FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, January 17, 2017 ‘Jacket men featured on ROOT SPORTS in GNAC Game of the Week
With two road games coming up this week, the Yellowjacket men’s basketball team will be showcased in the GNAC Game of the Week on ROOT SPORTS on Thursday at Saint Martin’s, before taking on Seattle Pacific on Saturday. BILLINGS, Mont. – Featured on ROOT SPORTS this week in the first of two road games, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team will play in front of a television audience in a regionally-broadcast game Thursday night at Saint Martin’s University. Tipoff between the Yellowjackets and Saints is set for 10:10 p.m. Mountain time, and the game will be broadcast live on ROOT SPORTS with Brad Adam and Francis Williams on the call. To find the channel for ROOT SPORTS in your area and with your cable provider, visit the ROOT SPORTS channel finder here.
“We are always excited to get the chance to be on ROOT SPORTS, and Saint Martin’s always has a good crowd and game environment,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “Both of the teams we are playing this week are good teams, and every game moving forward is going to be a battle. After Thursday’s television game at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash., the ‘Jackets will head to the Emerald City to challenge Seattle Pacific University on Saturday. Tipoff against the Falcons is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Mountain time, with live video available here and live statistics available here. MSUB (11-5, 6-2 GNAC) has won three games in-a-row, seven of its last eight, and 10 in its last 12 dating back to mid-November. The ‘Jackets are currently tied for second place in the GNAC standings, after defeating the University of Alaska Anchorage 69-68 on a last-second three by Marc Matthews last Thursday, and out-running the University of Alaska 99-94 behind a career-best 28 points by Preston Beverly on Saturday. BEVERLY BRINGS HOME ANOTHER HONOR: Playing perhaps the best game of his young career on Saturday, Beverly earned his second GNAC Player of the Week honor of the season. Beverly started the week with 22 points and a career-high six assists in MSUB's dramatic, 69-68 win over preseason favorite Alaska Anchorage on Thursday. Beverly made 6 of 7 free throws and chipped in six rebounds and three blocks in 35 minutes. The sophomore had a career game against the Nanooks on Saturday, completing his fourth double-double of the year with 10 boards to go along with his highest-ever scoring total. Beverly sunk four 3-pointers, and also had three assists, a career-best four blocks, and two steals in 32 minutes. He did not have a single turnover against Alaska. Sophomore Preston Beverly earned his second GNAC Player of the Week honor of the year.
Overall on the weekend he had 50 points, 16 boards, nine assists, seven blocks, and two steals. He shot 47.2 percent from the field (17-for-36), and 44.4 percent from 3-point range (4-for-9). Beverly is one of six players in the GNAC to rank in the top-10 in three of the major five statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks) GNAC Players in Top-10 in at least 3 of 5 Big Stat Categories (as of Jan. 17, 2017) Name School Position Points Rebounds Preston Beverly MSUB Forward 4th (18.6) 4th (8.5) Christopher Edward Concordia Forward -- (13.2) 6th (8.1) Dom Hunter CWU Guard 1st (25.5) -- (4.8) Drew Martin Concordia Forward 7th (16.9) 8th (6.9) Tanner Omlid WOU Guard -- (14.9) 7th (7.4) Taylor Stafford WWU Guard 3rd (21.9) -- (5.6) *Listed alphabetically, with GNAC rank first and per-game average in parentheses.
Assists -- (2.6) -- (1.5) 9th (3.3) -- (2.1) 5th (3.6) 4th (3.6)
Steals -- (0.9) 7th (1.3) 5th (1.7) 7th (1.3) 1st (3.1) 3rd (1.8)
Blocks 5th (1.6) 6th (1.5) -- (0.0) -- (0.5) 4th (1.8) -- (0.0
MATTHEWS’ CLUTCH SHOT: With time winding down and the ‘Jackets trailing by two points against the Seawolves, Matthews hit what may have been the biggest shot of his career to date, as he drained a three from the wing to give MSUB a 69-68 lead with less than three seconds left. He followed that up with his ninth 20-point game of the season on Saturday, scoring 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting including four 3-pointers in 34 minutes. Matthews now ranks No. 9 in the GNAC in scoring with 16.2 points per game, and is averaging 19.1 points per game in league play. With his 32 total points last week, Matthews jumped three spots to No. 16 in MSUB history as he now has 1,115 career points. He remained No. 9 in career made 3-pointers with 188, and needs just eight more to jump to the No. 7 spot on the list. MSUB Men’s Basketball All-Time Scoring Leaders Rk. Name Points 1. Roy McPipe 1883 2. Cameron Munoz 1879 3. Les Heins 1726 4. Jim Soft 1558 5. Bart Bauer 1547 6. Markus Hallgrimson 1470 7. Titus Warmsley 1467 8. Mark Hamilton 1463 9. Reece Gliko 1388 10. Buddy Windy Boy 1278 11. Chris Herriford 1252 12. Jerett Skrifvars 1240 13. Fred Johnston 1215 14. Bill Drumm 1188 15. Joe Rinella 1169 16. Marc Matthews 1115
Marc Matthews climbed to No. 16 in MSUB history with last week’s big scoring effort.
