Senior Night Saturday awaits MSUB men in final home stand of season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, February 14, 2017 Senior Night Saturday awaits MSUB men in final home stand of season

Fighting for a spot in the 2016-17 GNAC Championships, MSUB’s men’s basketball team returns to Alterowitz Gym this weekend to host Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin’s in a pair of high stakes conference games.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Seniors Jace Anderson and Marc Matthews will have a chance to help the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team remain in contention for a spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in their final games at Alterowitz Gym this weekend.

The Yellowjackets (13-11, 8-8) are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the GNAC standings, along with Saint Martin’s and Northwest Nazarene. Three other teams are tied for seventh place at 7-9, as the competition for the four remaining spots in the conference tournament heats up with four games left to play. Western Washington (19-5, 13-3 GNAC) and Alaska Anchorage (19-5, 13-3 GNAC) have each clinched a spot in the tournament, and Western Oregon sits in third place at 13-11 overall and 10-6 in conference play.

The ‘Jackets will host Seattle Pacific on Thursday at 5:15 p.m., and Saint Martin’s on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be played as doubleheaders with MSUB’s women’s basketball team, and live video with play-by-play commentary and live statistics will be available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here. Thursday’s doubleheader will also be featured on ESPN Radio 910 KBLG locally in Billings, and the game will be simulcast live on the web via www.espn910.com.

Thursday’s women’s game will be sponsored by the St. Vincent Healthcare EVA Project, and all women will receive free admission to both games in the doubleheader.

On Saturday, Anderson and Matthews will be honored in a pregame ceremony, before taking the court for the final time in front of their home crowd. “It will be exciting for Marc and Jace with these last two games at home, and it’s amazing how fast a career goes,” said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. “Those guys have been in the program here for five years, and have made a lot of special memories. As we look forward, the hope is that their best memories and best times here at MSUB are still ahead of them.”

MSUB is coming off a pair of losses in Alaska, falling to the Nanooks of the University of Alaska 83-74 last Thursday and at Alaska Anchorage 74-58 last Saturday. The ‘Jackets have dropped six of their last eight after starting the year 6-2 in league play.

Senior Jace Anderson is No. 6 in MSUB history with a career 3-point field-goal percentage of 42.12.

JACE TIES SEASON HIGH: In the game at Anchorage last week, Anderson matched his season high with 22 points and tied a career high with five made 3-pointers. He is now No. 15 in MSUB history with 123 career made 3-pointers, and his career percentage of 42.1 from beyond the arc is sixth best in school history.

MSUB Men’s Basketball Career 3-Point Field-Goal Percentage Leaders (Min. 50 Made) Rank Name Pct. Made Att. 1.

Pryor Orser 45.33 141 311 2.

Chris Herriford 44.25 154 348 3.

Cameron Munoz 43.30 451 1042 4.

Jaxon Myaer 42.77 136 318 5.

Mark Hamilton 42.56 286 672 6.

Jace Anderson 42.12 123 292 7.

Reece Gliko 41.92 231 551 8.

Jonathan Mesghna 41.88 80 191 9.

Mike McDowell 41.40 65 157 10.

Mitch Cole 40.31 52 129 MATTHEWS APPROACHING TOP-10 IN POINTS: With 36 points in MSUB’s two games last week, Matthews upped his career total to 1,229 and moved up to No. 13 in MSUB history. With four regular-season games to play, the senior needs 50 more points to pass Buddy Windy Boy (1,278) and obtain sole possession of No. 10 in Yellowjacket history in career scoring. Matthews is also No. 7 in career made threes with 210, and needs 22 more to move into the top-5.

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.

Marc Matthews 1229 14.

Fred Johnston 1215

Marc Matthews leads the GNAC with 74 made 3-pointers this season (3.1 per game).

BEVERLY JUST MISSES THIRD STRAIGHT DOUBLEDOUBLE: Scoring 19 points and adding nine rebounds against Alaska, sophomore Preston Beverly just missed what would have been his third consecutive double-double. He has already matched his total of seven double-doubles from a season ago, and continues to rank among GNAC leaders in scoring with 19.2 points per game (fourth) and rebounding with 8.3 boards per game (fifth).

Beverly is the only player in the GNAC with 450 points, 200 rebounds, 60 assists, and 40 blocked shots. His streak of reaching double figures in every game this season came to an end against Anchorage on Saturday, as he was held scoreless for the first time since November of his freshman season. Despite early foul trouble, Beverly still managed three boards and three blocks to move him to No. 5 in school history with 60 career blocks.

DENHAM MAINTAINS SCORING AVERAGE: Junior guard Kendall Denham kept his season scoring average at 8.0 points per game as he reached double figures for the eighth time this year with 11 points against the Nanooks. Denham is one of the most efficient shooters on the team, ranking second among qualifiers in field-goal percentage at 47.7 on the season. His 67 assists are most on the team, and his average of 2.8 per game ranks him No. 12 in the conference.

TALL IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY: Junior forward Kamal Tall has scored four or more points, had four or more rebounds, and recorded at least one block and steal in each of his last three games. He notched eight rebounds at Alaska last week, and is second on the team with an average of 4.8 per game in 17.9 minutes played.

PERRY IN DOUBLE FIGURES AGAIN: Junior Jordan Perry played a season-high 27 minutes against the Seawolves, and scored in double digits for the second time this year with a dozen points. Perry also had four rebounds and a pair of assists, while knocking down 4 of 8 shots and two 3-pointers.

