FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, February 6, 2017 Race to GNAC tourney heats up for MSUB men this week
Entering the week tied for fourth place in the GNAC with six games to play, MSUB’s men’s basketball team faces a crucial road trip to Alaska this week. BILLINGS, Mont. – As the race towards the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships heats up this week, the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team faces a crucial road trip to Alaska for a pair of conference games. The Yellowjackets (13-9, 8-6 GNAC) enter the week in a tie for fourth place in the GNAC, as Northwest Nazarene University is also 8-6 in league play. Western Washington University and the University of Alaska Anchorage are tied for first place at 11-3 in the GNAC, and Western Oregon sits two games ahead of MSUB in third place at 10-4 in conference games.
MSUB plays at the University of Alaska (11-12, 6-8 GNAC) on Thursday at 9 p.m. Mountain time, before taking on the conference co-leading Seawolves in Anchorage on Saturday at 9 p.m. Mountain time. Both games will feature live video and live statistics, available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here. Four of the Yellowjackets’ final six games are on the road, as MSUB hosts Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin’s next week, before finishing the regular season at Concordia and Western Oregon on Feb. 23-25. The top six teams at the end of the regular season earn a berth into the 2016-17 GNAC Championships, hosted by Saint Martin’s University March 1-4 at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. MSUB split a pair of road games last week, losing to Northwest Nazarene 88-81 on Thursday before rebounding with a 96-69 win at Central Washington on Saturday. “We are playing at the pace we want to play at, and I was pretty pleased with the way we played in both games last week,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “Both of these Alaska schools are really good and are both coming off of sweeps, and we expect two really good, gritty conference games.” BEVERLY ATOP THE CONFERENCE: Preston Beverly had the most efficient weekend of any player in the GNAC this season, Sophomore Preston Beverly is in the top-5 in the GNAC in scoring, scoring 60 points, and adding 22 rebounds, nine assists, seven rebounding, and blocked shots. blocks, and committing just three turnovers. He shot 58.9 percent from the field (22-for-38) and 63.9 percent from the 3point arc (7-for-11). Beverly posted double-doubles in both of MSUB’s games last week, with 28 points and 11 rebounds against Northwest Nazarene and 32 points and 11 rebounds in the victory over Central Washington. Against the Crusaders, he had a career-high seven blocks as he approached the GNAC single-game record of 10. Against the Wildcats, Beverly matched his career high with six assists and set a new personal best with 12 made field goals. Among the 10 occurrences of a player scoring 60 or more points in a weekend this season, Beverly’s per-game efficiency of 35.5 achieved this week is far and away the highest. The next closest was UAA’s Suki Wiggs’s mark of 29.0, which he achieved this weekend as well. Beverly is now No. 4 in the GNAC in scoring (20.1 ppg), No. 5 in rebounding (8.5 rpg), and No. 4 in blocked shots (1.8 bpg). Over his last four GNAC weekends, Beverly is averaging 24.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.1 blocks per game. His seven double-doubles are tied for third-most in the conference. “Preston right now is at another level, and he’s a guy who every week is putting up stats that are unbelievable,” Stevens said. “For a sophomore to be playing at this level and putting up the numbers he has, is really impressive.”
DENHAM AT HIS BEST: Junior guard Kendall Denham is coming off one of his best career performances, scoring a season-high 19 points and adding a season-best seven rebounds in the win over the Wildcats on Thursday. Denham made 10 of 14 shots and all five of his free throws on the weekend, and is averaging 9.2 points over his last six games. His 64 assists are ninth-most in the GNAC. JACE’S LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE: The Yellowjackets held CWU’s Dom Hunter, the second-leading scorer in the GNAC at 24.4 points per game, to just eight points on Saturday for his second-lowest total of the year. The prior week, Taylor Stafford of WWU, who ranks No. 3 in the GNAC with 21.7 points per game, was limited to just eight points in his lowestscoring game of the season. The common factor between the games was MSUB senior guard Jace Anderson, who played smothering defense while continuing to score major points. The senior knocked down 8 of 13 threes and 11 of 20 shots overall last week, scoring 15 points against NNU and adding 16 against CWU. Anderson has now scored in double figures in each of his last four games, and is up to 9.3 points per game on the season. He ranks No. 8 in the GNAC in 3-point field-goal percentage at 42.4 (42-for-99). Anderson moved to No. 16 in MSUB history with 117 career made 3-pointers, and is No. 7 in career 3-point field-goal percentage at 41.5. MATTHEWS RISES ANOTHER SPOT: Senior Marc Matthews scored 19 points last week, pushing his career total to 1,193 and moving him to No. 14 in MSUB history in scoring. He needs 23 more points to move into sole possession of the 13th spot on the list. He also stayed at No. 7 in career made 3-pointers as he now has 204 in his four seasons with the ‘Jackets. Matthews is also No. 13 in MSUB history with 32 blocks. TALL REACHES NEW HIGH IN BOARDS: Securing a personal best in the rebounding column on Saturday, junior Kamal Tall grabbed 10 rebounds and came close to a double-double with eight points. Tall now ranks second on the team behind Beverly with 4.7 rebounds per game. JEUSCHEDE MATCHES SCORING BEST: Junior Sven Jeuschede matched his career high in scoring with 17 points against the Crusaders, as he knocked down a personal best six shots including a pair of 3-pointers last Thursday.
