Full week of Yellowjacket hoops at Alterowitz kicks off Tuesday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Monday, February 8, 2016 Full week of Yellowjacket hoops at Alterowitz kicks off Tuesday

MSUB’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are home this week, with the men hosting Alaska Anchorage Tuesday and Alaska Fairbanks Saturday, and the women being featured on ROOT SPORTS against Western Oregon on Thursday.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Before the Montana State University Billings women’s basketball team is featured on ROOT SPORTS in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Game of the Week on Thursday at Alterowitz Gym, the Yellowjacket men will kick off a busy week of hoops action on Tuesday evening by hosting the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Tuesday’s contest tips off at 7 p.m., and is the first of four basketball games at Alterowitz Gym this week. Thursday’s game on ROOT will stand as the first time MSUB has ever hosted a game televised on one of the region’s top sports networks. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will also be Think Pink night as the Yellowjackets partner with the EVA Project to support the fight against cancer.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink for Thursday’s women’s game, which will highlight the week and land in between the two men’s games.

Both teams will be in action on Saturday, with a big GNAC doubleheader on tap. The Yellowjacket men will play the early game, taking on the University of Alaska at 5:15 p.m., before the women send off their two graduating seniors, Janiel

Olson and Monica Grimsrud, against Concordia University at 7:30 p.m. on Senior Night. Tuesday’s and Saturday’s games will feature live video and statistics available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here, with Thursday’s ROOT SPORTS game available regionally here.

The Yellowjacket men are coming off of a 75-54 victory over Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, and have won two of their last three games. MSUB is 8-14 overall on the season and is currently in seventh place in the GNAC at 5-9 in league games. The ‘Jackets dropped both of their games in Alaska earlier this year, falling to the Seawolves 81-61 on Jan. 12 before a 69-58 setback against the Nanooks two days later.

MSUB enters Tuesday’s game with a record of 3-5 at home overall this season, and with a home record of 3-3 in GNAC games at Alterowitz. Including this week’s contests, the ‘Jackets have six more games on the regular-season schedule for 2015-16. MSUB is in contention for one of the top-six spots in the GNAC standings, which would earn the ‘Jackets a berth in the conference championship tournament set for March 2-5 at Marcus Pavilion hosted by Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash.

ON THE MARC: Junior Marc Matthews approached his career high in scoring last Thursday, scoring a game-high 25 points as the Yellowjackets rolled to a 75-54 victory over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at home. Matthews also had 14 points on Thursday against Central Washington, giving him 39 total in the two games and upping his team-leading season scoring average to 14.1 points per game. Not only did Matthews fuel MSUB’s offense last week, he played a pair of complete games defensively as well. Against CWU he added five rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals, while making 5 of 6 foul shots.

Against the Crusaders, Matthews had a season-high three steals and tied his season high for rebounds with six. He also had four assists in the game.

Overall Matthews had eight assists and five steals against just three turnovers while playing 77 minutes. In the game against NNU Matthews took a charge that altered momentum, and also had a pair of loud dunks – the first of which came on a breakaway following a steal he generated. Matthews’s effort helped MSUB avenge a tough 98-96 road loss at Northwest Nazarene earlier this season. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Led the ‘Jackets with 17 points on 7 of 16 shooting…had three assists, three steals, and three rebounds in 31 minutes.

BEVERLY JUST SHY OF DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Entering last week’s games with two straight double-doubles, freshman Preston Beverly finished with doublefigure points and nine rebounds in both games last week. Against the Wildcats on Thursday, he led his team with 21 points and had nine boards and a steal. Against the Crusaders, Beverly had 14 points and nine rebounds, along with an assist and a steal in 33 minutes.

Beverly leads the team with four double-doubles on the season, and has had three games in which he’s finished with nine rebounds a double-digit points. He ranks second on the team among active players in scoring with 12.0 points per game, and leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 per game. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Limited to three points, three assists, and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

Junior Marc Matthews throws down a dunk with two hands on Saturday as NNU’s Nikola Prvulj is late to defend.

HE’S THE MAN(NY): Junior Emmanuel Olufemi had his best two offensive games of the season last week, notching 13 points in each game as he reached his season high in scoring. Olufemi also had 10 rebounds total, and led the team as usual in blocks with five in the two games. Olufemi kept pace with the conference’s blocks leaders, as he continues to

rank third with 37 total despite playing just 13 games this season. His 2.8 blocks per game tie him with GNAC leader Joseph Stroud of CWU, who leads the league with 53 denials in 19 games. Olufemi has at least one block in every game he has played, has multiple blocks in 10 of his 13 games, and has four or more blocks in five games. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Tied for the team high with six rebounds…scored two points and had two blocks in 23 minutes.

