The following “Starting Five” points offer a quick look inside GLVC men’s basketball action this week:
STARTING FIVE
[1 | cross-divisional showdown series highlights this week]
GLVC men's basketball tips this week with what has become the most anticipated regular-season conference series of the year. GLVC East Division leader No. 9 Bellarmine (12-2, 4-0 GLVC) travels to GLVC West Division leader #24 Quincy (15-1, 5-0) on Thursday, while travel partner and fellow East leader No. 10 Southern Indiana (14-0, 4-0) heads to Truman State (12-3, 4-1), which sits second in the West. Heading into Thursday’s action, the four teams have combined for a 53-6 record and 17-1 mark in league play. Also of note, the league’s top five scorers will take part in the series this week, including No. 1 Jeril Taylor (19.2) and No. 3 Alex Stein (18.2) of USI, No. 2 Joseph Tagarelli (19.2) of Quincy, No. 4 Adam Eberhard (17.8) of Bellarmine, and No. 5 Jake Velky (17.6) of Truman. In a conference rarity, Bellarmine will turn around the next night and play Truman, allowing the Bulldogs to complete a third straight day of competition with an exhibition at Division I No. 9 Creighton on Saturday at 12 p.m. A few hours later, USI and Quincy will tip at the Hawks' Pepsi Arena at 3:15 p.m.
[2 | bellarmine, southern indiana, quincy ranked in nabc top 25 poll]
Three GLVC teams are represented once again in this week’s NABC/NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll, it was announced Tuesday. No. 9 Bellarmine (12-2, 4-0 GLVC) moves back into the top 10 after being ranked 13th last week, while Southern Indiana (14-0, 4-0) made the biggest surge of any team in the country ranked last week, moving seven spots from 17th to No. 10. The Screaming Eagles make their first appearance in the top 10 since Jan. 21, 2014 when they were No. 9. No. 24 Quincy (15-1, 5-0) makes its first appearance in the NABC poll since Feb. 9, 2010 when the Hawks were ranked 18th. Quincy hosts No. 9 Bellarmine this Thursday and No. 10 Southern Indiana on Saturday. In last week’s poll, Quincy occupied the second slot outside the top 25 of teams receiving polls, and this week Drury (10-3, 3-2) is listed as the first team out. Also receiving votes is UW-Parkside (12-1, 4-0).
[3 | southern indiana among six undefeated teams]
Six NCAA Division II men’s basketball programs remain unbeaten through the 2016-17 campaign, and 10th-ranked Southern Indiana is among the elite group. The Screaming Eagles are 14-0 overall for just the third time in program history, and join top-ranked Northwest Missouri State at 14-0, followed by No. 2 Fairmont State and No. 3 Queens, N.C. at 13-0. No. 8 Shippensburg is 12-0 overall and No. 22 Arkansas-Monticello sits 10-0. The last time a GLVC team had an undefeated mark in January was during the 2014-15 season when Indianapolis ascended to the No. 1 ranking and a 17-0 record before falling at 20th-ranked UW-Parkside, 72-68, on Jan. 29, 2015.
[4 | buddy system pays off in points]
Three GLVC programs currently have two or more standouts ranked among the league’s top 15 scorers. Southern Indiana senior Jeril Taylor paces the league with 19.2 points per game, while sophomore Alex Stein is third with 18.2 points each time out. Quincy lists three players among the top 15 in senior Joseph Tagarelli (19.2) in second, senior Evan McGaughey (15.6) in 10th and senior Von Washington III (15.0) tied for 13th. A McKendree trio has also been producing points, as senior Michael Jackson (16.5) is eighth, junior Justin Blanks (15.6) is 11th, and Nolan Gerling (15.0) is tied for 13th. Further down the list, UW-Parkside’s tandem of senior Alexander Brown (16.8) and junior Kendale McCullum (14.5) are seventh and 20th, respectively, while Illinois Springfield sophomore Zach Steinberg (14.8) and junior Eddie Longmeyer (14.8) are tied for 17th.
[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. The GLVC remains the hottest shooting league in NCAA Division II, holding down the nation’s top field goal percentage this week. The GLVC as a whole leads the other 23 Division II conferences with a nation-leading 48.26 field goal percentage (6,401-13,264), ranking ahead of the Sunshine State (47.56) and Northern Sun (47.34). GLVC teams have also combined for a 38.41 three-point field goal percentage (1,892-4,926), which ranks second behind the Northern Sun (38.59), and a 72.10 free-throw percentage (3,290-4,563) that rates fifth overall. To emphasize that nation’s-best field-goal percentage, five GLVC programs rank in the top 10 nationally in that category, including No. 2 Quincy (53.2), No. 3 Southern Indiana (52.6), No. 6 UW-Parkside (52.4), No. 7 Bellarmine (52.2), and No. 8 Drury (52.2). Beyond the arc, four teams rank in the top 20, including No. 1 UW-Parkside (45.3), No. 2 Truman (45.0), No. 6 USI (43.6), and No. 18 Drury (41.7). Among the other national notables, Southern Indiana is first overall in scoring margin (27.2), third in rebound margin (12.6) and sixth in scoring offense (96.4), Missouri S&T is fourth in three-point field goal percentage defense (28.8), Bellarmine is fourth in assists per game (19.6) and fifth in assist turnover ratio (1.57), and Quincy is fifth in total assists (296). Individually, Quincy’s Herm Senor is fourth with 110 assists and eighth with 6.9 assists per game, Truman’s Jake Velky is sixth with a 52.5 three-point field goal percentage, Illinois Springfield’s Zach Steinberg and Quincy’s Joseph Tagarelli are seventh with eight double-doubles each, and Drury’s Tevin Foster ranks ninth with a 97.6 free-throw percentage.