Men's Basketball | 12/27/2016 2:59:00 PM

BILLINGS, Mont. – Returning to action this week after the holiday break, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team resumes Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the road.
 
The Yellowjackets, who are 6-4 overall and have won five of their last six games, will take on Simon Fraser University on Thursday in Burnaby, British Columbia, and No. 19 Western Washington University on Saturday in Bellingham, Wash. Thursday's game against the Clan will tip off at 6:15 p.m. Mountain time, while Saturday's New Year's Eve affair against the Vikings will start at 3 p.m. Mountain time.
 
Both games will feature live video and live statistics, available through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here. "We need to be prepared, but we have a pretty seasoned group with seven or eight guys who have been through this," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens regarding the 10-day holiday break. "We were playing well before the break, and the guys know that it's kind of a sprint now. We've gotten through the long portion of the season, and now we know we have 18 games left over the course of about 60 days."
 
MSUB enters this week's games coming off of a 95-85 win over Rocky Mountain College on Dec. 10, after splitting its first two conference games with a 92-82 loss to Concordia and a 79-71 win over Western Oregon at the beginning of the month.
 
MATTHEWS NEARS MILESTONE: Helping MSUB pick up two wins in its last week of action, senior Marc Matthews earned his first-ever GNAC Player of the Week honor with 49 total points. Matthews scored 20 against Western Oregon, and added 29 more against the Bears as he was just one point off of his career high of 30.
 
With his next two points, Matthews will become just the 22nd player in MSUB history to reach 1,000 in his career, as he enters this week's games sitting at 998. The senior also remained No. 9 in MSUB history in 3-point field goals, as he added seven to give him 164.
 
MSUB Men's Basketball All-Time Scoring Leaders

 

Rank	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
19.	Kas Ioane	1048
20.	Jeff Andrade	1041
21.	Troy Truvillion	1016
22.	Marc Matthews	998

BEVERLY'S BIG NUMBERS: Sophomore Preston Beverly put up huge numbers in the win over Rocky, scoring 25 points and grabbing a career-best 19 rebounds. The forward's boards total was the highest in the GNAC in two years, as no player has had as many in a game since WWU's Anye Turner had 20 on Dec. 6, 2014. Additionally, it was just the 13th game in the last decade in the GNAC in which a player hauled in 19 or more rebounds. The last Yellowjacket to top the number was Austin Hudson, who had 22 rebounds against Alaska on Feb. 6, 2014.
 
Beverly continues to rank among conference leaders in both scoring and rebounding, as his 17.6 points per game are sixth most and his 8.6 boards are fourth. No player ranks higher than Beverly in both categories.
 
"We need to have a sharp mindset, and these practices we have the next two days are crucial," said Beverly. "These are two very good teams, and as a team we just want to come out with some energy coming out of the break."
 
Top Individual Rebounding Games, GNAC (Since 2006-07)

 

Rank	Name	Rbnd.	School	Opponent	Date
1.	Blake Poole	24	Saint Martin's	Western Oregon	1/11/11
2.	Austin Hudson	22	MSU Billings	at Alaska	2/6/14
	Blake Poole	22	Saint Martin's	Western Oregon	1/31/09
4.	Blake Poole	21	Saint Martin's	at Simon Fraser	2/3/11
5.	Anye Turner	20	Western Washington	at Simon Fraser	12/6/14
	Anye Turner	20	Western Washington	Thompson Rivers	12/17/13
	Anto Olah	20	Simon Fraser	Northwest Indian	11/9/12
	Rafael Moreira	20	Seattle Pacific	North Alabama	12/19/08
9.	Preston Beverly	19	MSU Billings	Rocky Mountain	12/10/16
	Ibrahim Appiah	19	Simon Fraser	at Western Oregon	2/26/14
	Nate Walker	19	Central Washington	at Western Oregon	12/1/12
	JB Pillard	19	Northwest Nazarene	at Simon Fraser	1/19/12
	Blake Poole	19	Saint Martin's	Pacific Lutheran	12/21/09

 

DENHAM UPPING MINUTES: Averaging 27 minutes over his last five games, junior point guard Kendall Denham has worked himself into a groove as of late. Denham is averaging just under four assists per game during that time span, and is shooting the ball well at 43.8 percent overall and a stellar 87.5 percent from the foul line this year.

JEUSCHEDE'S BREAK-OUT PERFORMANCE: Putting forth his best career performance to date, sophomore Sven Jeuschede started off on fire against the Bears by nailing his first four 3-pointers of the game. He wound up with 15 points, while adding five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes on the floor. Jeuschede has doubled his scoring average from last season and is currently at 4.8 points per game, thanks in large part to a shooting percentage that has climbed 139 points to 38.5.
 
AS A TEAM: MSUB ranks eighth in the GNAC in scoring margin at plus-3.6, scoring 81.1 points per game and allowing 77.5. The 'Jackets are No. 2 in free-throw percentage at 75.0 as a team, and rank fifth in rebounding margin at plus-4.6 (38.5-33.9). MSUB is also an elite offensive rebounding team, ranking second with 13.5 boards per game creating second-chance opportunities.
 
