No. 19 Northwest at No. 18 Southern Oregon named NAIA DII Game of the Week
NAIA Game of the Week – No. 5
No. 19 Northwest (Wash.) (17-6, 8-4 CCC) at No. 18 Southern Oregon (19-6, 8-5 CCC)
Friday, Feb. 7 | 7:30 p.m. PST | Bob Riehm Arena | Ashland, Ore.
Live Video/Audio/Stats – Provided by Southern Oregon
· With just five games remaining in the regular season, No. 18 Southern Oregon and No. 19 Northwest (Wash.) are playing for several reasons. First, is a berth to the NAIA National Championship. Second, is a top four seed and home-court advantage through the semifinals of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament. Lastly, is a shot at the CCC regular-season title.
· Heading into Friday's match up, Northwest is 2.5 games back of league-leader College of Idaho, while Southern Oregon trails the Coyotes by 3.0 games.
· In the last 10 meetings, which dates back to the 2008-09 season, Northwest holds a 7-3 edge. The Eagles have taken four of the last five meetings, including the most recent one on Jan. 11, 2014.
· Back in January, the Eagles took down then-No. 6 Southern Oregon, 86-84. The difference was the 3-point shot as Northwest went 12-for-23 from long range and Southern Oregon hit only 5-of-12. Northwest's second leading scorer, Michael Russo, did not play in that game as he was out suffering from back spasms.
· In its last four home games in the series, Southern Oregon has dropped three of those contests.
· After a 13-1 start to the year, Southern Oregon has cooled off and gone 6-5 in its last 11 games. In their last four losses however, the Raiders have fallen by four-or-fewer points twice and dropped two overtime contests.
· Most recently, the Raiders tripped up against Northwest Christian (Ore.) on Feb. 1, 93-84, in overtime. Eric Thompson finished with a game-high 28 points.
· On Feb. 1, Northwest took care of Evergreen (Wash.) by a 83-74 score. The Eagles were +13 in scoring points from the foul line.
· Southern Oregon holds a 10-2 record at home this year. Northwest is 6-6 when playing in true road contests.
· Northwest's Michael Greene enters Friday with 1,491 career points following his 24-point effort in the Eagle win over Evergreen. Greene is ranked No. 5 in NAIA Division II in field goal percentage (.634) and leads the team with his 17.1 points per game. The Bellingham, Wash., native also is also a three-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete and was named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America Team twice.
· Nemanja Grujicic has come on strong late in the season for the Eagles and is leading the conference in shooting in league games with a .627 average.
· Eagle head coach, John Van Dyke comes into Friday’s game with 238 career wins and has guided the squad to the past three NAIA Division II National Championships.
· As a team, Southern Oregon leads the conference in shooting percentage (50.2), assists per game (17.9) and rebounding margin (+5.8). The assists average is good for tops in NAIA Division II.
· Southern Oregon's Eric Thompson ranks first on the team and 22nd in the NAIA with 20.6 points per contest. His 1,648 career points is No. 2 on the SOU scoring charts.
· Jeff Bush currently sits No. 2 in the NAIA with 6.8 assists per contest. and his +3.35 assist to turnover ratio is No. 10. He chips in 9.2 points per game.
· Southern Oregon head coach Brian McDermott holds the school record for wins and entered this year with a 248-277 record. Last year, his program established a school best for wins in a single-season (25) and advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Championship.
Note – A special thanks to the Sports Information Departments at Southern Oregon and Northwest for providing portions of the information above.
Additional Notes from Around NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball
(Through games played on Feb. 5, 2014)
· On Feb. 2, Oregon Tech head coach Danny Miles became the second-ever coach in any level of men's college basketball to hit 1,000 wins. The 71-51 win over Corban (Ore.) earned him the rare milestone in coaching annals. Miles is in his 43rd season at Oregon Tech and now trails only Harry Statham of NCAA Division II McKendree (Ill.) in career wins. For more information, click here.
· Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) head coach Ralph Hodge hit 700 career wins after the Tigers took care of Purdue-Calument (Ind.) on Feb. 1. He currently holds the third-most victories among active Division II coaches, as he is in his 35th season.
· Vasha Davis established an Indiana East men's basketball school record with 27-consecutive made free throws this month. Davis' streak stretched from his last two free throws at Asbury (Ky.) on Jan. 15 through his first four free throws at Saint Louis Pharmacy (Mo.) on Jan. 26. Davis has made 78 percent of his free throws for the season. He also ranks in the top 50 in the NAIA with an overall field goal percentage of .535.
· After the win on Jan. 28 against Taylor (Ind.), coach Mike Lightfoot of Bethel (Ind.) reached 700 career wins and hit that milestone in the third-fastest manner in NAIA annals (in 960 games). He also became the second active Division II head coach to reach the 700-win threshold.
· On Jan. 25, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) coach Steve Ridder hit career win No. 600. In the 59-58 victory over Warner (Fla.), he became the fifth active Division II coach with 600-plus wins.
· Brad Karp of Saint Xavier set the all-time SXU scoring record in the game against Indiana South Bend on Jan. 11. His 28 points pushed his career total to 2,530 points. Karp joins NCAA Division I standout Doug McDermott of Creighton (Iowa) as the only two active men's college basketball players in the nation with over 2,500 career points.
· From Jan. 24 - 26, the 11th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers weekend occurred to raise awareness about the fight against cancer. Both divisions of NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches will continue to conduct a national effort of fund raising for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and American Cancer Society. Follow CoachesvsCancer on Facebook and @CoachesvsCancer on Twitter and leverage your social media channels using the hashtag #SuitsAndSneakers to share your school and coach’s participation in Suits And Sneakers. For more information, click here.
· There are no teams in Division II with an undefeated record. Dordt (Iowa) (24-2) has the fewest losses with two.
· Dordt also has the most victories with 24. Overall, 14 teams have posted 20-or-more wins thus far.
· One team is still searching for its first victory.
· For the third-straight poll, Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) remained in the No. 1 position in the seventh regular-season edition of the Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. For the complete release, click here.
· Chris Solomon of Northwood (Fla.) was named this week’s NAIA National Division II Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. For the complete release, click here.
· Other Top 25 matchups this week:
o Tuesday – No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan def. No. 14 Huntington (Ind.), 82-71|
o Wednesday – No. 17 Bethel (Ind.) def. No. 11 Saint Francis (Ind.), 85-82
o Saturday – No. 24 Marian (Ind.) at No. 17 Bethel (Ind.)
o Saturday – No. 6 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) at No. 25 Southeastern (Fla.)
o Saturday – No. 21 Robert Morris (Ill.) at No. 1 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)