SEATTLE – Mitch Penner made 10 of 16 shots and scored a game-high 23 points, leading host No. 25 Seattle Pacific University to a 93-67 win over Montana State University Billings Saturday night on the ROOT SPORTS Great Northwest Athletic Conference Game of the Week at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Preston Beverly made 7 of 18 shots including three 3-pointers, and led the Yellowjackets with 21 points. Emmanuel Johnson added 14 points, and Marc Matthews had 10 for MSUB.
 
"We thought they would play well coming off of two straight losses," MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens commented on Seattle Pacific. "They are a great team and they played with great energy in the first half. We matched them for a while, but the last four minutes of the first half essentially put the game out of reach."
 
The teams were evenly matched in the early going, and a trey from Beverly brought his team within one point down 11-10 four minutes into the game. The 'Jackets continued to stay close, and a jumper by Johnson with 12 minutes to go in the first made it 18-15.
 
The Falcons used an 11-4 run to gain their first double-digit lead of the evening at 29-19, and maintained their distance inside of five minutes to go in the half. Penner scored nine straight points on a 3-pointer and three jumpers, as the Falcons created several open looks for their senior star and pushed ahead by 20 points.
 
Penner made 8 of 10 shots and had 19 points by halftime, and the Falcons had 21 first-half rebounds compared with just six for MSUB. SPU led 56-34 at the break.
 
The Falcons (19-7, 12-6 GNAC) started the second half on a 10-1 run, and never looked back from there. SPU led by as many as 36 points inside of seven minutes to play, as the 'Jackets didn't get close to cutting into the deficit.
 
SPU shot 59.4 percent from the field (38-for-64), 41.2 percent from 3-point range (7-for-17), and made 10 of 11 free throws (90.9 percent). Entering the game as the No. 1 team in the NCAA in rebounding margin, SPU was dominant on the glass and won the battle 39-23.
 
Senior 7-foot center Gilles Dierickx grabbed a team-high eight boards, and added 10 points as one of five double-figure scorers. Joe Rasmussen had 15 points, Will Parker added a dozen, and Brendan Carroll also had 10 for the Falcons. Three other players had five rebounds, and Bryce Leavitt had a game-best five assists.
 
For the 'Jackets (10-16, 7-11 GNAC), Emmanuel Olufemi led the way with seven rebounds and also had three blocks. Jordan Perry had seven points and two assists, and contributed the only steal of the night for MSUB. The Yellowjackets shot 37.5 percent from the floor (21-for-56), 34.8 percent from long range (8-for-23), and made 17 of 19 free throws (89.5 percent).
 
THE BUZZ: Beverly was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…it was Beverly's seventh 20-point game of the season, and his fourth in his last seven games…Olufemi now has 46 blocks this season, which ranks him tied for third in program single-season history and eighth in career history.
 
ROOT FOR THE 'JACKETS: Saturday's game was the lone television appearance of the season for the Yellowjacket men, who were featured on ROOT SPORTS a week after MSUB's women hosted the GNAC Game of the Week.
 
NEXT WEEK: The 'Jackets have a meeting with the number one team in the NCAA, as Western Oregon heads to Alterowitz Gym for a 7 p.m. matchup next Thursday. MSUB will then play its final regular-season game against Concordia University next Saturday, and Johnson will be honored as the team's lone graduating senior on Senior Night.