The Mount Union men's basketball team returns to the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance for just their second home game of the New Year when they host Capital on Saturday at 3 pm. The Crusaders are tied atop the Ohio Athletic Conference with John Carroll and defeated the Purple Raiders, 75-69, in their previous meeting this season.
The Purple Raiders (8-10, 4-7) have won four of their last six OAC games to pull even with Heidelberg for seventh place in the conference. After falling to the Crusaders in Bexley back in December, the Raiders hope to return the favor this time around. Capital had their six-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a two-point loss at Wilmington.
Senior Jimmy Wood (Wintersville/Indian Creek) leads the OAC in scoring at 19.1 points per game is makes a conference-best 2.6 three-pointers per game. Freshman Nate Jacubec (Struthers/Struthers) has been the Raiders' leading scorer the past two games, going for a career-high 21 points in each game. He ranks second among conference freshmen at 11.8 points per game.
Junior Justen Little (Galion/Galion) has been very efficient since taking over the starting point guard duties after three games. Little is second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.0) and second in the conference with 3.8 assists per game.
Capital is led by forward Spencer Niekamp, who is eighth in the conference in scoring at 14.2 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 5.7 rebounds per game. Senior Kelly Winter also averages 5.7 rebounds to go along with 13.0 points and 3.3 assists. Junior Michael Sommer is averaging 12.8 points and ranks among the top four in the OAC in both three-pointers and three-point field goal percentage.
Last Meeting
The Mount Union men's basketball team surrendered a nine-point halftime lead as they suffered a 75-69 loss at Capital, who took the lead after a 24-14 run to open the second half. The Purple Raiders tied the game with 56 seconds remaining before Capital scored the final six points of the contest.
Jimmy Wood paced Mount Union with 19 points and six rebounds. Nate Jacubec and Clayton Patton added 17 point and 11 points, respectively.
Capital's balanced attack saw four players reach double-figures. Spencer Niekamp led the way with 15 points, Kelly Winter had 13 points, and Michael Sommer and Mitch Westerheide had 12 points apiece.
The Series
Mount Union has lost four straight games to Capital. The last Raider victory came in a 68-66 home victory on January 16, 2010.
Projected Mount Union Starters
- #32 Stevie Griffin, 6-3, Fr., G – 9.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .439 FG%
- #4 Jimmy Wood, 6-6, Sr., F – 19.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, .439 3FG%
- #45 Matt Kiger, 6-5, Jr., C – 4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg
- #20 Nate Jacubec, 5-11, Fr., G – 11.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.1 apg
- #3 Justen Little, 5-11, Jr., G – 2.3 ppg, 3.8 apg, 2.9 rpg
Projected John Carroll Starters
- #24 Michael Sommer, 6-3, Jr., G – 12.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg
- #32 Ben Danhoff, 6-5, So., G/F – 3.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg
- #40 Spencer Niekamp, 6-6, Jr., F/C – 14.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg
- #4 Kelly Winter, 6-1, Sr., G – 13.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.3 apg
- #11 Mitch Westerheide, 6-0, Jr., PG – 5.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Coaches
Mike Fuline (Kent State '98) is in his first season at Mount Union after a successful career at the high school level that included winning the 2010 OHSAA Division I State Championship at Massillon Jackson. Fuline has the Purple Raiders off to an 8-10 start.
Damon Goodwin (Dayton '86) is 295-177 in his 19th season at Capital. A four-time OAC Coach of the Year, Goodwin was named the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Phoenix Suns selected Goodwin with the 173rd selection in the 1986 NBA Draft.
Up Next
Mount Union goes back on the road for games against Muskingum and Wilmington next week.
Re-writing the Record Books
Senior Jimmy Wood became the 26th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, reaching the milestone against Wilmington on December 17th. Wood currently ranks 17th on the school's career scoring list with 1,164 career points and needs 25 points to surpass Todd Simons for 16th place. He scored 13 points in the Purple Raiders' 74-65 loss at John Carroll Wednesday. At his current pace, Wood will end his career as one of the top ten scorers in school history.
While the scoring record is out of reach for Wood, he has a chance to break the record for most consecutive games played.
The Raiders have tied a pair of school records this season. They made 13 three-pointers in back-to-back games against Immaculata (Pa.) and Lycoming (Pa.), tying the school record set against Baldwin-Wallace during the 1996-97 season. Their 33 three-point field goal attempts against Lycoming beat the school record previously set in the season-opener against Hiram.
The Raiders are on pace to set the record for most three-pointers in a season. The current record, set during the 2008-09 season, is 189 and the Raiders have made 147 already this season.
Raiders Rank Among Nation's Best
Mount Union has a player among the top 100 nationally in three statistical categories this season.
