Tuesday, January 3, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – After pacing Montana State Billings to a pair of high-scoring road wins to keep pace for first place in the GNAC standings, senior guard Marc Matthews has been selected as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division II Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Matthews, who was named the GNAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, led the Yellowjackets’ to a pair of road wins at Simon Fraser and Western Washington to re-start conference play. He finished with 48 points in the games, shooting 60.7 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from the three-point line. Matthews scored 20 points on 7 of 11 from the field in MSUB’s 107-66 win at Simon Fraser. In the process, Matthews scored his 1,000th career point.

Matthews then paced all scorers with 28 in a big 100-93 win at then No. 19 ranked Western Washington as he connected on 10 of 17 from the field and 6 of 11 from three-point range to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

The senior from Sierra Vista, Ariz., is currently ranked 10th in the GNAC in scoring with an average of 15.8 points per game. In 27.6 minutes per game, Matthews is shooting 46.6 percent from the field (69-148), 41.3 percent from three-point range (38-92) and 93.3 percent from the free throw line (14-15).

Matthews has helped lead Montana State Billings to an 8-4 start to the season, three wins short of the team’s win total from 2015-16. The Yellowjackets enter the week tied with Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage for first in the GNAC at 3-1.