ANDERSON FINDS RHYTHM WITH SMOOTH SHOOTING: Senior Jace Anderson scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the second time this season, posting 12 points against the Seawolves and 16 more against the Nanooks. He, Beverly, and Kamal Tall are the only three Yellowjackets to have started all 16 games this year, and Anderson played a season-high 29 minutes in each game last week. The senior was perfect in shooting on Saturday, making 5 of 5 shots from the floor, including two 3-pointers, and hitting all four of his free throws. He ranks No. 10 in the GNAC this year with a free-throw percentage of 81.1, and is shooting 40.0 percent from 3-point range. TALL TIES CAREER HIGH: Grabbing eight rebounds against the Nanooks, Tall tied his career best. Against Anchorage on Thursday, Tall had seven boards, and scored 10 points for his second double-figure scoring game of the season. He upped his scoring average over the 6.0 mark and also blocked a shot in each game last week. Tall made 8 of 10 shots, and is now shooting a stellar 68.3 percent from the field (41-for-60). JEUSCHEDE PUTS UP BIG NUMBERS: After being held scoreless in his previous GNAC weekend, sophomore Sven Jeuschede scored 21 points, including 14 on Saturday, while making 7 of 13 shots from the field and all five of his free
throws. The German guard posted a season-best seven rebounds against the Nanooks, bumping his season average in that category to 3.0 per game. DENHAM HEATS UP FROM THE ARC: Scoring all nine of his points Saturday on threes, junior point guard Kendall Denham went 3-for-3 from long range while adding three boards and four assists. Denham has had multiple assists in 10 of his last 11 games, and ranks No. 13 in the GNAC with 3.1 per game overall. ‘JACKETS PROTECT THE ARC: Entering the week, MSUB ranks No. 2 in the GNAC in 3-point field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a clip of just 32.9 percent from long range. By contrast, the ‘Jackets also rank No. 3 in the conference offensively in 3-point field-goal percentage at 38.1, and command the game from the perimeter. MSUB holds the fifth-best scoring margin in the conference at plus-5.7, and is also No. 5 in rebounding margin at plus-2.4. MSUB’s 12.4 offensive rebounds per game are the second most in the league. Thursday, January 19 – at Saint Martin’s University Saints – 10:10 PM MTN Lacey, WA | Marcus Pavilion | ROOT SPORTS GNAC Game of the Week 2016-17 Record: 8-7, 3-5 GNAC Head Coach: Alex Pribble, 2nd Season 2015-16 Record: 15-13, 9-11 GNAC (T-6th) The Saints enter Tuesday’s game against Seattle Pacific having lost three in-a-row and four of their last five, all to GNAC opponents. Last week, SMU lost 84-69 to Central Washington after falling to Northwest Nazarene 82-69 on the road. SMU is led by senior Tyler Copp, who averages 17.1 points per game and ranks No. 6 in the GNAC. Copp is one of the league’s top free-throw shooters at 89.5 percent, and he is shooting 44.9 percent from the floor overall. Trey Ingram is one of the league’s premier 3-point shooters at 48.6 percent from the arc, and is averaging 14.0 points per game. Cole Preston (11.2 ppg) and Robert Little (10.5 ppg) are also double-figure scorers for SMU, and the former is leading the league with 6.2 assists per game. Jordan Kitchen leads the team with 5.9 rebounds per game, and is eighth in the GNAC with 1.4 blocks per game. SMU has outscored opponents 80.0-72.5 and is outrebounding the competition 37.5-32.9 through 15 games. The Saints are shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from long range, and 73.0 percent from the foul line. The Series: The Saints hold a narrow 14-13 edge in the all-time series, and have won four of the last five meetings between the teams. MSUB is 6-8 all-time in games at Marcus Pavilion against SMU. Last Time Out: MSUB snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with an 84-80 win in Lacey on Feb. 18, 2016. Matthews led all players with 23 points and Beverly had a 17-point, 13rebound double-double. Matthews had 13 points, and Denham and Beverly each had 10 in a 7760 home loss last January. Saturday, January 21 – at Seattle Pacific University Falcons – 5:30 PM MTN Seattle, WA | Brougham Pavilion 2016-17 Record: 7-9, 3-5 GNAC Head Coach: Grant Leep, 1st Season
2015-16 Record: 22-9, 14-6 GNAC (3rd) The Falcons lost both GNAC games last week and have dropped three of their last four conference games overall. SPU will take on Saint Martin’s Tuesday evening, giving MSUB a preview of its two opponents this week. SPU lost 85-80 at Northwest Nazarene last Saturday, after a tight, 89-85 loss at Central Washington last Thursday. Tony Miller is the team’s top scorer with 17.4 points per game, which ranks him No. 5 in the GNAC. The freshman is also No. 5 in the conference in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game, and has started 11 of 16 games this year. Coleman Wooten is another top scorer and rebounder in the conference, ranking eighth with 16.3 points per game and second with 9.2 rebounds per game. Joe Rasmussen is SPU’s other double-figure scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game. He has also been the team’s top 3-point shooter, connecting from beyond the arc at a clip of 44.4 percent. As a team, SPU is being outscored by opponents 80.4-79.4, but holds the third-best rebounding margin in the conference at plus-6.0. The Falcons are shooting 44.1 percent overall, 34.8 percent from 3-point range, and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Series: In a relatively even series overall, SPU holds a 39-30 advantage, and is 28-8 against MSUB in games played at Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons have won four in-a-row and eight of the last nine games against the ‘Jackets. Last Time Out: SPU raced to a 93-67 win on ROOT SPORTS last February in Seattle, despite 21 points from Beverly. In an 81-71 home loss last January, Beverly had 13 points and Denham contributed five assists. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--