Yellowjacket men take to road for 2 GNAC games this week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, January 26, 2016 Yellowjacket men take to road for 2 GNAC games this week

MSUB’s men’s basketball team is back on the road to challenge conference opponents Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University this weekend.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Two more Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball games are on tap this week, as the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets make the turn into the second half of the conference season on the road.

The Yellowjackets (6-11, 3-7 GNAC) will head to Bellingham, Wash., to challenge Western Washington University on Thursday with an 8:30 p.m. Mountain time tipoff. The ‘Jackets will then cross the Canadian border to face Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., with another 8:30 p.m. Mountain time start on Saturday. Both games will feature live video and statistics available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.

“We are excited about the start of the second half of the year,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “Every team we will play moving forward will be a team that we have already played, and especially these next eight games are against teams we have played recently.”

Wins over both the Vikings and Clan earlier this season helped MSUB to a 3-1 start in GNAC play, but the ‘Jackets have lost six straight conference games since a 77-75 home victory over WWU. MSUB also had success against Simon Fraser at home, rolling to a 94-83 triumph in the team’s third-highest scoring game of the year. MSUB is coming off of home losses to Seattle Pacific University last Thursday (81-71) and Saint Martin’s University last Saturday (77-60). With 10 GNAC games in the books, the race to a top-six finish in the conference standings and a berth in the GNAC Championship commences as 10 games remain.

“This is a really big week for us, and our focus right now is going up to Western Washington and playing well,” said sophomore point guard Kendall Denham. “We just need to come together as a team; that is the biggest part. We are in this losing stretch, and we need to come out of it. We need to have a good week of practice, and I know Coach Stevens and Coach Schmit will have us well prepared for both games this week.”

JOHNSON PEAKING FOR ‘JACKETS: Senior Emmanuel Johnson continues to play the best basketball of his short two-year career with the ‘Jackets, as he pushed his string of double-digit scoring games to seven last week. On Saturday against the Saints, Johnson led the team with 17 points and just missed his first-ever double-double as he grabbed nine rebounds. Johnson is now averaging 10.5 points per game on the season, while contributing 4.5 rebounds and averaging 27.1 minutes in 16 starts. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Had 14 points and eight rebounds, making 5 of 7 shots from the field and 4 of 5 foul shots in the win…the 14-point effort started his current seven-game, doubledigit scoring spree…VERSUS THE CLAN: Turned in a solid 9-point, 6-rebound effort and also had three assists in 32 minutes.

“EJ has been stepping up a lot lately, and that is what we need from him,” Denham said on Johnson’s senior leadership. “He has been doing a little bit of everything, and that is really helping to motivate us.”

Senior Emmanuel Johnson throws down a dunk last Saturday against Saint Martin’s.

DENHAM CALLING THE SHOTS: Over his last six games, Denham is averaging 12.0 points and has 20 assists against 13 turnovers. He has produced three of his four best assist totals during the stretch, including a mark of five against the Falcons last week.

Denham has also upped his rebounding production since returning from an earlyseason injury, and is bringing down 3.2 boards per game since the beginning of the new year. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Scored two points and had two rebounds, with four assists and two steals in 13 minutes…VERSUS THE CLAN: Scored a dozen and had three rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.

BLOCK MACHINE: Not only did junior Emmanuel Olufemi keep his season-long streak of at least one block in each game alive, but he matched his season high with six rejections against the Saints on Saturday. Olufemi continues to hold the third-highest blocks total in the GNAC collecting 30 blocks in just 10 games. He also scored a dozen points and had eight rebounds in 25 total minutes in last week’s games, and has started the last nine overall for MSUB. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Had five rebounds and a block in 15 minutes…VERSUS THE CLAN: Had six rebounds, four blocks, and three points in a dozen minutes.

BEVERLY BACK TO DOUBLE FIGURES: Freshman forward Preston Beverly scored in double digits in both games last week, after coming up short of his season average in the previous two contests in Alaska. Against the Falcons, Beverly made 4 of 9 shots for 13 points and also grabbed four rebounds. Two nights later, the true freshman made all five of his foul shots and finished with 10 points and a season-best three blocks. Beverly is averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds

on the season in 22.7 minutes. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Tied a season best with 26 points and added seven rebounds…made 8 of 11 shots from the field and went 9-for-9 from the foul line…VERSUS THE CLAN: Just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes.

13 FOR #13: Leading scorer Marc Matthews chipped in 13 points on Saturday, bringing his average on the season to 14.0 points in 30.5 minutes. He ranks No. 16 in the GNAC in scoring, and continues to stand among conference leaders in shooting percentage. From the foul line Matthews ranks third at 87.2 percent, and from 3-point range he ranks 11th at 41.7 percent. His 2.5 3-pointers per game ranks him second in the GNAC, as does his overall total of 45 makes on the season. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Played best defensive game of the season despite scoring just two points and grabbing one rebound…VERSUS THE CLAN: Posted a career-best 27 points on 9 of 15 shooting and 5 of 7 accuracy from long range…made all four foul shots and added four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in 32 minutes.

