BILLINGS, Mont. – Returning home this week to Alterowitz Gym, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team is set to host Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents Simon Fraser and Western Washington before heading out on a three-game road trip next week.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-17, 2-9 GNAC) will face the Clan on Thursday before taking on Western Washington two nights later. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. and live video and statistics will be available via www.msubsports.com.
 
MSUB is coming off a pair of road losses last week, falling to No. 24 Western Oregon on Jan. 29, 94-74, and losing to Saint Martin's 75-64 two days later.
 
Senior Antoine Hosley, who leads the team with 12.7 points per game, earned honorable mention GNAC Player of the Week after scoring in double figures in both of the Yellowjackets' games last week. Hosley led all players with 23 points against Western Oregon, and he also had five boards, four assists and three steals. The Portland, Ore., native followed with a strong, 14-point effort against SMU on Saturday and did not commit a turnover.
 
On the season Hosley is shooting 45.4 percent from the field and is No. 2 on the team in steals with 15.
 
Junior Emmanuel Johnson also put together a pair of solid games last week, including a season-high 17 points against WOU on Thursday. Overall in the two-game stretch, Johnson scored 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting – including 4 of 7 from 3-point range – and grabbed 15 rebounds, had four assists, three blocks and three steals against just two turnovers. On the season he is averaging 7.1 points and a team second-best 5.0 rebounds per game.
 
Reaching double figures for the first time in five games, Marc Matthews led his team in scoring with 21 points against the Saints on Saturday. Matthews converted 5 of 6 3-point attempts and shot 8 of 11 overall in the strong effort. The sophomore is providing 8.7 points per game, good for third-best on the squad.
 
Maintaining his spot as the No. 3 shooter from 3-point range in the conference, Jace Anderson hit on 4 of 9 attempts from long distance last week to keep his percentage lofty at 47.5 on the season. Fellow guard Kendall Denham drilled three 3-pointers against the Wolves to account for nine points. The redshirt freshman now ranks No. 11 in the GNAC in assist-turnover ratio at 1.8, and his 33.4 minutes per game are the most in the conference.
 
Senior Tyler Nelson continues to lead the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game, a mark that ranks 10th overall in the GNAC.
 
Freshman Jordan Perry upped his scoring and rebounding averages last week, supplying 16 points and 14 rebounds. Perry is now at 6.2 points per game and 4.1 rebounds, and has started the last six games for the 'Jackets.
 
The Yellowjackets have played their last two games without second-leading scorer Momir Gataric (11.8 ppg), who suffered an injury after playing six minutes against Western Oregon.
 
As a team MSUB is averaging 69.1 points per game while allowing 76.2, and the 'Jackets are just one rebound below an even margin, grabbing 33.5 while allowing 34.6. MSUB continues to be one of the premier teams in the GNAC in terms of defending the 3-point shot, allowing a conference third-best percentage of 35.0 from long range.
 
Thursday, February 5 – 7 p.m. – Alterowitz Gym
Simon Fraser University Clan
2014-15 Record: 8-11, 3-8 GNAC
Head Coach: James Blake, 5th season
2013-14 GNAC Finish: 10th (10-16, 3-15 GNAC)
 
Continuing to lead the NCAA Division II in both scoring offense (110.5 ppg) as well as points allowed (105.4), Simon Fraser enters Thursday's game against the 'Jackets having won two of its last three.
 
Despite the sky-high scoring numbers, SFU has not reached the 100-point plateau since a 107-103 loss to Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 15. A 97-87 victory for the Clan over Saint Martin's on Jan. 24 snapped a seven-game losing streak, and SFU gained some momentum by following with a 79-71 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 29.
 
Most recently, SFU dropped a home contest to Alaska Anchorage 115-98 on Jan. 31. SFU's 79 points against the Nanooks were by far the fewest in a victory and only four points higher than the team's lowest overall point total in any game so far this season.
 
As a team SFU leads the GNAC in assists per game with 18.5, and is the only team to average in double-figures in steals with 13.7. SFU's incredible turnover margin of plus-9.7 leads all of the NCAA Division II and is more than six full points higher than the next-closest GNAC team (Central Washington, plus-3.59).
 
Individually, Sango Niang continues to pace the GNAC in scoring with 23.5 points per game, and his mark ranks No. 9 across all Division II players. Niang also leads the GNAC and ranks seventh in Division II in assists per game with 6.6.
 
SFU's Patrick Simon is among GNAC leaders in field-goal percentage, ranking sixth with a mark of 59.2 from the field.
 
The Clan has three players in the top-five in the conference in steals per game, including Niang, who leads the pack with 2.3. Roderick Evans-Taylor ranks No. 3 with 2.1 steals per game, and Michael Harper is next in line with 1.9.
 
Last Game: MSUB took advantage of SFU's lax defense, as Perry's 21 points led a cast of six double-digit scorers in a 111-104 road win on Jan. 10 in Burnaby, B.C. Gataric added 20 points and Matthews had 18 with eight rebounds as MSUB won the battle on the boards 39-35. Despite the win, MSUB did not slow down Niang, who finished with a game-high 28 points and five assists.
 
The Series: MSUB improved to 9-1 all-time against SFU, and the 'Jackets have now won the last eight games dating back to February of 2011. The Yellowjackets have never lost to the Clan at home, with a perfect 5-0 mark at Alterowitz entering Thursday's matchup.
 
Saturday, February 7 – 7 p.m. – Alterowitz Gym
Western Washington University Vikings
2014-15 Record: 11-10, 4-7 GNAC
Head Coach: Tony Dominguez, 3rd season
2013-14 GNAC Finish: 2nd (20-8, 13-5 GNAC)
 
Western Washington picked up a big 80-57 victory over Alaska Fairbanks last Saturday, after losing four of its previous five games. With losses to Western Oregon on Jan. 24 and Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 29, WWU dropped consecutive road games for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
 
The Vikings are led offensively by a trio of players who rank in the top-10 in the conference in scoring. Jaamon Echols (16.9 ppg) and Ricardo Maxwell (16.5) check in at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, and Jeffrey Parker is No. 8 with 15.2 points per game.
 
Parker is the Vikings' top shooter from the perimeter, ranking sixth in the GNAC in 3-point field-goal percentage at 45.4 and third in made 3-pointers with 59 total and an average of 2.8 per game.
 
On the boards, senior Anye Turner has been a force with a league-leading 8.1 per game. The 6-foot-7 forward also leads the conference and ranks sixth in all of Division II with 3.05 blocks per game.
 
Mac Johnson is another key post player for WWU, who is shooting a GNAC fourth-best 59.7 percent from the field.
 
As a team the Vikings rank third in the GNAC in scoring margin at plus-8.7 and second in rebounding margin at plus-5.7. Thanks in large part to Turner's big numbers, WWU also leads the league in blocked shots with 5.6 per game, and the Vikings are No. 2 in offensive rebounds with 14.5 per game.
 
Last Game: WWU received a career night from sophomore forward Joey Schreiber, who drilled 13 of 21 shots including 6 of 9 from 3-point range for 38 points in an 88-68 win over MSUB. Gataric had a season-best 25 points in the game for the 'Jackets, but the effort was overshadowed by Schreiber's heroics and three other double-digit scorers as the Vikings defended their home court on Jan. 8 in Bellingham, Wash.
 
The Series: MSUB is now 4-18 all-time against the Vikings, and WWU improved to 11-0 at home with the win last month. The teams have split the last two meetings, with MSUB picking up a big 102-101 overtime win over WWU on Feb. 13, 2014 at Alterowitz.