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 // rockhurst, jewell set to play again]
GLVC men's basketball action is back in action this Thursday and Saturday with seven contests each day and all 14 games streamed live and free on all GLVCSN platforms. In a quick turnaround, Rockhurst and William Jewell will meet once again after Jewell defeated the Hawks in Kansas City last Thursday, 76-72. Now Rockhurst makes the short trip to Liberty for a 7:30 p.m. CT tip against a Jewell team looking to get back in the win column after falling to then-No. 3 Bellarmine on Saturday. The Knights remain on the road with stops at Lewis on Thursday and UW-Parkside on Saturday. UIndy will also have stiff East Division competition this week with a road trip to Southern Indiana on Thursday and a home game against Lewis on Saturday. McKendree will host Maryville on Thursday and then hit the road to St. Louis to battle UMSL on Saturday. The Tritons play at Illinois Springfield Thursday and then the Prairie Stars travel to Quincy on Saturday. Truman State will be on the road all week with stops at Missouri S&T and Rockhurst. Drury is idle again on Thursday and back on the court Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip against Missouri S&T. For a complete look at this week’s action,
click here.
[2 // bellarmine briefs]
The 2018 calendar year has already been full of headlines for Bellarmine. On Monday, senior guard Brent Bach
was named the GLVC Player of the Week after averaging 20.5 points on 17-of-26 shooting (.654), 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals in two wins against GLVC divisional leaders Maryville (Central) and William Jewell (West). The latter win, an 80-58 result at William Jewell, gave head coach Scott Davenport his 300th career victory. On Tuesday, the Knights were named the
NABC NCAA Division II National Team of the Week. Later that day, Bellarmine improved to No. 2 in the
latest NABC NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll. The ranking is the highest for Bellarmine or any GLVC team since the Knights concluded last season ranked second in the final poll. Bellarmine (13-0, 4-0 GLVC) received three of the 16 first-place votes and was just five points shy of the No. 1 ranking held by Queens (N.C.), last week's No. 2 team. William Jewell continues to receive votes outside the top 25. The Knights,
who are also ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA media poll, are one of only four undefeated teams remaining in Division II. Within reach is USI’s 16-0 perfect start from a season ago, which was ended by Bellarmine, as well as UIndy’s 17-0 mark from 2014-15 – the last two occasions a GLVC team has competed in January with an unblemished record on the year.
[3 // maryville’s berry, truman’s fischer shining in the stats]
Maryville senior center Nolan Berry and Truman State senior forward Zach Fischer have continued to impress on the hardwood and in the season stats this year as they rank near the top of major statistical categories in the GLVC. Fischer is the only league standout currently averaging a double-double as he is first in rebounding (10.8), sixth in scoring (17.8) and second in field goal percentage (.698). Fischer’s nine double-doubles this year are fifth-most in the country, while his field goal percentage ranks sixth, rebounding average is 11th, and 7.92 defensive rebounds per game are 12th. Berry is currently first in blocked shots (1.6), third in rebounding (9.9), fourth in scoring (18.5), and fifth in field goal percentage (.658). His shooting percentage ranks 14th nationally, while his 7.6 defensive rebounds per game rate 18th-best in the country.
[4 // downtown dominance]
Four GLVC teams currently rank among the top seven NCAA Division II squads in three-point field goal percentage. No. 2 Drury leads the GLVC contingent having made 44.5 percent of their shots from the perimeter. The Panthers are followed by No. 3 Indianapolis (44.4), No. 6 UW-Parkside (43.3) and No. 7 Bellarmine (42.9). Individually, UW-Parkside’s Adam Bonk (55.4) is third nationally from beyond the arc, while UIndy’s Eric Davidson (50.0) ranks ninth. But that’s not to say that GLVC standouts can’t hit from inside the line as well. Bellarmine (53.6), Drury (51.4) and UIndy (50.5) rank second, sixth and 13th, respectively, in field goal percentage, while Truman’s Zach Fischer (69.8), Bellarmine’s Adam Eberhard (66.1) and Maryville’s Nolan Berry (65.8) are sixth, 12th and 14th.
[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 outside the shooting percentages listed above. Bellarmine (18.4) and Drury (17.0) are fifth and seventh, respectively, in scoring margin, while the Knights (1.59) and Panthers (1.61) are 10th and eighth in assist-turnover ratio. Bellarmine is also third in scoring defense (60.8) and 10th in assists per game (19.1), and Drury (12.5) is fourth in three-point field goals per game. Maryville is second in defensive rebounds per game (32.29) and seventh in rebound margin (10.4). Individually, UIndy’s Eric Davidson is first in the country in free-throw percentage (97.5), followed by USI’s Alex Stein in fourth (94.6). William Jewell’s Pharroh Gordon ranks fifth in defensive rebounds per game (8.87) and eighth in total rebounds (139).