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 play continues]
Conference play returns to the hardwood in GLVC men's basketball action this week, with seven games on the docket for both Thursday and Saturday. Thursday's competition is headlined by Missouri-St. Louis traveling to Illinois Springfield. UMSL (11-3, 2-2 GLVC) is one of just two GLVC teams to have already eclipsed the 10-win mark this season, while the Prairie Stars (9-4, 2-1) are looking to rebound from a Saturday loss to McKendree that ended their seven-game winning streak. Saturday's matinees are headlined by Truman State at top-ranked Bellarmine. The Bulldogs enter the week 3-1 in GLVC play, while Bellarmine is the lone unbeaten squad at 3-0. The two teams will square off against Southern Indiana and Quincy, respectively, on Thursday. Rockhurst squeezed in a non-conference contest on Tuesday, topping Kansas Christian, 115-76. For a complete look at this week’s action,
click here.
[2 // the week that was]
Despite a trio of Saints eclipsing the 20-point mark, top-ranked Bellarmine avoided an upset last Saturday, using a pair of 20-point scorers of its own to beat Maryville in overtime, 89-83. The Knights, who defeated UMSL 66-53 on Thursday, are now 3-0 in league play. Curtis Lewis made two driving layups in the final two minutes and finished with 25 points and three steals to lead Rockhurst past Drury 62-60 on Saturday. The win was the Hawks' first triumph over Drury since Jan. 2, 2011 and ended a 14-game losing streak to the Panthers, while improving them to 3-1 in GLVC action. On Thursday, Rockhurst edged Missouri S&T, 72-69. Leading by as many as 18 midway through the second half, UIndy was forced to fend off Truman State in the waning minutes to seal its third straight win, 83-79, Saturday. The Greyhounds also opened the week with a league win, topping Quincy 94-67 in Indianapolis. Lewis withstood a second-half rally from Quincy to bounce back with a 75-63 home win, after falling 75-66 to Truman on Thursday. Adam Pischke finished with a season-high 25 points and matched his career high with five three-pointers in the contest against the Hawks. William Jewell was also successful in defending its home court last week, taking an 81-80 decision over Drury and a 108-93 victory over Missouri S&T. Faced with a seven-point deficit at halftime with just 24 points, McKendree put up 53 in the second half against Illinois Springfield to move to 2-1 in GLVC play with a 77-75 win in Springfield. Following the loss to Bellarmine, Missouri-St. Louis responded with a 73-61 win over Southern Indiana to cap the Tritons’ 12-game homestand. The win also snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Screaming Eagles and was the Tritons' first win in the series since 2005-06. For a complete look at last week’s action,
click here. While it’s still early in league play, Truman
currently holds the No. 1 PRS (point rating system) at 4.88, followed by No. 2 Bellarmine at 4.67 and No. 3 Indianapolis at 4.17.
[3 // bellarmine remains unanimous number one, lewis receiving votes in nabc top 25 poll]
For the sixth consecutive week, Bellarmine remains the nation’s unanimous No. 1 team in the NABC/Division II poll,
it was announced Tuesday by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. At 12-0, the Knights are one of just six unbeaten teams left in Division II. For the third-straight poll, Lewis is receiving votes outside the top 25.
[4 // jewell’s hayes earns player of the week honor]
William Jewell senior guard Keith Hayes
was named the GLVC Player of the Week by the league office on Monday. In two league wins last week, the senior guard averaged 31.5 points on 22-of-33 (.667) shooting as well as 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal. In playing all but six of the 80 minutes last week, Hayes notched back-to-back games with career-high points, registering 30 (10-15 FG) against Drury and 33 (12-18 FG) versus Missouri S&T. Against the Miners, he also recorded a career-high 12 field goals made.
[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 tops in the country with a 56.3 field goal percentage, while William Jewell (80.4) and the Knights (79.8) rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in free-throw percentage. Bellarmine is also seventh in scoring margin (18.6). Drury (20.4) is fourth and Bellarmine (19.3) is seventh in assists per game, while the Knights (1.76) and Panthers (1.70) are fourth and sixth, respectively, in assist turnover ratio. William Jewell is eighth in scoring offense (90.4). Individually, Bellarmine’s Adam Eberhard is sixth in the country in field-goal percentage (65.8) and UMSL’s Johnathan Matthews is fifth in free-throw percentage (94.5). William Jewell’s Byron Harp is third in free throws made (106) and fourth in attempts (122), while Keith Hayes is second in field goals made (132), third in field-goal attempts (265), fourth in points (360), and seventh in minutes played (550:22).
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE GLVC
Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the GLVC 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.