HOLIDAY HOOPS CAMP: Practice was not the team's first activity after returning from break; instead the Yellowjackets hosted nearly 100 youth players Tuesday morning at the annual Yellowjackt Holiday Hoops camp at Alterowitz Gym. Younger players worked with the coaching staff and team during the morning session, while older kids took the floor in the afternoon. The camp runs Wednesday as well, with MSUB's women's basketball team taking over instruction for the final day.
 
Thursday, December 29, 2016 – at Simon Fraser University Clan – 6:15 PM MTN Time
West Gym | Burnaby, British Columbia
2016-17 Record: 2-8, 0-2 GNAC
Head Coach: Steve Hanson, 1st Season
2015-16 Record: 2-24, 1-19 GNAC (11th place)
 
The Clan return from the break after enduring a six-game losing skid, and will look for their first conference win of the season against the 'Jackets on Thursday. SFU lost its first two GNAC games of the year, falling 88-66 at Seattle Pacific on Dec. 1 and 86-72 at Saint Martin's two nights later.
 
Under first-year head coach Steve Hanson, SFU lost to Tarleton State 88-63 and Angelo State 83-58 in its two most recent games before the holiday break. SFU will also host Western Washington this week, on Friday evening.
 
Leading the team in scoring are Michal Provenzano and JJ Pankratz, who are averaging 12.4 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Pankratz is also tied for the team high in rebounding with 4.6 per game, along with Iziah Sherman-Newsome.
 
Provenzano is fourth in the GNAC with 4.4 assists per game, and shoots the ball well from the field (47.0 percent) and the arc (41.9 percent). Pankratz is a premier shooter as well, at 48.1 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from long range, and he is tied for third in the conference with 19 blocked shots.
 
The Clan are being out-scored this season 84.4-67.1, and are being out-rebounded 38.3-31.9. As a team, SFU shoots 42.8 percent from the field overall, 35.6 percent from 3-point range, and 70.1 percent from the foul line.
 
The Series: MSUB holds a commanding lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 2000, with 12 wins and only one loss. The Yellowjackets have won the last 11 games between the two, and are 5-1 all-time in games played across the border.
 
Last Time Out: MSUB won both meetings between the teams last year, picking up a 76-72 road win on Jan. 30 after a 94-83 win at home on New Year's Eve. Matthews scored 27 points in the home win and had 20 on the road, while Beverly had a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double in the win in Canada.
 
Saturday, December 31, 2016 – at #19 Western Washington University Vikings – 3 PM MTN Time
2016-17 Record: 8-2, 2-0 GNAC
Head Coach: Tony Dominguez, 5th Season
2015-16 Record: 16-15, 9-11 GNAC (6th Place)
 
Ranked No. 19 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches' top-25 poll released Tuesday, the Vikings are off to a solid 8-2 start and a perfect 2-0 record in league play. WWU entered the break with a sour taste in its mouth, as an eight-game winning streak to start the year was halted with a 90-83 loss to West Texas A&M and a tough 84-83 defeat against Tarleton State.
 
The team's first losses of the year came after a 91-78 win over Saint Martin's and a 96-91 overtime win over Seattle Pacific to start GNAC play, and a big 104-81 triumph over west region opponent UC San Diego on the road.
 
The Vikings will travel to Simon Fraser on Friday at 7 p.m. Mountain time before hosting the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
 
Transfer Taylor Stafford has grabbed the GNAC by storm through the first third of the season, leading the Vikings and ranking third in the conference with 21.0 points per game. Stafford is in his first year of competition at WWU, after jumping from NCAA DI Evansville after the 2014-15 season. The senior is shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 88.0 percent from the line, while leading the team in assists (48) and steals (18) and ranking third in rebounds per game (5.9).
 
The Vikings' lineup features four other double-figure scorers, including reigning first-team all-league senior Jeffrey Parker at 18.6 points per game. Daulton Hommes (15.4 ppg), Trey Drechsel (11.0 ppg), and Deandre Dickson (10.0 ppg) are the team's other top scorers.
 
Hommes, a redshirt freshman, leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game and Logan Schilder is contributing 6.0 boards in 20.7 minutes as a starter.
 
As a team the Vikings out-gun opponents at a scoring clip of 90.7-76.4. WWU also holds a strong rebounding margin of plus-6.1, averaging 39.0 rebounds while allowing 32.9.
 
The Series: The Vikings hold the upper hand with a 20-5 record against the 'Jackets, in a series that begun in 1963. WWU has won three of the last four and six of the last eight meetings dating back to the 2013-14 season, and MSUB has never won on the road at 0-12 in games played in Bellingham.
 
Last Time Out: The teams each won their home game last season, as the 'Jackets rode a 26-point performance by Beverly to a narrow 77-75 win on Jan. 2, 2016. Beverly had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double and Denham added 12 points on the road, but the Vikings won handily 79-64 on Jan. 28 in Bellingham.