BILLINGS, Mont. – Though much of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball standings are yet to be decided entering the final week of league play, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team enters a road trip to Oregon with a chance to punch its ticket into the conference tournament.
 
The Yellowjackets (14-12, 9-9) are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place with Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene, and Central Washington, Concordia University, and Seattle Pacific are all in a three-way tie for seventh place at 8-10 in league games.
 
MSUB visits Concordia on Thursday in Portland, Ore., and Western Oregon on Saturday in Monmouth, Ore. The 'Jackets can all but seal a trip to next week's GNAC Championships, hosted by Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash., March 2-4, with a victory over Concordia Thursday.
 
With a win over the Cavaliers, it would take Northwest Nazarene sweeping Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska on the road, Saint Martin's sweeping conference-leading Western Washington and Simon Fraser, and Seattle Pacific winning at WWU and SFU to prevent the 'Jackets from claiming one of the remaining conference berths.
 
A sweep this week would guarantee MSUB its first tournament berth since the 2013-14 season. "We are trying to go at this week the same way we have gone at every week," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. "We want to give the guys a good game plan, and have them ready and prepared for Thursday night's game. It is Week 10, and everything you build up for comes into play this week."
 
MSUB is coming off a 92-83 win over Saint Martin's on Senior Night last Saturday, as Marc Matthews and Jace Anderson helped the team earn a victory in their final career game at Alterowitz Gym. The 'Jackets also lost to SPU 75-70 last week, but remain in strong position to wrap up a tournament berth in the final two games of the regular season.
 
Thursday's game in Portland tips off at 8 p.m. Mountain time, as does Saturday's in Monmouth. Both will feature live video and live statistics, available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.
 
SENIOR SALUTE: After being honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, Matthews went on to lead MSUB with 23 points in his final game at Alterowitz Gym. He knocked down six more 3-pointers, maintaining his status as No. 1 in the conference with 82 makes from the arc.
 
He remained No. 7 in career threes made with 218, needing five more to move up a spot and pass No. 6 Danny Phillips. Matthews also moved to No. 11 in career scoring with 1,261 points, and needs 18 more to jump into the top-10.
 
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
11.	Marc Matthews	1261
12.	Chris Herriford	1252
13.	Jerett Skrifvars	1240

ANDERSON ADDS MORE TREYS: Anderson hit four more threes last week, pushing his career total to 127 and moving to No. 13 in MSUB history. The senior also had five rebounds, seven assists, and zero turnovers, with his four rebounds against SPU standing as his season high.
 
BEVERLY BACK WITH A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Breaking out of a midseason funk, sophomore star Preston Beverly was firing on all cylinders with a 23-point, 14-rebound double-double in the win over SMU. It was Beverly's 15th-career double-double, and he tied for his second-highest rebounding total in his career. He continues to be the only player in the GNAC in the top-10 in points (19.0, fourth), rebounds (8.4, fifth), and blocked shots (1.8, fourth). 
 

"I was just kind of in a slump, but I just had to get over that and move on," Beverly commented on his big game Saturday. "We need to focus on our points of emphasis, go to the boards, and play gritty defense. These games come down to who makes plays in the last four minutes, so I'm just going to do whatever I can to help us get these two wins."
 
KD PLAYS LIGHTS OUT: Perhaps the best game of junior Kendall Denham's career was a big part of the win over the Saints, as he scored 15 points and added six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. He played a season-high 37 minutes in his first start of the year, making 4 of 8 shots and all five of his free throws while playing relentless defense. Denham has upped his scoring average to 8.3 points, and ranks 10th in the league with 2.9 assists per game.
 
ZACK ATTACKS THE RIM, IS A THREAT FROM THE ARC: Redshirt freshman Zack Lessinger had one of the biggest games of his season, scoring a dozen points and adding eight rebounds against Seattle Pacific. It was his second double-figure game of the year, and he knocked down his first two 3-pointers while making 5 of 7 shots overall.
 