DENHAM STANDING GUARD: Sophomore point guard Kendall Denham played all 45 minutes – overtime included – against the Wildcats on Thursday, and reached his second-highest scoring total of the season with 13 points. Denham also played 29 minutes Saturday against the Crusaders, chipping in six more points and four rebounds. Overall in the two games Denham had five assists and did not commit a single turnover. In his last four games, Denham has coughed the ball up just one time total, and his assist-turnover ratio of 1.9 ranks fifth in the conference. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Had a dozen points, three rebounds, and one assist in a team-high 34 minutes.

JEUSCHEDE REACHES SEASON HIGH: Freshman guard Sven Jeuschede scored a season-high eight points on Saturday, hitting a pair of 3-pointers early on to help the ‘Jackets to victory. Jeuschede also had a pair of rebounds, an assist, and a steal, playing his most well-rounded game of the year in 18 minutes of action. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Had three assists and three rebounds in 25 minutes.

PERRY MATCHES CAREER HIGH IN REBOUNDING: Sophomore guard Jordan Perry brought down 10 rebounds in a game for the third time in his two-year career at MSUB, and approached double-double numbers with eight points as well against the Wildcats. Perry followed with a solid six-rebound effort against the ‘Saders, and also dished out three assists to go with a steal and five points on Saturday. VERSUS THE SEAWOLVES: Scored 13 points and added six rebounds…had a season-high five assists and added a steal in 33 minutes.

MSUB’s Kendall Denham rises for a shot as NNU’s Gonzo Santana defends Saturday night at Alterowitz Gym.

TEAM FACTS: MSUB averages 73.7 points per game and allows 79.7 to rank ninth in the GNAC in scoring margin (minus6.0). The Yellowjackets are third in the GNAC in free-throw percentage at 73.6, seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (35.8) and ninth in overall field-goal percentage (42.0). In terms of rebounding, MSUB averages 35.9 per game while allowing 37.6 to rank eighth in the GNAC at minus-1.7.

‘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.

Tuesday, February 9 – vs. University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves – 7 PM 2015-16 Record: 18-7, 11-3 GNAC Head Coach: Rusty Osborne, 11th season The Seawolves enter Tuesday’s game having won both of their games on the road last week. UAA held off Western Washington 108-105 in double overtime on Thursday in Bellingham, Wash., before a convincing 86-66 win over Saint Martin’s in Lacey on Saturday.

Senior Brian McGill had a career-high 34 points in the win over the Saints last week, and ranks second on the team in scoring on the season with 17.9 points per game. The Seawolves have been led all season long by GNAC scoring leader Sekou Wiggs (23.8 ppg), who also ranks third in the conference in rebounding with 7.2 boards per game.

UAA’s Corey Hammell is the conference’s leader in boards and is the only player averaging in double figures with an even 10.0 per game. Hammell is also one of UAA’s top scorers with 12.5 points per game, and Spencer Svejcar (12.9 ppg) and Diante Mitchell (10.3 ppg) are in double figures offensively as well.

Mitchell is the team’s top long-range shooter, hitting at a clip of 45.3 percent on the year. Svejcar is also effective from 3-point range with a team-high 51 treys – five of which came against the ‘Jackets in the first half of last month’s game.

One of the top contenders for GNAC Player of the Year, Wiggs also ranks in the top-10 in steals with 1.5 per game (fifth) and assists with 3.6 per game (eighth). Svejcar leads the GNAC in free-throw percentage at 87.0 and Mitchell ranks second in the league at 85.2.

The Seawolves will immediately return to Alaska after Tuesday’s game, and will host Alaska on Thursday night.

The Series: The Seawolves hold a 42-29 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to Dec. 1, 1977. Most of MSUB’s wins have come at home, as the Yellowjackets have a strong 22-10 lead in games played at Alterowitz Gym. UAA has won the last three meetings, six of the last eight, and 10 of the last 13 dating back to the 2010-11 season.

Last Time Out: Wiggs led all players with 21 points, Svejcar had 19 and Christian Leckband added 16 as the ‘Wolves won their third straight in the series.

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