Standings G-MAC Record
Cedarville 2-1 (wins over Central State and Urbana)
Central State 2-1 (wins over Trevecca Nazarene and Urbana)
Trevecca 2-1 (win over Cedarville and Urbana)
Urbana 0-3 (no wins in conference)
Remaining Contests
Cedarville
vs. Trevecca (H - 2/9); vs. Urbana (H - 2/12); vs. Central State (A - 2/19)
Central State
vs. Trevecca (H - 2/11); vs. Cedarville (H - 2/19); vs. Urbana (A - 2/27)
Trevecca
vs. Cedarville (A - 2/9); vs. Central State (A 2/11); vs. Urbana (H - 2/23)
Urbana
vs. Cedarville (A - 2/12); vs. Trevecca (A - 2/23); vs. Central State (H - 2/27)
What To Look For
With three teams tied for the league lead, it comes down to only a few games. Can Urbana win its first conference game - taking one or two teams out of contention for the top seed and the right to host the Conference Tournament.
Cedarville and Central State each have two home games, while Trevecca Nazarene and Urbana each have two road contests remaining. Trevecca has the toughest stretch remaining as they will travel to Cedarville on February 9 and then to Central State on February 11. More than likely, the top seed won’t be decided until the end of the month as Urbana hosts Trevecca on Feb 23 and travels to Central State on February 27. Cedarville’s conference schedule ends on the 19th on the road at Central State. That is most likely the first time the seeding picture might begin to clear up, but at the same time it could be as tight as ever.
At this point, if one team can win out - they obviously earn the right to host the G-MAC Championship. However, if the teams continue to beat each other up, then we will have to utilize the tiebreaking procedures.
First Half Summary
The inaugural season of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball has been a balanced one. Through three conference games (of six total conference games), three teams sit in a three-way tie for first place. Cedarville University, who has victories over Central State and Urbana, but lost to Trevecca), Trevecca, who has wins over Cedarville and Urbana, but lost to Central State, and Central State, who has wins over Trevecca and Urbana, but lost to Cedarville), all have a claim to the top spot and will battle over the second half of the season in an effort to earn the top seed and right to host the G-MAC Championships.
Cedarville
The Yellow Jackets are 12-8 overall, but have come on strong of late. They started the season 2-5 against a very difficult schedule that featured Holy Family, #4 West Liberty, Findlay, (RV) Grand Valley State. Following the difficult start to the season, Cedarville posted five-straight wins and won 10 of 13 games, including two of three conference games.
In conference, CU began the G-MAC schedule with a road loss, 74-70, at Trevecca Nazarene. However, they rebounded quickly to take a road contest at Urbana, 78-61, before handing Central State its first conference loss, 74-65. The win over the Marauders was the first home conference game for the Yellow Jackets.
Leading the Yellow Jackets has been the senior duo of Zimmy Nwogbo and Austin Foote. Nwogbo is third in the conference in scoring with 18.1 ppg (as of Jan. 29), while Foote is eighth with 12.1 points per game. Zach Brown ranks tenth in scoring and gives Cedarville a third player averaging in double-figures with 11.3 points per game.
Nwogbo’s value doesn’t stop as the team’s leading scorer, he leads the conference in rebounding with 7.8 rebounds a game, and in shooting with a percentage of .646 (128-198). Both Foote and Nwogbo have been named G-MAC Athlete of the Week twice each.
As a team, Cedarville leads the league in scoring offense (74.9 points a game) and is second in scoring defense (70.9 points per game). The Yellow Jackets lead the G-MAC in Free Throw percentage (72.8%), Field Goal percentage (48.4%), Three-Point percentage (36.1), Defensive Rebounds (32.3), and Assist to Turnover Ratio (0.9).
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Pat Estepp commented of his team’s performance and looking forward to the conclusion of the conference schedule: "We are just trying to stay healthy and start playing our best basketball. We have some very tough games coming up and with this few G-MAC teams, no one is really out of it."
Central State
The Marauders are 12-6 and rank first in the conference in overall winning percentage. Similar to the Yellow Jackets, CSU started slowly (1-3) before a three-game win streak and a conference-high eight-game win streak. The most recent eight-game win streak was ended by Cedarville in Central State’s first conference loss.
In the conference, Central State started with a road win, 71-64, over Trevecca and followed it with a 91-82 win at home over Urbana for their eighth straight win. As stated above, the streak ended at Cedarville a few days later.
Guiding the Marauders success is the conference’s leading scorer, DeMarkus Isom-Jones, who has been named Athlete of the Week once. Isom-Jones is scoring 19.8 points per game, and is among the conference’s best long range shooters.