Mount Union Player Notes
Tom Berlekamp - Jr., F, North Royalton/Holy Name
- Played in nine games this season, making seven starts
- Averaging 2.4 ppg and 4.7 rpg
- Season-high/career -high in points (7), rebounds (14), and assists (4) vs. Grove City (11/18/11)
- Season-high/career -high 5 steals at Geneva (11/19/11)
- Transferred from Lakeland Community College
Jimmy Darnley - So., F, Canton/GlenOak
- Averaging 5.6 mpg in 12 games off the bench
- Career-high 5 points at Ohio Northern (2/12/11)
- Career-high 4 rebounds vs. Wilmington (2/5/11)
T.J. Gillespie - So., G, Toledo/St. John's
- Averaging 6.7 ppg
- Has scored in double-figures five times this season
- Shooting a team-best 88.0% from the free throw line
- Missed two games earlier in the season due to an injury
- Season-high 19 points vs. Grove City (11/18/11)
- Career-high 20 points vs. Ohio Northern (1/8/11)
- Career-high 5 assists vs. Otterbein (1/22/11)
Stevie Griffin - Fr., F, Canton/Massillon Jackson
- Third on team in scoring (9.0) and three-pointers (28)
- Has scored in double-figures six times this season
- Scored the go-ahead points in wins over Ohio Northern and Baldwin-Wallace earlier this month
- Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off Tournament MVP
- Season-high/career-high 22 points and 6 three-pointers off the bench at Geneva (11/19/11)
- Season-high/career-high 8 rebounds and 4 assists vs. Westminster (11/22/11)
- Played for Coach Fuline and won 2010 OHSAA Division I state title at Massillon Jackson High School
Nate Jacubec - Fr., G, Struthers/Struthers
- Second on team in scoring (11.8), three-pointers (34), and assists (37)
- Has scored in double-figures 11 times this season
- Season-high/career -high 21 points at Otterbein (1/21/12) and at John Carroll (1/25/12)
- Season-high/career-high 5 three-pointers at John Carroll (1/25/12)
- Season-high/career-high 8 rebounds vs. Wilmington (12/17/11)
- Matched season-high/career-high with 5 assists at Lycoming (1/3/12)
Matt Kiger - Jr., F, Williamstown, W.Va./Williamstown
- Averaging 4.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg
- Leads the team in field goal percentage (.638)
- Has started the past eight games after coming off the bench in the first nine
- Season-high 11 points three times, most recently vs. Muskingum (12/21/11)
- Season-high 6 rebounds at Waynesburg (11/26/11) and vs. Muskingum (12/21/11)
- Career-high 20 points at Otterbein (12/4/10) and vs. Waynesburg (12/30/10)
- Career-high 9 rebounds vs. Waynesburg (12/30/10)
Justen Little - Jr., G, Galion/Galion
- Second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.0)
- Ranks second in the conference in assists (3.8)
- Season-high/career-high 10 points vs. Heidelberg (1/14/12)
- Season-high/career-high 7 rebounds at Ohio Northern (1/7/12)
- Season-high/career-high 7 assists vs. Otterbein (12/3/11) and vs. Wilmington (12/17/11)
Clayton Patton - Fr., G, Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley
- Averaging 4.1 ppg
- Scored 10 points at Lycoming (1/3/12), reaching double-figures for the second time this season
- Made first career start vs. Muskingum (12/21/11)
- Season-high/career -high 11 points at Capital (12/10/11)
Matt Piloto - Jr., F, Rotonda West, Fla./Lemon Bay
- Averaging 3.0 ppg and 2.8 rpg in four games off the bench
- Played quarterback for the Mount Union football team, leading them to a seventh consecutive Stagg Bowl appearance
Colton Troyer - Jr., F, Millersburg/Berlin Hiland
- Averaging 5.6 mpg in 10 games off the bench
- Transferred from Hesston College (Kan.)
Matt Wier - Sr., F, New Castle, Pa./Mohawk
- Averaging 4.7 ppg and 3.4 rpg
- Season-high 19 points vs. Hiram (11/15/11)
- Career-high 28 points vs. Ohio Northern (12/12/09)
- Career-high 9 rebounds at Hiram (11/15/10), vs. Waynesburg (12/30/10), and vs. Hiram (11/15/11)
- Played one season on a baseball scholarship at West Virginia
Keith Williams - Jr., G, Louisville, Ky./Brown
- Averaging 3.1 ppg off the bench
- Tied for second on the team in steals (20)
- Career-high 13 points to go with 4 steals and 3 assists in season debut vs. Westminster (11/22/11)
Jimmy Wood - Sr., F, Wintersville/Indian Creek
- Leads the conference in scoring (19.1) and three-pointers (47)
- Leads the team in rebounding (5.7)
- Has scored 20+ points seven times this season
- Ranks 17th on school's all-time scoring list with 1,164 career points
- Scored 1,000th career point on three-pointer to go ahead by 2 points with less than a minute remaining in regulation vs. Wilmington (12/17/11)
- Recorded third career double-double with 29 points and career-high 16 rebounds vs. Immaculata (1/22/12)
- Set Louis Fleming Basinger Memorial Tournament scoring record with 29 points against Immaculata (1/22/12) and was named to the all-tournament team
- Season-high/career -high 32 points vs. Wilmington (12/17/11)
- Season-high/career -high 16 rebounds vs. Immaculata (1/22/12)
- Father, Jim, played basketball at Georgia Tech
