RSC Men's Basketball Weekly Report -- Dec. 1, 2016 #RSC #RSCMBB #NAIADIIMBB
FLORENCE, Ky. -- The River States Conference still has fall sports teams competing in NAIA National Championship events, but the basketball season is well underway. The RSC Men's Basketball Weekly Report -- Week 1 brings you up to date on men's hoops within the conference.
RSC IN THE #NAIADIMBB TOP 25 POLL
The River States Conference has two teams ranked in the NAIA Division II Top 25 Poll (Nov. 29) with IU East (9-1) coming in at No. 5 and IU Southeast (7-1) registering at No. 19. IU East currently leads the RSC East Division in overall record and is also off to a 1-0 start in conference play. IU Southeast has the best overall record in the RSC West Division and has begun conference action at 2-0.
This week's Top 25 Poll was the first one of the regular season. IU East, an NAIA Division II Fab Four participant last year, began the year ranked No. 9 in the presesaon rankings and was the overall preseason favorite in the RSC. The Red Wolves own Top 25 wins over then-No. 3 Davenport, 93-88, on Nov. 28 and then-No. 22 ranked St. Xavier (Ill.) on Nov. 5.
IU Southeast broke into the Top 25 after being previously unranked in the preseason. The Grenadiers have won seven of their first eight games and reeled off seven straight wins to earn a spot in the national rankings.
CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS
A few River States Conference games were played earlier in the month, but with Thanksgiving break over, conference action gets underway in full force this week. In early action this week, IU Kokomo picked up a 111-108 home win over Asbury (Ky.) and No. 19 IU Southeast won at Brescia (Ky.), 80-61, on Thursday. On Tuesday, Alice Lloyd (Ky.) picked up a 67-62 win at Cincinnati Christian.
Two games on Friday, Dec. 2 in Pittsburgh kick off the weekend with Rio Grande at Point Park (7:30 p.m.) and WVU Tech at Carlow (8 p.m.). That leads into a full lineup of RSC action on Saturday, Dec. 3 with six conference matchups. That puts 12 of the 13 RSC teams in action in the first full day of conference play.
RSC East Division matchups on Saturday include WVU Tech at Point Park (2 p.m.); Ohio Christian at IU East (3 p.m.) and Rio Grande at Carlow (3 p.m.). RSC West Division games include Alice Lloyd at IU Kokomo (3 p.m.); Asbury at Cincinnati Christian (3 p.m.) and Midway at Brescia (4 p.m.).
WATCH LIVE ON STRETCH INTERNET
Stretch Internet is the official video streaming provider of the River States Conference. Log on to the RSC Game Central portal for broadcast listings of RSC Men's Basketball. Six of the eight RSC games this weekend will be broadcast on Stretch Internet. Live Stats are also available for select games with links to live video and stats at RiverStatesConference.com.
RSC INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
The RSC has four players averaging 20+ ppg with Ohio Christian's Marquis Jackson leading the way and ranking fourth in the nation at 26.4 ppg. WVU Tech's Ryan Atkins (22.6 ppg), IU Kokomo's Trent Elliott (22.1 ppg) and Asbury's Trenton Thompson (20.4 ppg) are next.
IU East's Aaron Thomas leads the conference in rebounding at 9.9 rpg. OCU's Jackson leads the RSC in assists (5.6 apg) and made 3-pointers (4.8/game). IU East's Lucas Huffman leads in field-goal percentage at .542.
RSC TEAM LEADERS
Asbury is lighting up the scoreboards and ranks No. 1 in the NAIA Division II and first in the conferene at 113.50 ppg. WVU Tech is second in the league and 13th nationally at 91.0 ppg. IU Southeast has the top scoring defense in the conference at 68.3 ppg followed by Alice Lloyd (71.6 ppg) and IU East (74.1 ppg).
IU Southeast and IU East are tied for the lead in field-goal accuracy at 49 percent. IU East leads the conference in long-distance shooting at 42 percent. IU Southeast has the best field-goal defense in the RSC with opponents shooting 37.5 percent.
FOLLOW RSC MEN'S BASKETBALL
Follow RSC Men's Basketball at RiverStatesConference.com. Follow on Twitter @RiverStatesConference and the Twitter Scoreboard @RSCScores. Hashtag #RSC #RSCMBB #NAIADIIMBB to keep up with the action on Twitter. Like the RSC on Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference.