FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, January 24, 2017 ‘Jacket men back in Billings to host No. 15 WWU, SFU
MSUB’s men’s basketball team returns home this week to host GNAC opponents No. 15 Western Washington and Simon Fraser at Alterowitz Gym. BILLINGS, Mont. – After a pair of road losses last week, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team gets back into action at home this weekend, hosting a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents. The Yellowjackets (11-7, 6-4 GNAC) will host conference-leading No. 15 Western Washington University (15-3, 9-1 GNAC) on Thursday, before welcoming last-place Simon Fraser University (2-16, 0-10 GNAC) on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m. Mountain time, and live video with play-by-play commentary and live statistics will be available each night through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here. Thursday’s encounter with the Vikings will also be featured on ESPN Radio 910 KBLG, available live locally in Billings and online globally at www.espn910.com.
MSUB lost to Saint Martin’s 106-58 last Thursday, and endured a 94-75 setback at Seattle Pacific last Saturday for its first back-to-back losses in a single weekend this season. The Yellowjackets remain in the upper half of the conference standings, sitting in a tie for fourth place at the midway point of the GNAC season. “Last week was not one of our better weeks, and we ran into teams that were playing really good basketball,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “We have to find a way to win a majority of the many one-on-one battles that occur throughout the course of a game. We know we are going to have to do that in order to have success against what I think is the most talented team that we will face all year.” PERRY HAS SEASON HIGHS: Junior guard Jordan Perry had his most productive game of the season last Saturday, breaking out for season-highs in points (17), rebounds (6), and minutes played (24). Perry hit 5 of 8 shots, including 3 of 4 threes, and made all four of his free throws in an efficient game. He also had a steal and an assist in the loss to the Falcons. “I came out and tried to keep things simple, and tried to knock down shots when I had the opportunity to do so,” Perry commented on his big game last week. “We need to pay attention to our personnel, and come out to each game focused the rest of the year.” MATTHEWS KEEPS MOVING UP: Tallying 27 points in last week’s games, senior Marc Matthews continued his ascent up the career charts in the MSUB record books. Matthews connected on 5 of 14 threes over the weekend, pushing him into a tie for eighth place in Yellowjacket history with 193 career made threes. He needs three more to move into seventh place, and seven more to become the eighth player in MSUB history to reach 200 career 3-pointers. The guard remained No. 16 in career points, as he now has 1,142 after the weekend. Matthews needs 28 more points to jump to No. 15 on the list. He is tied for the most 3-pointers made in the GNAC with 57 this year, and ranks No. 3 with 3.2 makes per game from the arc. SVEN STAYS HOT FROM THE ARC: Sophomore guard Sven Jeuschede continued his strong shooting last week, making 3 of 5 treys and scoring 10 points against the Saints. It was his fourth time reaching double figures in scoring this season, and he is now tied for No. 13 in the GNAC in 3-point field-goal percentage at 41.7. DENHAM IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Junior Kendall Denham also reached double figures against the Saints, hitting 4 of 8 shots from the floor and scoring 11 points in 31 minutes. He also had four assists and committed zero turnovers in the game.
Junior Kendall Denham had his sixth double-figure scoring performance of the year last Thursday at Saint Martin’s with 11 points.
COMPLETE GAME FOR CINCO: Freshman guard Cinco Durr filled up the stat sheet at Saint Martin’s, with seven points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. It was Durr’s fifth game with four assists this season, and his 39
total rank him third on the team. He followed up with an eight-point performance against the Falcons, and had two more assists for his 14th multi-assist game of the year. BEVERLY HANGS ONTO DOUBLE-DIGIT STREAK: Though sophomore Preston Beverly was limited to two of his lowestscoring games of the season, he kept his streak of reaching double figures in every game alive with 23 total points last week. Coming off of his second GNAC Player of the Week award of the season, Beverly had 11 points and six rebounds against the Saints, before a 12-point, five-rebound effort against the Falcons. Foul trouble limited Beverly to a seasonlow 14 minutes at SPU, as he fouled out for the first time this year. The reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year continues to rank among conference leaders in scoring (17.8 ppg, fourth), and rebounding (8.2 rpg, sixth). LESSINGER GAINING MINUTES: Playing at least 10 minutes in each of his last five games, freshman Zack Lessinger has seen increased court time as a big man for the ‘Jackets. Lessinger had seven points and five rebounds against the Saints, and scored six more points at SPU on Saturday. He has been locked in from the foul line as of late, knocking down 13 of his last 15 free throws over the last seven games. TEAM FACTS: The ‘Jackets average 81.8 points per game while allowing 80.5, and hold onto a plus-1.2 rebounding margin at 36.8-35.6. MSUB continues to rank second in the GNAC from the foul line at 75.6 percent. The team is now No. 7 in overall field-goal percentage at 44.8, and is No. 4 in 3-point field-goal percentage at 37.6. While the ‘Jackets entered last week as the No. 2 team in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 32.9, a 32-for-53 performance from the arc by MSUB’s opponents last week dropped it to No. 7 in that category at 37.2 percent. Thursday, January 26 – No. Western Washington University Vikings – 7 PM Alterowitz Gym | Billings, MT | ESPN Radio 910 KBLG 2016-17 Record: 15-3, 9-1 GNAC (1st) Head Coach: Tony Dominguez, 5th Season Last Meeting: MSUB 100, WWU 93 (Dec. 31, 2016 at Bellingham, Wash.) The Vikings stormed through the opening half of the conference season, their lone loss coming at home against the Yellowjackets on New Year’s Eve. Since then, WWU has won six straight games, most recently defeating Northwest Nazarene 102-74 and Central Washington 100-89 last week. WWU will challenge Simon Fraser on Tuesday night in Bellingham, Wash., before traveling to Billings on Thursday to face the ‘Jackets. The Vikings jumped to No. 15 in this week’s National Association of Basketball Coaches top-25 rankings. Senior Taylor Stafford ranks No. 3 in the GNAC with 22.1 points per game, and is coming off of a 29-point performance against the Wildcats last Saturday. Stafford is also tied for third on the team with 5.6 rebounds per game, and is averaging 3.9 assists. Completing his career this season, senior and reigning first-team all-conference forward Jeffrey Parker ranks No. 6 in the GNAC with 17.6 points per game. Parker earned GNAC Player of the Week after leading WWU to two wins last week, and he currently ranks fourth in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 46.2. GNAC Freshman of the Year candidate Daulton Hommes is another top scorer for the Vikings with 14.6 points per game, and is tied for the team lead with 6.2 rebounds per game. Deandre Dickson is the fourth player in double figures with 13.8 points per game, and he is tied with Hommes at 6.2 rebounds.
As a team WWU ranks second in the GNAC with a scoring margin of plus-11.9, as the Vikings average a league-high 90.7 points per game while allowing 78.8. The team is also No. 2 in rebounding margin at plus-6.8, and leads the league in free-throw shooting (79.4 percent), field-goal percentage (50.6 percent), and 3-point field-goal percentage (42.0 percent). The Series: MSUB is 6-20 all-time against the Vikings, and is 4-8 in games played at Alterowitz Gym. The teams are 3-3 against one another over the last six meetings overall. Last Time Out: Four ‘Jackets reached double figures, with Matthews leading the way at 28 points. Jace Anderson scored 18, Beverly had 15, and Denham totaled 10 in MSUB’s win over then-No. 19 WWU. Saturday, January 28 – Simon Fraser University Clan – 7 PM Alterowitz Gym | Billings, MT 2016-17 Record: 2-16, 0-10 GNAC (11th place) Head Coach: Steve Hanson, 1st Season Last Meeting: MSUB 107, SFU 66 (Dec. 29, 2016 at Burnaby, B.C.) SFU is still in search of its first league win of the season, after going 0-10 in the opening half of GNAC play. The Clan’s lone two wins of the year came on back-to-back nights against Lindenwood University on Nov. 18 and 19. The Clan will challenge top-ranked WWU on Tuesday night on the road before Saturday’s game at MSUB. SFU has three players averaging double figures in points, with Kedar Wright leading the way at 14.8 per game. The junior transfer from University of British Columbia also leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. Veteran JJ Pankratz has started all 18 games this season, and is close behind Wright with 12.2 points per game. He is the team’s top 3-point shooter, holding a percentage of 41.7 from behind the arc. Michael Provenzano is averaging 11.8 points per game, and his 3.8 assists per game rank him No. 4 in the GNAC. The Clan are last in both scoring (69.9 ppg) and scoring defense (87.4 ppg allowed), and hold a scoring margin of minus17.6. SFU is No. 10 in field-goal percentage (43.3 percent), No. 8 in 3-point field-goal percentage (35.2) and No. 9 in freethrow percentage (68.0). The team also ranks last in the GNAC with a rebounding margin of minus-7.1, averaging 31.3 boards per game while allowing 38.3. The Series: The ‘Jackets are 13-1 all-time against the Clan and are a perfect 7-0 at Alterowitz Gym. MSUB’s win earlier this season pushed its streak in the series to 12 games. Last Time Out: Beverly led five MSUB double-figure scorers with 22 points, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Matthews (20 points), Jeuschede (17), Denham (17), and Durr (15) also each had a big game in the teams’ last meeting. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--