BILLINGS, Mont. – Preston Beverly matched his season high with 26 points, Emmanuel Johnson had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Jace Anderson made four 3-pointers to lift host Montana State University Billings to a 77-75 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Western Washington University Saturday night at Alterowitz Gym.
 
Jordan Perry led all players with nine rebounds, and Johnson's eight and Beverly's seven helped the 'Jackets to a 41-33 rebounding advantage on the evening. The 'Jackets have now won three games in-a-row, and moved into third place in the GNAC standings with a record of 3-1 in conference games. MSUB is 6-6 overall on the year.
 
"This was a great team win, and Preston and Emmanuel were huge down the stretch," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. "WWU is a very good offensive team, but if you keep them in the 70s you have a chance

to win. We were fortunate to do that tonight."
 
Beverly made 9 of 9 foul shots and hit 8 of 11 shots from the field while also contributing an assist, a block, and a steal. "Credit to my teammates, and it's a blessing to be out here playing college basketball," Beverly said. "We shot free throws the other day in practice for a long time and that definitely helped out. These two wins were huge, and it is definitely a boost going into our road games coming up."
 
With 39.2 left on the clock, WWU's Trey Drechsel converted a 3-point play that cut MSUB's lead to 77-75, and the Vikings picked up a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass to regain possession. Johnson wrestled down a rebound however, and was fouled as the clock stopped inside of 20 seconds to play as MSUB secured the win.
 
The Vikings fell to 8-5 with the loss, and are now 2-2 early on in GNAC play. WWU was led by Kyle Impero and Colby Mitchell, who each had 14 points on the evening. In his first game of the season, Drechsel led the team with seven rebounds and added 10 points.
 
Five straight points by Perry early on gave MSUB its first lead of the game at 8-7. Impero had eight of WWU's first 12 points, as the teams traded buckets to the tune of 16-14 MSUB.
 
Despite leading 37-31 at halftime, MSUB watched the Vikings go on a 7-0 run to open the second period as a trey from the top of the key by Mac Johnson capped off the scoring burst by the Vikings. Anderson hit his third three of the game on the next possession to help MSUB regain the lead, but WWU stayed close early on in the second half.
 
A three by Mitchell and a three-point play by Ricardo Maxwell extended WWU's lead to 58-51 inside of 10 minutes to go, but Beverly scored eight straight points and Anderson made a layup in a game-changing 10-1 run. Two more foul shots by Beverly with 7:39 to go gave the 'Jackets the lead for good, as WWU never pushed ahead despite staying within five points.
 
Playing 30 minutes, Johnson added three assists and a block to his stat line, and was a key presence for MSUB all night under the basket. "This is how EJ played last year," Stevens commented on the senior. "He struggled a little bit the first half of the season, but he is really finding his groove. We are going to need that moving forward."
 
Johnson made 5 of 7 shots from the field overall, contributing to MSUB's solid shooting percentage of 48.2 (27-for-56) on the evening. He also made 4 of 5 free throws. "This was a big-time win, and we needed it," Johnson commented. "This was a big weekend to give us some momentum going forward."
 
A night after scoring a career-high 27 points, Marc Matthews was held to just two points on Saturday but played 32 effective minutes in the game. "Our leading scorer was held to two points, but he helped us in other ways," Stevens said. "Marc had a great defensive night guarding a good player tonight."
 
MSUB made 7 of 17 3-pointers on the evening (41.2 percent) and made its first 16 foul shots in 19 total attempts. Kendall Denham led the 'Jackets with four assists, and also had two steals in 13 minutes off of the bench. Emmanuel Olufemi had five rebounds and a block in 15 minutes.
 
The Vikings hit 30 of 70 shots (42.9 percent) on the game, including 5 of 19 from long range (26.3 percent). WWU made 10 of 15 foul shots.
 
THE BUZZ: Anderson left the game with 40 seconds left with a knee injury…Johnson was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Beverly matched his season high, which he recorded against Northwest University on Dec. 12 in Seattle...MSUB was tied for the program record for made free-throws without a miss, before missing its final three of the evening.
 
"We are excited for the chance to play tomorrow, and we have several guys who need to get reps," Stevens said on facing Carroll College in an exhibition game Sunday night. "We definitely want to go over there and perform well and play well.
 
"Our next four games, we have a big road trip, and that's what the GNAC is about," Stevens continued. "We need to find a way to play well, and we are looking forward to the challenge of our first big, long road trip."
 
NEXT UP: MSUB faces Carroll College in an exhibition game Sunday evening in Helena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. against the Saints, in a makeup game that was originally scheduled for Dec. 16. The Yellowjackets' next GNAC game is Jan. 7 at Northwest Nazarene University, in the first of four straight away from home.