TEAM NUMBERS: MSUB is sixth in the GNAC with a scoring margin of plus-0.7 (82.0-80.3), and seventh in rebounding at plus-0.1 (38.7-38.6). The 'Jackets are second in free-throw percentage at 75.2, fifth in 3-point field-goal percentage at 36.2, and eighth in overall field-goal percentage at 43.8. The team continues to be elite in offensive rebounding, ranking No. 2 in the league with 12.8 offensive boards per game.
 
Thursday, February 23 – at Concordia University – 8 PM MTN
LCEF Court | Portland, OR
2016-17 Record: 12-13, 8-10 GNAC
Head Coach: Brad Barbarick, 23rd Season
Last Meeting: Concordia 92, MSU Billings 82 (Dec. 3, 2016 at Billings, MT)
 
Concordia willed its way back into the conference tournament race, with huge home wins over Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska last week. CU has won four of its last six games in making a late-season push in conference play. The team will host Western Oregon on Tuesday night in a high-stakes game in Portland.
 
The 'Cavs are led by two of the top players in the conference in senior Drew Martin and junior Christopher Edward. Martin ranks eighth in scoring with 17.5 points per game, and is ninth in rebounding with 7.5 per game. Edward meanwhile ranks fourth in the league with 8.6 rebounds per game, and chips in 12.2 points as well.
 
Latrell Wilson is another top scorer for CU, averaging 13.2 points per game and hitting a team-best 42 treys on the year. Point guard Davis Nuaimi leads the team with 3.0 assists per game, and Jarrett Gray is the team's other regular starter while averaging 10.2 points per game.
 
The 'Cavs hold a scoring margin of plus-1.2, outscoring the opposition 78.3-77.1, and the team ranks sixth in the GNAC with a rebounding margin of plus-0.1 (37.9-37.8). CU is shooting 45.7 percent from the field (fifth), 34.5 percent from the arc (10th), and 66.4 percent from the foul line (10th).
 
The Series: MSUB is 3-1 all-time against CU and has won the only meeting in Portland (76-59, Dec. 3, 2015).
 
Last Time Out: Martin scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Edward had 18 points and eight boards to pace the 'Cavs in their win in Billings. Matthews had 16 points and nine boards, Beverly scored 14, and Cinco Durr had 13 for the 'Jackets.

Saturday, February 25 – at Western Oregon University Wolves – 8 PM MTN
New PE Building | Monmouth, OR
2016-17 Record: 15-11, 12-6 GNAC
Head Coach: Jim Shaw, 2nd Season
Last Meeting: MSU Billings 79, WOU 71 (Dec. 5, 2016 at Billings, MT)
 
WOU wrapped up a GNAC tournament berth by sweeping Alaska and Alaska Anchorage at home last week, and the Wolves can finish no worse than third place by season's end.
 
The Wolves will take on Concordia Tuesday night on the road before hosting MSUB in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
 
Tanner Omlid, one of the premier all-around players in the GNAC, is averaging 15.0 points per game, 7.5 rebounds, a league best 3.2 steals, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 blocks.
 
Ali Faruq-Bey is also a double-figure scorer with 14.9 points per game, and ranks second on the team behind Omlid in assists (54) and steals (41). Demetrius Trammell is the top perimeter shooter on the squad, hitting at a clip of 40.8 percent and averaging 9.3 points per game.
 
In the rebounding department, WOU features JJ Chirnside in addition to Omlid, the former holding an average of 4.7 boards per game.
 
As a team WOU is outscoring the opposition 75.1-71.5, despite being outrebounded 37.2-34.0. The Wolves are shooting 43.6 percent from the floor overall, 34.8 percent from 3-point range, and a solid 72.1 percent from the free-throw line.
 
The Series: MSUB is 11-12 all-time against WOU, but is just 2-8 in games played in Monmouth. The 'Jackets snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series with the win earlier this year.
 
Last Time Out: Matthews led the team with 20 points, and Beverly had 13 and eight rebounds. Lessinger had a season-high nine rebounds off the bench for MSUB. Faruq-Bey (19 points), Yanick Kulich (16 points), and Omlid (15 points) were all in double figures for the Wolves.