ALCORN POSTS SEASON HIGH: Sophomore forward Cade Alcorn grabbed a season-best five rebounds against Alaska last week, coming off the bench in 10 effective minutes. He also contributed a pair of assists for the second straight game.

“Coach threw me in and I was just excited to go in and play hard for my teammates,” Alcorn commented on his strong performance last week. “I try to affect the game by playing my role, and if all of our guys do that then we are a scary team.”

PERIMETER D RETURNS: From Jan. 14-Jan. 28, MSUB allowed 62 threes (12.4 per game) in 123 attempts (50.4 percent) by its opponents, prior to which the team was No. 2 in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage defense. Since then over the last four games, the ‘Jackets have held their opponents to just 10 threes (2.5 per game) in 48 attempts (20.8 percent) and the team now ranks No. 6 in the conference at 35.8 percent allowed from beyond the arc.

“The way we guarded the 3-point line earlier in the year was because of the matchups we were playing, and the last four teams we played the matchups worked well for us,” Stevens commented on the stingy perimeter defense as of late.

“These two teams we play this week shot the lights out against us from the arc, so we are going to have to make some adjustments moving forward.”

As a team MSUB holds a scoring margin of plus-0.5 with 81.0 points per game and 80.4 points allowed. The team is No. 7 in rebounding margin at minus-0.1, logging 36.8 boards per game while allowing 36.9. MSUB is shooting 44.1 percent from the field (8th), 38.0 percent from the arc (2nd), and 75.1 percent from the foul line (2nd).

Thursday, February 16 – vs. Seattle Pacific University Falcons – 5:15 PM Alterowitz Gym | Billings, MT | ESPN Radio 910 KBLG 2016-17 Record: 11-13, 7-9 GNAC Head Coach: Grant Leep, 1st Season Last Meeting: SPU 94, MSUB 75 (at Seattle, Jan. 21, 2017) Seattle Pacific earned GNAC Team of the Week after reviving its postseason hopes with a sweep of Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington last week. The two wins snapped a three-game losing streak for the Falcons, who enter the week one game behind MSUB at 7-9 in league play.

SPU will host Saint Martin’s on Tuesday night before traveling to Billings for the game on Thursday.

Freshman phenom Tony Miller has taken the GNAC by storm, ranking fifth in scoring (18.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (9.3 rpg). Miller ranks second on the team with 31.7 minutes per game, and is shooting 46.4 percent from the field which is also No. 2 for the Falcons.

Coleman Wooten is another one of the league’s best players, ranking sixth in the league in both scoring (17.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg). Wooten is also No. 2 on the team with 59 assists, and leads the squad with 32.5 minutes per game.

Joe Rasmussen is the other Falcon scoring in double figures, with 13.8 points per game. He is the team’s top 3-point shooter, hitting at a mark of 40.0 percent from the arc.

The Falcons have been without senior point guard Will Parker over the last 11 games, and have relied on Olivier-Paul Betu who leads the team with 62 assists on the season.

As a team SPU is outscoring opponents 79.4-79.2 and is outrebounding the competition 40.3-35.5. The Falcons are shooting 44.6 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from 3-point range, and 67.3 percent from the foul line.

The Series: MSUB is 30-40 all-time against SPU, and has lost five in-a-row and nine of the last 10 in the series. MSUB is 21-10 all-time in games played at Alterowitz Gym.

Last Time Out: The Falcons were red hot from the 3-point line, making 13-of-25 shots (52.0 percent) en route to the 19point victory. Wooten led SPU with 23 points, while Matthews and Perry had 17 apiece for the ‘Jackets.

Saturday, February 18 – Saint Martin’s University Saints – 7:30 PM Alterowitz Gym | Billings, MT | Senior Night 2016-17 Record: 14-10, 8-8 GNAC Head Coach: Alex Pribble, 2nd Season Last Meeting: SMU 106, MSUB 58 (at Lacey, WA, Jan. 19, 2017) Like the Falcons, the Saints have turned their season around lately and gotten back into the race for the conference tournament with three straight victories.

SMU defeated Northwest Nazarene 90-81 last Saturday, after beating Central Washington in dramatic fashion, 80-79 last Thursday. The Saints will challenge Seattle Pacific Tuesday evening before heading to Billings for Saturday’s game against the ‘Jackets.

Four players are averaging in double figures for SMU, with senior Tyler Copp leading the way at 16.2 points per game.

Copp is the team’s top 3-point shooter, with 52 makes from the arc and a percentage of 39.4.

Point guard Cole Preston is at 12.9 points per game, and he leads the GNAC with 6.1 assists per game. Trey Ingram is also averaging 12.9 points, and is another top perimeter shooter at 45-for-114 on the year (39.5 percent). Brandon Kenilvort averages 10.4 points per game, and is the team’s top rebounder with 6.1 boards.

Big man Fred Jorg holds the top shooting percentage on the team at 54.0 percent, as the 7-footer causes problems on both ends of the ball under the hoop.

As a team SMU ranks third in the GNAC with a scoring margin of plus-8.3 (81.3-73.0), and fourth in rebounding margin at plus-4.8 (37.8-33.0). The Saints are shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from the arc, and 72.0 percent from the free-throw line.

The Series: SMU holds a slight 14-13 advantage in the all-time series, and the ‘Jackets are 7-6 in games played at Alterowitz Gym. SMU has won five of the last six meetings between the teams.

Last Time Out: The Saints lit up the arc with 19 threes, and held a 30-point lead by halftime. Kenilvort led the way with 23 points, and Copp had 20 at Marcus Pavilion. Beverly and Denham each led MSUB with 11 points.

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