RSC Men's Basketball Weekly Report -- Dec. 9, 2016 #RSCMBB #NAIADIIMBB
RSC Men's Basketball Weekly Report -- Dec. 9, 2016 #RSCMBB #NAIADIIMBB
FLORENCE, Ky. -- Week 2 of the River States Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Report once again takes a look back at the week that was in RSC men's basketball and looks ahead to the weekend matchups. Catch up on the happenings around the league with this weekly feature.
RSC SCHEDULE OFF AND RUNNING
RSC men's basketball league play began in earnest last weekend with eight total conference games played. Getting out to early leads in the RSC East Division were No. 5-ranked IU East improving to 2-0 RSC with a 70-62 win over Ohio Christian in the RSC Game of the Week and Point Park, which is tied for the divisional lead at 2-0 RSC after picking up conference wins over Rio Grande, 82-57, and WVU Tech, 91-80.
No. 19-ranked IU Southeast leads the RSC West Division at 2-0 RSC and is 8-1 overall after earning a couple of non-conference wins over the last week. IU Kokomo made a strong statement on the opening weekend of RSC play by winning its first two games. The Cougars beat Asbury (113-108) and Alice Lloyd (94-66) to start out 2-0 and are now 2-1 after a midweek loss at Cincinnati Christian (79-69). Asbury is also 2-1 RSC and a game back in the RSC West Division after winning at Cincinnati Christian (105-104) and at home versus Brescia (140-124) over the last seven days.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
With final exams coming up, the RSC league games lessen with only one conference matchup scheduled this weekend, which is Brescia at Alice Lloyd (Dec. 10, 3 p.m. ET). But many RSC teams will test themselves out of conference and two others are hosting tournaments or classics on their campuses.
Ohio Christian kicks off the marquee non-conference matchups on Friday night at No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan at 7 p.m.., a game that will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app here: http://www.espn.com/watchespn/#type/upcoming/.
Other weekend matchups of note are No. 5 IU East versus No. 14 Rochester (Mich.) (Sat., 7 p.m.), a game that will be played at Lourdes University; No. 19 IU Southeast hosting NAIA Division I Cumberlands (Sat., 3 p.m.), Cincinnati Christian visiting (RV) Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Sat., 3 p.m.), Midway at NCAA Division II Bellarmine (Sat., 3:15 p.m.) and Point Park at NAIA Division I Shawnee State (Sat., 12 p.m.).
IU Kokomo hosts Cincinnati Clermont (Fri., 7 p.m.) and Kentucky Christian (Sat., 3 p.m.) for the Hampton Inn Cougar Classic. Rio Grande hosts Wilberforce (Sat., 4 p.m.) for the New Oliver Coaches Classic.
NO TOP 25 POLL THIS WEEK
The NAIA has changed its schedule for the release of Top 25 national rankings. The first one of the regular season came out last week (Nov. 29), and the next one will not be released until Dec. 13 with the new, bi-weekly schedule adopted by the national office. The RSC had No. 5 IU East ranked in the Top 10 and No. 19 IU Southeast giving the conference two ranked teams in the Nov. 29 poll. RSC teams have this coming weekend with several matchups out of conference, as mentioned above, to state their cases for the national raters.
STATS RANKINGS
Asbury headlines the RSC in the NAIA Division II statistical rankings with the No. 1 scoring offense in the nationl at 112.10 points per game. The Eagles also lead the country in offensive rebounds (20.4 rpg), steals (15.9 spg) and made 3-point field goals per game (13.5). Outside shooting in the RSC is also highlighted by Point Park and Ohio Christian ranking fourth and fifth in the nation in made treys per game at 11.56 and 11.55 per game. No. 5 IU East is eighth in the country shooting 41.8 percent from long range.
Defensively, No. 19 IU Southeast leads the nation in field-goal percentage defense limiting opponents to 36 percent. The Grenadiers are second nationally in scoring margin (+26.4 ppg) and seventh in scoring defense with a league-best 67.1 ppg. Alice Lloyd is 12th in NAIA DII in field-goal defense and second in the conference at 39.8 percent.
WVU Tech leads the conference in rebounding and is also among the the national leaders. The Golden Bears rank second in offensive boards per game (17.4) and third in total rebounds per game (46.6) and rebound margin (+14.6).
FOLLOW THE RSC ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with RSC men's basketball on social media. Follow @RiverStatesConf and @RSCscores on Twitter and use hashtags #RSC #RSCMBB. Follow on Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference.
WATCH LIVE ON STRETCH INTERNET
The RSC Game Central on Stretch Internet is the official video streaming provider of the RSC and the streaming host for all RSC championship events. Broadcast listings off all games streamed on Stretch Internet throughout the week can be found at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/RSC