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 // holiday provides early start to glvc hoops this week]
GLVC men's basketball action got an early start to the week on Monday as seven divisional games were contested across the conference landscape. Monday’s action was thrilling even down to the final bucket made on the night – Andrew Ballock's three-pointer from the corner as time expired in overtime to give Drury a 98-96 win at Truman State. The Panthers, who won their seventh straight, were led by freshman Conley Garrison's career-high 23 points, while the Bulldogs were paced by Jake Velky's game-high 25 points. In Louisville, No. 2 Bellarmine rebounded from its first loss of the season to improve the nation's longest home winning streak to 52 games with a 78-62 victory over rival Southern Indiana. Brent Bach netted a career high of 28 points, while Adam Eberhard totaled 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the win. Cristen Wilson picked up 17 points and led three Flyers in double figures as Lewis snapped a three-game skid with a 66-58 win at UW-Parkside. Pharroh Gordon and Keith Hayes scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, to give William Jewell an 88-67 win at Missouri S&T. Elsewhere in the league, Nate Bethel came off the bench to record a double-double with a team-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds in helping McKendree snap a four-game skid with a 74-59 win at Illinois Springfield. Maryville defended its home court with an 80-62 victory over Quincy. Forrester Sims led four Saints in double figures with 18 points. Among the notable matchups for the remainder of the week, Bellarmine hosts Drury on Thursday, while USI brings in Truman State on Saturday. All games this week will be seen live and free on all GLVCSN platforms, including GLVCSN.com, GLVCSN iOS/Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV. For a complete look at this week’s action,
click here.
[2 // the week that was]
Monday’s thrilling action was just the continuation of an exciting stretch of action, milestones, and stunners in GLVC play last week. Last Thursday, Keith Hayes scored 25 points against Rockhurst to give William Jewell an 80-65 win, which also marked the 900th career victory for head coach Larry Holley. The Cardinals mentor became just the 10th coach in men's college basketball history, at any level, to reach this prestigious milestone. Also on Thursday, Brodric Thomas was one rebound shy of Truman's second triple-double in as many years as he finished with 34 points (Bulldogs' first 30-point game of 2017-18), 12 assists (tied for second in program history), nine boards, one block, and a steal. In the process, he tied his career high for points (34 at SWCC) while setting a new personal best for assists, field goals made (16) and field goals attempted (30). Headlines were aplenty Saturday as UW-Parkside's Adam Bonk had 16 points and led four other Rangers in double figures as Parkside stunned No. 2 Bellarmine 80-68 in Kenosha. The loss was the first of the season for the Knights, who were led by Adam Eberhard's game-high 24 points. Drury won its sixth straight game while totaling a season high for points and school record for three-pointers made (20-38) in a 118-74 win over Missouri S&T. Truman State defeated Rockhurst 107-95, marking the Bulldogs’ third game over 100 points for the first time since 2014-15. Senior Elijah Watson scored a season-high 24 points, including the game-winner with 0.9 seconds to play, to help Missouri-St. Louis to a 59-57 win over visiting McKendree. The two other league contests went into overtime Saturday. UIndy pulled out an 80-79 overtime victory over Lewis behind Tate Hall’s career-high 25 points, while Ajay Lawton recorded his first-career double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. At Quincy, Illinois Springfield's Gilwan Nelson and Eddie Longmeyer scored 27 and 22 points, respectively, to help the visiting Prairie Stars past the Hawks in overtime, 98-89.
[3 // bellarmine, jewell, uw-parkside recognized nationally by nabc]
Two GLVC men's basketball programs have once again been recognized in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll,
it was announced Tuesday. Bellarmine fell from No. 2 to No. 6, while William Jewell made its return to the poll at No. 25. This past week William Jewell defeated Rockhurst 80-65 in its lone game of the week, while Bellarmine earned a road win at Lewis before falling to UW-Parkside. Earlier on Tuesday, the NABC
selected UW-Parkside as its NCAA Division II National Team of the Week for games played Jan. 8-14. This is the second consecutive week a GLVC team has been honored with the award as Bellarmine was recognized last week.
[4 // bellarmine’s eberhard, usi’s stein named to top 100 watch list for bevo francis award]
Bellarmine junior forward Adam Eberhard and Southern Indiana junior guard Alex Stein have landed on the Top 100 Watch List for the "Bevo" Francis Award,
the organization Small College Basketball announced Monday. The annual award is presented to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball, which spans NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA. Eberhard is first in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage (.594), fifth in shooting percentage (.655), seventh in assists (3.9), ninth in scoring (16.3) and free-throw percentage (.811), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), and 16th in rebounding (6.4). Stein currently ranks second in the league in scoring (19.2), minutes played (34.9) and free-throw percentage (.949), as well as 13th in assists (3.1). The "Bevo" Francis Award Watch List will dwindle to 50 on Feb. 15 and 25 on March 15. The finalists will be announced on March 31 and the winner will be announced on April 2.
[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. Bellarmine (52.9) and Drury (52.1) are third and fifth in field-goal percentage, while the Panthers (17.9) are fourth and the Knights (15.9) are eighth in scoring margin. Bellarmine is second in scoring defense (61.6) and Drury is seventh in scoring offense (92.3). Drury (45.7), UIndy (43.6) and Bellarmine (42.8) rate first, fifth and sixth, respectively, in three-point field goal percentage, while Drury is fourth in three-point field goals per game (13.1). Drury (1.70) and Truman (1.60) are third and ninth in assist/turnover ratio. The Panthers also rate third in the nation in fewest turnovers (149), while Missouri S&T (222) and Maryville (227) are eighth and 10th in fewest fouls. Maryville is sixth in rebounding margin (10.3). Individually, UIndy’s Eric Davidson is second in the country in free-throw percentage (95.7), followed by USI’s Alex Stein in third (94.9). UW-Parkside’s Adam Bonk (52.3) is third in three-point field-goal percentage, and Truman’s Zach Fischer (68.8) and Maryville’s Nolan Berry (66.7) are fifth and ninth in field goal percentage. Fischer also ranks third with 11 double-doubles, while William Jewell’s Pharroh Gordon is 10th with nine, as well as fifth in defensive rebounds per game (8.82).
[bonus // glvc seeking “best eight” tourney teams with point rating system]
The GLVC has adopted new qualifying procedures for its annual men’s and women’s basketball tournaments,
it was formally released two weeks ago. In past years, the winner of the East and West Divisions secured the top two seeds in the 12-team tournament, which was made up of four teams from each division along with four wildcards. The 2018 event will feature an eight-team format with no automatic qualifying bids to divisional champions, nor is there a number of tournament bids allocated for each of the three five-team divisions. The GLVC Point Rating System is designed to provide a team more points for a win on the road or at home against top competition based on conference winning percentage, while distributing fewer points for a win against weaker competition. Points are also distributed for losses, with more points awarded for a loss against stronger competition versus if the team lost at home or on the road to a struggling team.
Heading into Thursday’s contests, Bellarmine owns first place with a rating of 4.50, followed by Southern Indiana (4.17), Drury (3.92), Missouri-St. Louis (3.58) and William Jewell (3.50) in the top five. The remainder of the top eight shows Truman State (3.43) in sixth, Lewis (3.38) in seventh, and Maryville (3.29) and McKendree (3.29) tied for the eighth and final tourney seed.