The following “Starting Five” points offer a quick look inside GLVC men’s basketball action this week:
STARTING FIVE
[1 | glvc action back on court wednesday]
GLVC men's basketball action
tips off Wednesday with Illinois Springfield, McKendree and Southern Indiana all hosting non-conference action. The Prairie Stars will welcome Harris-Stowe to Springfield, while the Bearcats host Salem International. USI will look to move to 9-0 on the season in a battle with Bluefield State. All three contests will be streamed on the GLVC Sports Network.
[2 | glvc lone division ii conference with two unbeaten teams]
Fourteen NCAA Division II men’s basketball programs remain unbeaten through the 2016-17 campaign, and the GLVC is the lone conference to have two teams among that group. Drury and Southern Indiana are both 8-0 overall entering the week. Furthermore, with the addition of Quincy (10-1), the GLVC boasts a nation’s-best three squads (out of 22 DII teams) with a winning percentage at 90 percent or higher, as well as a DII-leading six programs (out of 51 DII teams) winning at an 80 percent clip or higher after factoring in Bellarmine (8-1), UW-Parkside (8-1), and Truman State (8-2).
[3 | three glvc teams ranked in nabc top 25 poll]
Three GLVC teams are represented in this week’s NABC NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll,
it was announced Tuesday. Bellarmine (8-1, 2-0 GLVC) improved one position to No. 6, while Drury (8-0, 3-0) surged three spots to No. 9, giving the GLVC two top-10 teams for the first time since Nov. 24, 2015 when Bellarmine was third and Drury was fifth. Southern Indiana (8-0, 2-0) is the third GLVC team in the national poll this week at No. 24, making its first appearance in the NABC Top 25 since it was 14th in the final edition of the 2013-14 season on March 11, 2014. This is the first time the GLVC has boasted three teams in the NABC Top 25 during the regular season since March 10, 2015, when Bellarmine was third, followed by No. 8 UW-Parkside and No. 15 Indianapolis.
[4 | youth is served]
Taking a look across the GLVC statistics, one can find a handful of young contributors having success on the hardwood this year. Four underclassmen currently rank among the league’s top 10 scorers, including Southern Indiana sophomore Alex Stein (22.0) in first, Bellarmine sophomore Adam Eberhard (19.1) in third, Truman State sophomore Jake Velky (17.1) in seventh, and McKendree freshman Nolan Gerling (17.0) tied for eighth. Speaking of Gerling, he is tied for first in league rebounding with USI sophomore Zach Steinberg at 10.4 boards per game, while Bellarmine’s Eberhard (7.0) is tied for seventh. Additionally, Missouri S&T freshman Dulan Scott (.682) is second overall and leads three other underclassmen in top-10 shooting percentage, Lewis sophomore Frank Vukaj (2.13) is second overall and paces five youngsters in top-10 blocked shots, UW-Parkside sophomore Adam Bonk (.621) leads the league in three-point shooting percentage, and Drury sophomore John Williams (2.00) is third in steals per game, while Saint Joseph’s sophomore CJ Hardaway (1.78) and UIndy freshman Tate Hall are sixth and ninth, respectively.
[5 | glvc represented among ncaa statistical leaders]
In the latest NCAA statistical report released Monday, a number of GLVC teams and student-athletes currently rank among the nation’s best in select categories. Drury’s Tevin Foster (96.9) leads the nation in free-throw percentage, Quincy’s Joseph Tagarelli is tied for first with seven double-doubles, Truman State’s Jake Velky (58.7) is third in three-point field goal percentage, and Southern Indiana’s Julius Rajala (70.8) is fifth in field goal percentage. On the team side, Bellarmine (52.8) and Drury (52.8) are fourth in field goal percentage, Drury (46.8) is third in three-point field goal percentage, and USI (82.0) and Bellarmine (80.4) are third and fourth in free-throw percentage. Speaking of the Screaming Eagles, in the 98-83 victory over Lee-McRae on Monday, USI made 42 of its 50 attempts from the charity stripe, marking the nation’s most free throws made this year and the GLVC’s highest single-game total since Nov. 24, 2015, when USI made 42 freebies against Kentucky State. Finally, the GLVC remains the hottest shooting league in NCAA Division II, holding down the nation’s top field-goal percentage once again this week. The GLVC as a whole leads the other 23 Division II conferences with a nation-leading 48.48 field goal percentage (4,269-8,805), ranking ahead of the Northern Sun (47.86) and Sunshine State (47.47). GLVC teams have also combined for a 39.08 three-point field goal percentage (1,276-3,265), which ranks second nationally, and a 71.94 free-throw percentage (2,218-3,083) that rates fifth overall.