The following “Starting Five” points offer a quick look inside GLVC men’s basketball action this week:
GLVC SPORTS NETWORK (GLVCSN): All GLVC home games are available for free on GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
[1 // conference season commences]
The GLVC will close out the month of November this week by opening up the 2017-18 Conference slate as 10 of the 14 teams will be in action on Thursday. Maryville heads to William Jewell, Quincy is off to Rockhurst, Lewis travels down to Southern Indiana, Drury welcomes Missouri-St. Louis, and UW-Parkside welcomes Indianapolis for 7:30 p.m. tip-offs. Non-conference action continued Monday night with Illinois Springfield beating Lindenwood-Belleville 90-71, while Truman State fell 85-84 in overtime to Lincoln on Tuesday. For a complete look at this week’s action,
click here.
[2 // three teams recognized in national poll]
Three GLVC programs are represented in this week's edition of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll,
it was announced Tuesday. Bellarmine (6-0) maintained its position at No. 3, while picking one of the 16 first-place votes. Last week, the Knights picked up road wins at Wayne State (Mich.) and then-No. 8 Barry before knocking off Lynn in a neutral site game at the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic. Indianapolis and William Jewell are receiving votes outside the top 25. Earning just one vote in the poll was still quite the milestone for the Cardinals as it marked Jewell's first recognition in the poll in program history.
[3 // downtown hounds]
In UIndy’s final day of the Ashland Thanksgiving Classic last Wednesday, UIndy scored 100 points for the third time in the last four games and defeated Tiffin, 101-88. More than half of those points came from beyond the arc as the Greyhounds netted 19 long balls, just one short from tying the team record that the Hounds set last year with 20 against Missouri S&T on Jan. 12, 2017. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that UIndy made those 19 three-pointers in just 22 attempts, good for an 86.4 clip that easily surpassed the previous program record of 80 percent in a game. In fact, while incomplete league records can’t verify the mark as the best ever, it certainly is the top perimeter percentage over the last decade. UW-Parkside held the previous mark of 81.8 (9-of-11), set against Missouri S&T on Jan. 10, 2009. UIndy’s 86.4 percentage is also the best in NCAA Division II this year. Individually, Trevor Lakes' 6-for-6 effort from beyond the arc was the first time a Greyhound was perfect from three-point land with at least five attempts since Jerry Niese went 5-for-5 on Jan. 24, 1987. GLVC records, which measures percentage on a minimum of six three-pointers made, indicate Lakes is the sixth league standout to be perfect from the perimeter, and the first since Southern Indiana’s Bobo Drummond was 7-for-7 beyond the arc against Lees-McRae on Nov. 18, 2015. Of note, Kentucky Wesleyan’s Rodney Edgerson holds the best perfect mark, having gone 10-for-10 from downtown at UW-Parkside on Jan. 25, 2007.
[4 // news and notes]
In addition to UIndy’s perimeter performance last week, Drury was active again from beyond the arc. After netting a GLVC season-high 19 treys against Ottawa on Nov. 10, the Panthers attempted a GLVC season-high and team-record 40 three-pointers in Saturday’s 100-90 win over Lincoln. Drury was 17-for-40 (.425) from long-range for the game. The Panthers broke their previous mark of 37 three-point attempts set in their season-opening win over Ottawa. After dropping the first two games on the season, Illinois Springfield has won five straight for the first time since the 2008-09 season, before the Prairie Stars transitioned to Division II. Quincy head coach Ryan Hellenthal picked up his first career win as the Hawks defeated Illinois College 83-77 last Friday. William Jewell has opened the season 7-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 season, one which the Cardinals began 19-0. In individual honors, Bellarmine senior Brent Bach was named the MVP of the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic last week. Against Lynn, he poured in a career-high 21 points, including the game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds left, and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in the No. 3 Knights’ win over No. 8 Barry.
[5 // among the nation’s best]
In the recent statistical report published by the NCAA, several GLVC teams and individuals rank among the nation’s top 10 in select categories. UIndy is first in three-point field goal percentage (52.1), while Drury is third in assist-turnover ratio (2.06) and turnover margin (8.8), ninth in three-pointers per game (12.4) and 10th in assists per game (20.6). Bellarmine is sixth in field goal percentage (53.2) and Southern Indiana is sixth in rebounding margin (13.0). McKendree is ninth in steals per game (10.5) and turnovers forced (19.25), and 10th in turnover margin (6.5), while William Jewell ranks ninth in free throws made (141) and 10th with three-point field goal attempts (193). Individually, UIndy’s Eric Davidson is first in the country in free-throw percentage (100.0) and seventh in three-point field-goal percentage (60.0). McKendree’s Gianni Otto (10.0), USI’s Marcellous Washington (7.0) and Drury’s Conley Garrison (5.67) are third, fifth and 10th, respectively, in assist-turnover ratio. Drury’s John Williams (75.7) and Truman’s Zach Fischer (69.4) are third and 10th in field-goal percentage. In total rebounds, William Jewell’s Pharroh Gordon ranks ninth (75).