“It is going to be hard again this week, and every game in the GNAC is tough especially now in February,” Jeuschede commented on his team’s upcoming road trip. “At this point, it’s just about making more plays than the other team, and our goal right now is just to focus on Thursday and go 1-0.” 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. Marc Matthews 1193 15. Bill Drumm 1188
Senior Marc Matthews moved to No. 14 in MSUB history for career points last week.
PERIMETER DEFENSE RETURNS: MSUB returned to its elite status defending the three ball last week, as NNU and CWU combined to make just 4 of 25 attempts from the arc (16.0 percent). The ‘Jackets found their own again after allowing a 3-point field-goal percentage of 50.4 percent (62-for123) over the previous five games. The Yellowjackets begin the week No. 6 in the GNAC in scoring margin at plus-1.7 (82.3-80.6), and sixth in rebounding margin at plus-1.0 (37.4-36.4). Thursday, February 9 – at University of Alaska Nanooks – 9 PM MTN Alaska Airlines Court | Fairbanks, AK 2016-17 Record: 11-12, 6-8 GNAC (7th place) Head Coach: Mick Durham, 5th season Last Meeting: MSUB 99, UAF 94 (Jan. 14, 2017 at Billings, MT) The Nanooks are enjoying their hottest stretch of the season, having won three straight games including an upset of conference-leading Western Washington last Saturday, 9488. Alaska also defeated Simon Fraser last week, 77-64, and remains alive and well in the race towards a spot in the conference tournament. Alaska will take on their in-state rival Alaska Anchorage on Tuesday night before hosting the Yellowjackets at Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday. The ‘Nooks are led by four double-figure scorers, headed up by senior Brandon Davis who is averaging 13.7 points per game. Bangaly Kaba is close behind with 12.9 points per game, and leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Point guard Nahjee Matlock scores at a clip of 12.7 points per game, and is the team’s top facilitator with 112 assists. Zach Pederson rounds out the Nanooks’ scoring leaders, averaging 11.7 points while chipping in 4.8 boards. Davis leads the team in 3-point shooting at 37.9 percent, but the Nanooks rank last in the GNAC as they shoot just 31.9 percent overall from long range. Alaska is No. 9 in the league in scoring margin at plus-0.8 (75.8-75.0), and is No. 10 in rebounding margin at minus-3.7 (35.0-38.7). The ‘Nooks are shooting 43.8 percent from the field, and 72.2 percent from the free-throw line. The Series: MSUB holds a solid 41-26 record against Alaska, but is 11-19 in games played in Fairbanks. The ‘Jackets snapped a three-game losing skid in the series with their win at home earlier this season, but Alaska has won seven of the last nine games overall. Last Time Out: Beverly had a 28-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Matthews added 22 points in a narrow win for MSUB. Davis led all scorers with 30 points, Pederson added 19, and Kaba had 18. Saturday, February 11 – at University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves – 9 PM MTN Alaska Airlines Center | Anchorage, AK 2016-17 Record: 17-5, 11-3 GNAC (1st place) Head Coach: Rusty Osborne (12th season) Last Meeting: MSUB 69, UAA 68 (Jan. 12, 2017 at Billings, MT) The Seawolves became just the second team this season to hand conference-leading Western Washington a loss, downing the Vikings 87-79 last Thursday to match a feat only MSUB had achieved to that point in the year. UAA followed with a convincing 73-45 win over Simon Fraser last Saturday, and played its way into a tie for first place at 11-3 in the league. The Seawolves will fly to Fairbanks to challenge the Nanooks Tuesday night before returning home to prepare for the ‘Jackets on Saturday. GNAC-leading scorer Suki Wiggs (24.7 ppg) has won the last two GNAC Player of the Week awards, scoring 60-plus points in each of his last two conference series. Wiggs made 12 of 17 shots against the Vikings in a 32-point effort, before scoring 34 more against the Clan. Spencer Svejcar and Diante Mitchell are the other double-figure scorers for UAA, averaging 14.2 and 11.5 points, respectively. Svejcar is one of the top 3-point shooters in the league, ranking No. 2 at 49.1 percent from the arc. Corey Hammell meanwhile leads the league with 10.3 rebounds per game, to go along with 7.9 points. The Seawolves continue to hold the top scoring margin in the GNAC, at plus-15.1 (79.6-64.5). UAA is also tied for No. 2 in all of the NCAA Division II in rebounding margin at plus-11.0 (42.3-31.2). The Seawolves are shooting 45.5 percent from the floor, 37.0 percent from 3-point range, and 74.2 percent from the foul line. The Series: MSUB is 31-42 all-time against UAA, and is just 5-31 in games played in Anchorage. The Yellowjackets have won two straight games, and are 4-3 in the last seven meetings overall.
Last Time Out: Matthews drilled the most memorable shot of his career to date, sinking a three with two seconds left to turn a 68-66 deficit into a 69-68 lead. Wiggs, who finished with 25 points, was off the mark with a last-second, half-court heave as the ‘Jackets stunned the Seawolves at Alterowitz Gym. Hammell had a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Beverly led all MSUB players with 22 points. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--