Isom-Jones ranks second in free throw shooting (83.3%), and ranks as the top three-point shooter in conference, shooting 44.4% and making 40 total three-pointers. His 40 makes are 10 more than anyone else in conference. Phillip Gates joins Isom-Jones in double-figures with 12.8 points per game, ranking seventh in conference and leads the conference with 6.0 assists per game, while Lee Tabb is fifth in rebounding (5.6 rpg).
As a team, Central is second in scoring offense with 74.7 points per game (0.2 points per game behind Cedarville), but ranks first in scoring defense, giving up only 70.6 points per game (0.3 points ahead of Cedarville). The Marauders therefore lead the G-MAC in scoring margin (+4.2 points per game).
Central’s defense shows in shooting percentage defense, as opponents shoot only 41.4 % from the field and 30.9% from long range. CSU also leads the conference in offensive rebounding (39.1 per game) and rebounding margin (+4.8 rebounds per game). With the league’s leader in assists, the team leads the conference with 13.7 assists a game as a team.
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Donte Jackson said of his team’s performance through the first half of the season: “At this point in the season we tied with for first place in the conference with two great schools. I believe we need to finish the season strong by building on our defensive intensity and keep playing good team basketball.
Earlier in the season, our backcourt of Phillip Gates and DeMarkus Isom-Jones carried us but I expect some other guys to step up because they are becoming more comfortable with their roles.”
Trevecca Nazarene
The Trojans, who are still playing a partial NAIA schedule as they transition through year two of the NCAA Division II membership process, are 7-12 overall, but showing they can compete at the NCAA DII level. TNU seemed to follow suit as they struggled early, winning its first game of the season, but then dropped the next eight games and 10 of 12. Since the losing streak ended, the Trojans are 6-4 and heading in the right direction.
In conference, they won their first contest at home against Cedarville, 74-70, but dropped its next home game to visiting Central State, 71-64. TNU rebounded to win its first conference road game over Urbana and create a three-way tie atop the G-MAC standings at the midpoint of the conference schedule.
Leading the way for the Trojans is the duo of Marquise Rudolph, who ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with 14.8, just ahead of teammate Maliek Daniels, who is fifth with 14.2 points per game. TNU also features two of the top four rebounders in the conference - JP Nyadaro and Daniels, who have each earned G-MAC Athlete of the Week honors this season, rank third and fourth in rebounding with 6.8 and 6.7 rebounds per game respectively. Rudolph, a two-time G-MAC Athlete of the Week, leads the conference with 2.3 steals per game.
As a team, TNU scores only 66.4 points per game and allows 71.7 points per game to its opponents, but the Trojans lead the conference in blocked shots and turnover margin.
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Sam Harris said of his team’s performance in the first half of the season: “I'd like to think our team is coming together at the right time, and hopefully we can play solid basketball over the last month of the season. I think more than anything, every team in the conference has a quality program. Obviously the team that can win on the road will end up on top.
Every team is pretty similar. The team that makes the right play at the right time will win. We want to make sure that we're playing our best ball at the end of year as we approach the tournament. To succeed down the stretch our players need to play with a sense of urgency and realize every possession is crucial for us to come out on top. We need to play with a consistency on both ends of the floor and have everyone contribute when they are on the floor.”
Urbana
The Blue Knights are 9-13 overall, but are also still looking for their first conference victory as they stand 0-3 in the G-MAC. Urbana is third in overall scoring with 74.0 points a game, but give up a league-high 75.5 points a game.
Urbana is the only team on the men’s side that hasn’t gone through long streaks. The Blue Knights have four different two-game win streaks, and has two three-game losing streaks and two two-game losing streaks.
Individually, Armond Battle is second in the league in scoring with 19.6 points per game, only 0.2 points behind league leader DeMarkus Isom-Jones (Central State). Teammate Danny Goins is sixth in the conference in scoring with 14.1 points per game. The duo is scoring 33.7 points a game, which is the highest combined points from any of the team’s top two scorers.
Battle holds the record for points scored in a game in conference when he dropped 34 points against Edinboro early this season (11/27/12). He has two 30-point games, and has nine 20-point contests, one behind conference leader Isom-Jones (ten 20-point games).
Casey Baker ranks second in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds a game, while Battle is second in steals (2.1 per game) and Goins is second in free throw percentage (81.3%).
As a team, the Blue Knights are the best team in the conference in steals (9.0 per game) and offensive rebounding (12.8 rebounds per game). Urbana established the early record for points scored when they put up 98 points over winter break on its trip to Hawaii, in a victory over Hawaii-Pacific.