INDIANAPOLIS – The new calendar year is young into 2021 as a new Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week from Cedarville was announced on Monday afternoon.
The Great Midwest went out with a bang to end 2020 and move into the year. The weekend slate of games was packed with some exciting moments including a half-court buzzer beater between nationally ranked teams, another last-second heave from deep to end it from the corner and the first triple-double recorded around Division II this season.
Several others officially made their season debuts and the race for a coveted postseason berth in the Great Midwest Championship tournament is in full swing.
For Findlay (5-0, 4-0), Tommy Schmock's heroics earned him No. 7 in the ESPN SportsCenter top plays, a shoutout on the Scott Van Pelt show, notice from beat writer Wayne Cavadi in the weekly Division II hoops report and thousands of views on the web as he lifted the 10th-ranked Oilers over No. 23 Hillsdale (3-1, 3-1) on Saturday.
With two seconds on the clock, the senior guard received the inbounds pass from Nathan Bruns before letting it fly with the game tied at 65-65. It was a thrilling matchup between two undefeated programs and the dueling co-regular season champions from a year ago.
Schmock was already a defensive lockdown artist/passing wizard and his outside shooting is top 5 nationally as his game continues evolve into another level. Hillsdale was in control for the first half, carrying a 12-point lead.
Lake Erie (0-1, 0-1), Malone (0-1, 0-1) and Walsh (1-0, 1-0), all saw the court for the first time in 2020-21. The back-to-back defending conference champion Cavaliers had a wild ending of their own as Kaleb Martin sank a three from the corner to beat the final horn.
Senior guard Darryl Straughter hasn't missed a beat as he led all players with 29 points. Straughter is closing in on 7th place among all-time conference leading scorers, now just 13 points away from moving up.
Ohio Dominican (1-2, 1-1) clawed its way into the win column for the first time vs. Lake Erie as Sean Marks led the way with 18 points. Just a sophomore, Marks is the league's top scorer (19.3 ppg) among players with more than 1 game played.
Malone threw Akron a scare in exhibition action last weekend and fell by one point on the road at Trevecca Nazarene (2-5, 2-3). The Trojans have played seven games, most of anyone around the league, while navigating a shorthanded roster for most of that stretch. 7-footer Adam Webb had 22 points and 13 boards. It was the second of two games in the week for the Trojans, falling to Kentucky Wesleyan (2-2, 1-2) on New Year's Eve in a defensive struggle.
Cedarville (1-1, 1-1) is back at full strength and demonstrated how scary the projected rotation can be as the Yellow Jackets put up over 100 points on Tiffin (2-2, 2-2). It was their first game since Dec. 11 and the foursome of Conner TenHove, Branden Maughmer, Quinton Green and Kollin Van Horn all shot over 50 percent from the field and scored double figures.
Men's Basketball Player of the Week
Branden Maughmer
Cedarville
Guard
Junior
Chilicothe, OH (Chilicothe HS)
In his season debut, Maughmer recorded the first triple-double in the Great Midwest since Chandler Vaudrin (formerly of Walsh and now at Winthrop) did so in 2017-18 more than a couple of times while leading in the nation in the category.
It was also the first triple-double in Division II this year as Maughmer finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, against Tiffin. Last year, the junior guard was just two assists shy of the rare feat in an OT win against former league member Central State.
Maughmer was 8-of-15 from the field while four of his 11 rebounds were of the offensive variety. He added a block and two steals in 33 minutes of court time.
His 10 assists were a new career best after recording 8 two different times as a sophomore. He also crossed the 900-point threshold in his career, poised for the 1,000 Club in the near future.
Maughmer has legitimate Conference player of the year potential on a stacked Yellow Jackets program that was picked second in the preseason coaches poll. He is a two-time all-conference team selection, cracking the first team list in 2019-20, and also earning spot on the all-defensive team.
His younger brother, Jayvon, is next in line for the family as a 6-5 freshman while he made his first career start vs. Ohio Valley in December.
Cedarville's season is just getting started after starting vs. Ohio Valley and playing out an exhibition against Akron the following day. The Yellow Jackets are lined up with a three-game road swing this week against Ohio Dominican (Tuesday), Trevecca Nazarene (Thursday) and Kentucky Wesleyan (Saturday).