-high 27 points from junior Marc Matthews lifted the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team to a 94-83 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Simon Fraser University on New Year’s Eve at Alterowitz Gym. Matthews’ career scoring effort was backed by outstanding performances from senior Emmanuel Johnson and junior Jace Anderson. Johnson had nine points, six rebounds, and three assists, all of which came in just 14 minutes during the second half. Anderson finished the game with 18 points, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out a game-best six assists.

“Marc, Emmanuel, and Jace were really huge in the second half,” commented MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “They were a huge spark and got us going on a big run.”

The second-half scoring burst started with an administrative technical foul free-throw made by Anderson before time started, and less than four minutes later it wound up being a 20-2, game-changing spread.

“The first half, we started pretty slow and we weren’t really rebounding well,” said Matthews, whose previous career high of 25 points came last season at Alaska Anchorage. “At halftime, we talked about jumping on them in the first few minutes and getting on them out of the gate.”

Simon Fraser (1-9, 0-4 GNAC) out-rebounded MSUB 31-18 in the opening period, including a 14-1 advantage on the offensive glass. The ‘Jackets had a stronger presence in the second half, but the Clan ultimately won the rebounding battle 47-39.

“We started out really sluggish in the first half, but we came out of the locker room and our energy was much better in the second,” Stevens said. “In the second half, we finally got some stops and got some rebounds. There is nothing better than seeing the ball go through the net.”

A Cade Alcorn bucket off of a nice feed from Anderson and screen from Jordan Perry broke a 2:30-scoring drought to open the game for MSUB. The Clan fought for the lead throughout the first half however, as Oshea Gairey and Michael Harper each had 10 points for SFU in the opening frame.

Anderson hit a transition three to even the score at 28-28 with 40 seconds to go in the first, capping off an 8-0 run to get the ‘Jackets back into the game. A buzzer-beating layup by Gairey as time expired countered a layup on the other end by Matthews as SFU led 31-30 at halftime.

Matthews opened the second half with a trey, and a fast-break layup from Johnson gave the ‘Jackets the lead. A three by Anderson sandwiched two more by Matthews, as the ‘Jackets began to pull away.

Over the first two minutes of the second half, Johnson had a pair of assists, a rebound and a three, helping MSUB build its advantage. “Those were great, unselfish assists by Emmanuel,” Stevens said on his distribution to Matthews and Anderson on the perimeter. “Two or three of those were big and led to open threes. He responded like a senior should respond, and had a great second half.”

“It was evident that we weren’t playing hard enough in the first half,” Johnson said.

“Shooting wise, if we get hot we stay hot. We have a lot of guys who like to share the ball, and it helps that everybody can shoot.”

The Clan got within 10 points on two different occasions down the stretch, but never seriously threatened taking the lead as MSUB closed out the victory.

Senior Emmanuel Johnson.

The ‘Jackets improved to 5-6 on the season with the win, and are now 2-1 in conference games.

Max Barkeley led the Clan with 17 points, all of which came in the second half. Gairey (14), and Harper (11) were also in double figures for SFU, and the former led the team with nine rebounds.

For MSUB, Preston Beverly (13) and Kendall Denham (12) were also in double figures in scoring, and Beverly just missed a double-double with nine boards. Junior Emmanuel Olufemi had six rebounds and four blocks in 12 minutes.

As a team, the ‘Jackets made 29 of 59 shots from the field (49.2 percent) and 11 of 23 shots from 3-point range (47.8 percent). Anderson made all seven of his free throws, helping MSUB convert 25 of 33 attempts from the line.

Despite shooting just 25 percent (9-for-36) in the first half, SFU made 16 of 35 shots (45.7 percent) in the second to finish the game at 35.2 percent. The Clan knocked down 7 of 25 3-pointers (28 percent), and made 26 of 38 foul shots (68.4 percent).

“Any GNAC win is a great win,” Stevens said. “We are looking forward to Saturday night now, and we will play a really good Western Washington team.”

THE BUZZ: Matthews was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Sven Jeuschede and Kamal Tall made their first appearances of the season for the ‘Jackets…each team had nine steals…the win was the second in-a-row for MSUB…it was the first game for the ‘Jackets since Dec. 12.

NEXT UP: The ‘Jackets are back in action at home on Saturday night, hosting GNAC opponent Western Washington University. Tipoff against the Vikings is set for 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--