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 // jewell tops umkc in exhibition to start the week]
William Jewell kicked off this week’s GLVC men’s basketball action by knocking off Division I Missouri-Kansas City 86-74 at Municipal Auditorium on Tuesday night in an exhibition game. Keith Hayes poured in a game high 31 points, including 22 in the first half, to go along with seven rebounds. Byron Harp and Patrick Whelan each added 15 points while Koch chipped in 11. Pharroh Gordon collected a game-high 10 rebounds. GLVC teams are back on the hardwood this week with conference games on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday's action will feature UW-Parkside at Southern Indiana and Bellarmine at Indianapolis in East Division battles, while the rest of the night's play is split between Central and West Division teams. Thursday’s marquee interdivisional matchup pits West leader Truman State at Central leader Maryville, which has captured the past five games. 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 // "harry versus larry" makes men’s college basketball history]
And while Monday’s exhibition win over NCAA Division I Missouri-Kansas City did not count towards William Jewell head coach Larry Holley’s official win total, it does put the spotlight on the Cardinals’ road contest at McKendree on Thursday. Pacing the sidelines along with Holley will be McKendree’s Harry Statham – the all-time winningest college basketball coach across all men’s and women’s divisions. When the ball tips Thursday, the two legendary coaches will have combined for 2,022 wins and 99 seasons of coaching. Statham has achieved 1,121 career wins spanning 52 years at McKendree (1967-present), while Holley recently eclipsed the 900-win mark and enters Thursday with 901 victories across 47 years at three different stops (Central Methodist, 1969-75; Northwest Missouri State, 1977-79; William Jewell, 1979-present). Based on official records, Thursday will mark the first time two men’s basketball coaches across any division will share the court with more than 2,000 combined wins. The milestone will be matched on Feb. 24 when Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (1,089 current wins/42 years) and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (916 current wins/41 years) will meet in Durham, N.C. Boeheim’s total reflects the 101 wins vacated between 2004-07 and 2010-12. Currently, Statham ranks first in all-time wins, followed by Krzyzewski in second, Boeheim in eighth, and Holley in 10th. A win by Jewell on Thursday would bring Holley’s career total to 902 wins, tying him for ninth all-time with Bob Knight. Of note, the 2,000-combined coaching victories milestone occurred earlier this season in women’s basketball when Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer (1,012 wins at the time/39 years) squared off against UConn’s Geno Auriemma (991 wins at the time/33 years) with 2,003 combined wins on Nov. 12, 2017.
[3 // bellarmine moves into top five of nabc top 25 poll]
Bellarmine improved one position and is the lone GLVC program ranked in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll,
it was announced Tuesday. The Knights (17-1, 8-1 GLVC) went 2-0 last week with home wins over Drury (82-62) and Missouri S&T (85-50). Bellarmine moved into the top five after former No. 2 Northwest Missouri State suffered a loss, which dropped them to No. 7 this week.
[4 // last week’s peak performances]
A number of peak performances were charted last week, including Cristen Wilson scoring a career-high (and GLVC season-high) 38 points as Lewis held off William Jewell to pick up a 94-92 victory on Saturday. Wilson scored 25 of his 38 points in the second half on 9-of-12 shooting and also had 15 rebounds in the win. It was the 10th time a GLVC standout has eclipsed the 30-point mark this year. The last bucket to fall last Monday might have been the best one of the week as Andrew Ballock's three-pointer from the corner as time expired in overtime gave Drury a 98-96 win at Truman State. The Panthers, who earned their seventh straight win, were led by freshman Conley Garrison's career-high 23 points, while the Bulldogs were paced by Jake Velky's game-high 25 points. Brent Bach netted a career high of 28 points, while Adam Eberhard totaled 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to help Bellarmine to a 78-62 win over rival Southern Indiana. On Thursday, UW-Parkside knocked off its second straight top-25 opponent with an 80-66 victory at home over No. 25 William Jewell. Goran Zagorac went for his second straight double-double, finishing with a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds while Jameel Moore was just one point shy of tying his career high, going for 27 points, five rebounds and five assists. In USI's 98-78 home victory over Missouri S&T, freshman forward Emmanuel Little was dominating with a season-high of 29 points and 21 rebounds in recording the first Eagles' 20-20 game since Aaron Nelson recorded 24 points and 23 rebounds on January 9, 2014, also versus Missouri S&T. Quincy gave first-year head coach Ryan Hellenthal his first GLVC win with a 69-67 road victory at McKendree. Casey Teson hit a jumper with 6.8 seconds left in the game to boost Maryville to a thrilling 70-69 victory at Missouri-St. Louis. Curtis Lewis went for 29 points and Quinton Curry had 14 points and 10 rebounds in Rockhurst's 79-70 win at Lewis, and Truman's Jake Velky netted 23 points to lead the Bulldogs to their first over UIndy in school history with an 86-80 victory in Indianapolis. In addition to Wilson’s 38 points in the Flyers’ win on Saturday, Bellarmine posted an 85-50 victory over Missouri S&T to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 54 games.
[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 (52.7) and Drury (50.7) are second and 10th in field-goal percentage, while the Knights are second in scoring defense (61.0) and fifth in scoring margin (17.2), and the Panthers are eighth in scoring offense (89.8). Drury (44.4), UIndy (43.2) and Bellarmine (42.7) rate first, fifth and seventh, respectively, in three-point field goal percentage, while Drury is third in three-point field goals per game (12.9). Truman (1.56) and Drury (1.56) are eighth and ninth in assist/turnover ratio. Missouri S&T (244) is fourth in fewest fouls and Maryville is ninth in rebounding margin (9.9). Individually, USI’s Alex Stein is second in the country in free-throw percentage (95.1), followed by UIndy’s Eric Davidson in eighth (92.5). UW-Parkside’s Adam Bonk (52.7) is third in three-point field-goal percentage, and Truman’s Zach Fischer (67.4) and Maryville’s Nolan Berry (65.7) are seventh and ninth in field goal percentage. Fischer also ranks fourth with 12 double-doubles, while William Jewell’s Pharroh Gordon is fifth in defensive rebounds per game (8.45).