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 // greyhounds, miners get early jump on league action]
With wintry weather postponing its league contest two weeks ago, Missouri S&T once again welcomed Indianapolis to Rolla for a GLVC game to open the week. UIndy head coach Stan Gouard made history on in the Greyhounds’ 75-74 win over Missouri S&T on Monday, stepping into sole possession of second place in program history with 196 career wins. The Hounds held an eight-point lead at the break before holding off the Miner attack. UIndy shot just 28.6 percent from 3-point range, but attempted 21 more free throws to control the charity stripe. Marcus Latham reached the free throw line 17 times in the win, finishing with a game-high 18 points along with CJ Hardaway. Looking ahead to Thursday, Bellarmine will host Drury as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase, which will be streamed on NCAA social media as well as all GLVCSN platforms. Saturday’s slate features one game (Rockhurst at Lewis) involving teams currently inside the top-eight of the GLVC Point Rating System (PRS).
[2 // the week that was]
While last Thursday’s league games saw just two teams reach the 80-point mark, it was a high-scoring night on Saturday with seven total teams scoring more than 80 points, thanks in large part to impressive individual outings. All-American Adam Eberhard poured in a career-high 33 points to help top-ranked Bellarmine improve to 16-0 with a tough 82-71 road win at Rockhurst. Casey Teson posted a career-high 38 points – the second-highest output in the GLVC this season – to help Maryville defeat Truman State, 85-78. Delaney Blaylock poured in a career-high 33 points and Kendale McCullum finished one rebound shy of a triple-double (21 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds) in Lewis’ 99-70 win at Indianapolis. Southern Indiana had to withstand a second half run by William Jewell to post a 98-79 victory. Kobe Caldwell added 11 points in the second half and finished with a season-high 29 points. A three-pointer by Bahari Amaya with 10.4 seconds remaining capped a big comeback for Illinois Springfield in an 88-87 home win over Drury. Amaya finished with a career-high 24 points, with 18 of those coming in the second half and eight coming in the final four minutes. McKendree’s Nolan Gerling led all scorers with 25 points and Logan Kohrmann added 20, but Missouri S&T was able to snap an 11-game skid with a 72-69 win in Lebanon. Johnathan Matthews posted 22 points to help UMSL past Quincy, 83-74.
[3 // bellarmine remains unanimous number one in nabc top 25 poll; usi, umsl earn votes]
For the eighth 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. The Knights improved to 16-0 on the season after road wins at William Jewell and Rockhurst last week. The pair of league victories extended Bellarmine’s best start in school history while improving to 7-0 in GLVC play. Also receiving national recognition this week is Southern Indiana (13-4, 5-2 GLVC) and Missouri-St. Louis (14-4, 5-3), which picked up votes outside the top 25.
[4 // knights’ eberhard, flyers’ mccullum stuffing the stat sheets]
Bellarmine’s Adam Eberhard was named the GLVC Player of the Week by the league office on Monday. In two league wins on the road last week, the senior forward averaged 27.5 points on 19-of-29 (.655) shooting as well as 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. Eberhard, who turned in the second-highest scoring output last week with a career-high 33 points against Rockhurst, has become accustomed to stuffing the stat sheet during his career at Bellarmine, just like fellow Bevo Francis Award nominee Kendale McCullum has been doing in his first year at Lewis. The Flyer newcomer sat out last year after transferring from UW-Parkside and is now turning in a stellar senior season. In a non-conference game against Indiana Northwest and a GLVC road win at UIndy last week, McCullum averaged 19.5 points, 9.5 assists, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, which included a near-miss of a triple double against UIndy with 21 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds and four steals. In terms of per-game averages for the season, Eberhard leads the GLVC in scoring (21.6) and field-goal percentage (.673), is third in assists (5.06) and free-throw percentage (.890), fifth in assist-turnover ratio (2.38), and 15th in rebounding (5.5). McCullum ranks first in assists (6.33) and steals (2.47), eighth in scoring (15.8), 11th in assist-turnover ratio (1.94) and 15th in field-goal percentage (.534).
[5 // glvc teams, standouts among the nation’s best]
A handful of GLVC teams and individuals rank among the nation’s top 10 in select categories of the latest NCAA statistical report. Bellarmine is tops in the country with a 55.8 field-goal percentage, third in scoring margin (19.6), and fourth in free-throw percentage (80.0). Drury (20.3) is third and Bellarmine (19.6) is fifth in assists per game, while the Knights (1.83) and Panthers (1.68) are second and seventh, respectively, in assist turnover ratio. Individually, Bellarmine’s Adam Eberhard is third in the country in field-goal percentage (67.3). William Jewell’s Byron Harp is fourth in free throws made (118) and seventh in attempts (138), while McKendree’s Nate Michael is sixth in free-throw percentage (92.3). Jewell’s Keith Hayes is eighth in field goals made (146).
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.
