The following “Starting Five” points offer a quick look inside GLVC men’s basketball action this week:
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[1 // light court action during finals week]
With finals week taking place across several campuses, GLVC men's basketball returns to the court with just 10 games scheduled over four days, including a Monday matchup that saw a game with 23 lead changes and 16 ties as William Jewell pulled out a 92-90 overtime win over Avila. Keith Hayes tied Pharroh Gordon with a game-high 25 points, while Gordon secured a double-double with 13 rebounds and Hayes contributed four assists and two steals. Eysan Wiley posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while also swatting four blocked shots in the win. Wednesday's St. Francis at Lewis matchup has now been switched to a road contest for the Flyers, with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Joliet, Illinois. Four contests are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. McKendree and Quincy will be in Quincy, Illinois for back-to-back non-conference matchups between Grand Valley State and Lincoln on Saturday and Sunday. Rockhurst welcomes Emporia State on Saturday, while Illinois Springfield brings in Purdue Northwest. On Sunday, Southern Indiana hosts Midway and Drury heads south to battle Barry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For a complete look at this week’s action,
click here.
[2 // taking a look back]
Looking back at GLVC action last week, a number of season highs were set by league programs. UMSL recorded a season-high 19 steals in a 90-47 win over visiting Lindenwood-Belleville. Rockhurst packed Mason-Halpin Field House for its renewed rivalry against Benedictine (Kan.) last week – a game that featured 10 lead changes and ended with a 72-67 victory for the Hawks. Two GLVC programs hit the century mark in wins on Friday as Drury defeated Central Christian (Kan.) 100-78 and Truman State topped Central Christian College of the Bible, 118-47. Elsewhere, No. 1 Bellarmine rolled to an 87-52 victory over visiting Christian Brothers on Saturday at Knights Hall, where the Knights extended their home court winning streak to 60 games. Preseason All-American Adam Eberhard finished just two assists shy of a triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Two more teams eclipsed 100 points on Saturday. Jerome Davis tallied his first career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as Maryville cruised to a 106-47 win over Lindenwood-Belleville. The Saints hit their first 10 shots of the game and finished with a 62.9 percent field goal percentage (39-of-62). The 106 points scored are the fifth most in school history. Maryville did not miss a shot over the first eight minutes and 13 seconds of the game. William Jewell put up the highest point total in a single game in the NCAA era to down Kansas Christian 123-75. The 123 point output surpasses the 118 points the Cardinals scored against Baptist Bible College back on November 22, 2011 to break the NCAA era record. Elsewhere, Quincy held off a tough Hannibal-LaGrange team for a 72-70 win. The Hawks front court of Ryan Briscoe, Jah-Kobe Womack, and Demetrius Houston combined for 46 of the Hawks 72 points. For a look back at last week’s action,
click here.
[3 // bellarmine remains unanimous number one, uindy, lewis receiving votes in nabc top 25 poll]
For the fourth consecutive week, Bellarmine was unanimously selected as the top-ranked team in the NABC/Division II poll as the top four spots from the third poll remained unchanged,
it was announced Tuesday by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Bellarmine (7-0) remained unbeaten with an 87-52 victory over Christian Brothers, which pushed the Knights’ Division II-leading home winning streak to 60 games. Indianapolis (6-2) and Lewis (5-1) are both receiving votes outside the top 25. Lewis returns to the court at Saint Francis on Wednesday, while UIndy will square off against Pittsburg State in Las Vegas on Sunday. Bellarmine is idle until next Monday when it welcomes Barry, which just moved from 16th to 12th in this week’s poll.
[4 // drury’s garrison stuffs the sheet for first career weekly conference honor]
Drury sophomore guard Conley Garrison
was named Monday as GLVC Player of the Week. Garrison earned his first career award after scoring a career-high 36 points on 12-of-17 (.706) shooting, including 7-of-11 (.636) from three-point land and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, in the Panthers’ 100-78 win over Central Christian College. He also dished five assists, pulled down three rebounds and recorded two steals in 34 minutes of action, and his now averaging 25.5 points over his last four games. His 36 points were the most by a Drury player since Alex Hall scored 36 against St. Gregory’s on Dec. 18, 2010.
[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 is first in field-goal percentage (57.3) and sixth in scoring margin (18.4). Drury is first in assists per game (21.8) and seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.69). Missouri-St. Louis is eighth in total steals (96). William Jewell is first in three-point field goals (145) and attempts (408), fifth in free throws made (198) and seventh in free throw attempts (246), and sixth in free-throw percentage (80.5). The Cardinals are also second in total rebounds (483) and eighth in total blocks (47). William Jewell’s Keith Hayes is first in field goal attempts (219) and makes (101), fifth in three-point field goal attempts (95) and seventh in three-pointers made (37). Jewell’s Eysan Wiley is third in double-doubles (6) and blocks (34), and ninth in blocked shots per game (2.62). Teammate Byron Harp is first in free-throw attempts (93) and second in makes (80). Hayes and Harp are first and second in minutes played, and second (269) and sixth (239) in total points. McKendree’s Giovanni Offard is seventh in assist-turnover ratio (4.00), while Lewis’ Kendale McCullum is ninth in assists per game (6.8). UMSL’s Johnathan Matthews is fifth in free-throw percentage (95.6) and teammate Shane Wissink is seventh in total steals (27).
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE GLVC
Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. A number of men’s basketball programs have already been recognized and are featured below. For a complete list of the GLVC’s 40
th anniversary campaign,
click here.