TALL PROVIDES QUALITY MINUTES: Playing his most effective game of the season against the Falcons, sophomore Kamal Tall scored seven points and made all three of his shots in 12 minutes. He also had two rebounds on Saturday against Saint Martin’s. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Played three minutes…VERSUS THE CLAN: Scored five points and added a rebound, playing nine minutes in his first game of the season.

PERRY INTO STARTING 5: Sophomore guard Jordan Perry has started his last five games, and is averaging 4.6 rebounds during that stretch. He is also a touch under double figures in scoring, with an average of 9.3 points per game on the season. VERSUS THE VIKINGS: Had seven points and a seasonbest nine rebounds…had an assist, a block, and a steal in a complete-game effort over 33 minutes…VERSUS THE CLAN: Scored five points and had three assists in 19 minutes.

Sophomore Kamal Tall.

TEAM FACTS AND FIGURES: The Yellowjackets rank eighth in the GNAC in scoring at 73.7 points per game, and ninth in the conference in points allowed at 81.2 per game. The ‘Jackets are the second-best free-throw shooting team in the league, making shots from the line at a clip of 75.1 percent. Overall MSUB is shooting 42.1 percent from the field (ninth), and 36.9 percent from 3-point range (third). MSUB is out-rebounded 37.3-35.2, ranking eighth in rebounding margin at minus-2.1.

‘JACKET MEN TO BE FEATURED ON ROOT SPORTS FEB. 20: The Yellowjacket men will be featured on the GNAC’s ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week in February, when MSUB challenges Seattle Pacific. Tipoff is set for 10 p.m. Mountain time on Feb. 20, in a game televised on the ROOT SPORTS network throughout the western United States.

Thursday, January 28 – at Western Washington University Vikings – 8:30 PM MTN 2015-16 Record: 12-7, 6-4 GNAC Head Coach: Tony Dominguez, 4th season Last Meeting: MSUB 77, WWU 75 (Jan. 2, 2016 at Alterowitz Gym in Billings) Since their loss in Billings, the Vikings have gone 4-2 with their losses coming against the top two teams in the GNAC in Western Oregon and Alaska Anchorage.

Last week, the Vikings held on for an 89-84 road win over Central Washington, after a tight 80-78 triumph over Northwest Nazarene. WWU will challenge Simon Fraser in Canada on Tuesday before Thursday’s home game against the ‘Jackets.

Leading WWU in scoring this season is junior Jeffrey Parker, whose 18.6 points per game ranks him third in the league.

Ricardo Maxwell is close behind with an average of 17.0 points per game, and the senior point guard leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference in assists with 4.6 per game.

Kyle Impero (15.1 ppg) and Trey Drechsel (12.0 ppg) are also averaging in double figures, while averaging 6.6 and 6.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Complementing the GNAC-leading Parker from 3-point range (50-for-131, 38.2 percent) is Brett Kingma, who is hitting from beyond the arc at 43.0 percent (40-for-93). Kingma is averaging 8.1 points and has played a huge role off of the bench for the Vikings this season.

As a team WWU ranks second in the GNAC in scoring offense with 86.3 points per game and is sixth in scoring defense allowing 77.4 per game. The Vikings have the second-best field-goal percentage in the conference at 47.6 percent, and rank sixth in 3-point field-goal percentage at 35.3 percent. In terms of rebounding, WWU has the third-best margin in the GNAC at plus-5.2 and out-rebounds opponents 38.2-33.0.

The Series: MSUB is now 4-20 all-time against WWU, and has never won in road games with an 0-11 record in Bellingham.

Last Time Out: Impero and Colby Mitchell led the way with 14 points apiece, Maxwell had 13, and Drechsel had 10 in the Vikings’ loss in Billings on Jan. 2.

Saturday, January 30 – at Simon Fraser University Clan – 8:30 PM MTN 2015-16 Record: 1-15, 0-10 GNAC Head Coach: Virgil Hill, 1st season Last Time Out: MSUB 94, SFU 83 (Dec. 31, 2015 at Alterowitz Gym in Billings) The Clan have lost 14 games in-a-row and are still in search of their first conference victory of the season. Last week, SFU lost at Central Washington 82-69 on Thursday before an 82-77 setback at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

The Clan will face the Vikings on Tuesday before Saturday’s encounter with the Yellowjackets. The biggest bright spot for SFU this season has been the offensive production of Max Barkeley with 17.2 points per game, but the standout has not played since scoring 17 points against the ‘Jackets. SFU’s other leading scorers are Michael Harper (14.5 ppg), Oshea Gairey (12.5 ppg), and JJ Pankratz (10.4 ppg). Pankratz doubles as the team’s leading rebounder with 7.3 per game, while Hidde Vos has been the most consistent 3-point shooter at a mark of 34.9 percent from the perimeter.

The Clan average 71.2 points per game while allowing 84.7, and are out-rebounded by opponents 40.8-35.2. SFU is shooting 40.2 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from 3-point range, and 72.1 percent from the free-throw line.

The Series: MSUB is now 11-1 all-time against SFU, with the Yellowjackets’ only loss in the series coming at the West Gym in Burnaby.

Last Time Out: Gairey led the Clan with 24 points, Harper had 21, and Pankratz was also in double figures with 11. The ‘Jackets turned SFU’s 17 turnovers into 18 points however and out-gunned the Clan in the high-scoring win.