BILLINGS, Mont. – A strong start by the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team set the tone Friday at Alterowitz Gym, as the Yellowjackets picked up a 58-44 exhibition victory over visiting Montana Tech on Eastern Montana Throwback Night.
 
Marc Matthews drained three 3-pointers early on and led the team with 14 points, and Preston Beverly chipped in 13 for the 'Jackets. MSUB fired often from long range in the game, with 29 of its 51 shots coming from behind the arc. The team converted at a clip of just 27.6 percent however, and shot just 31.4 percent from the field overall.
 
"I was really excited about how hard the guys played tonight, and we talked about playing with great pace and tempo offensively," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. "Defensively, we were flying around, and we did a nice job of making Montana Tech work for every bucket."
 

Montana Tech (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, after shooting just 28.8 percent from the floor (15-for-52) and making just 2 of 7 3-pointers. Chris O'Neill and Sadiq Inuwa led the Orediggers with eight points apiece. 

A layup by Matthews 13 minutes into the game gave MSUB its first double-digit lead of the night, and the advantage peaked at 18 points after two foul shots by Kamal Tall with a minute to play in the first. Tall led all players with 11 rebounds, and kicked in six points in 22 minutes.
 
MSUB kept its foot on the gas coming out of the halftime break, and led 48-29 after a layup by Christian Evans with 9:26 to go. The 'Jackets went ice cold from the field over the next four minutes however, missing their next seven shots. The Orediggers meanwhile edged the deficit down to 10 points, until a put-back dunk by Tall re-energized the crowd and brought MSUB back to life. "I just tried to play hard, and that's what my job was for tonight," said Tall, the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game. "I came off of our game on Wednesday with a lot of confidence, and we wanted to come out with a good start tonight because we didn't have that against Carroll."
 
Montana Tech stayed close down the stretch, and cut the lead to as little as nine points after a foul shot by Kale Guldseth. The 'Jackets maintained their distance to finish the game though, and picked up their first win of the preseason.
 
Evans contributed seven points and seven boards for MSUB, while Zack Lessinger played a solid 12 minutes off of the bench with six points. MSUB out-rebounded Montana Tech 38-27, and converted at a clip of 75 percent from the foul line (18-for-24).
 
NEXT UP: The 'Jackets kick off the regular season with a pair of tough road matches in California. MSUB will challenge California Baptist on Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. Mountain time, before taking on Holy Names University the next day at 2 p.m. in Riverside, Calif. The team's regular-season home opener is against Cal State East Bay on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.