Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: The battle of undefeated teams, #1 RVC hosts Sauk Valley on Tuesday

11/24/2015 10:29:00 AM

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Upcoming Dates
Nov. 24- vs. Sauk Valley Community College, 7:30 PM; Rockford, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (9-0)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 19.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 43.6% 3 PT
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg
PF- Jontrell Robinson, 6-5, So., Rockford, IL; 2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 18.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 63.2% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 9.1 ppg, 2.4 apg
 
Sauk Valley Community College (6-0)
PG- AJ Sharp, 5-8, So., Sterling, IL; 6.0 ppg, 3.5 apg
SG- Isaiah Box, 6-1, So., Rockford, IL; 19.2 ppg, 4.3 spg
SF- Devin Johnson, 6-0, Fr., Sterling, IL; 6.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg
PF- Malcolm Mabry, 6-5, Fr., Milwaukee, WI; 10.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg
C- Sean Chislom, 6-5, Fr., McFarland, WI; 10.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg
6th – Davontae Brown, 6-5, So., North Chicago, IL; 6.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg

Sauk Valley Community College Notes
Sauk Valley is an NJCAA DI member of the Arrowhead Conference located in Dixon, IL… Head coach of the Skyhawks is Russ Damhoff… In their last contest out (11/21/15), Sauk Valley traveled to Chicago, IL and defeated Malcolm X College 83-66… In last year's match-up, the Skyhawks edged the Golden Eagles 87-79 in Dixon, IL… The Golden Eagles were led by former Boylan HS grad Ben Grygiel (16 points, 7 rebounds) and former Jefferson HS grad Jared Mayes (16 points, 6 rebounds)… Current Golden Eagle Mo Jackson (Belvidere HS) filled up the box score with 13 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals… Sauk Valley's starting shooting guard and leading scorer, Isaiah Box, was a reserve guard for the Golden Eagles last season.

Rock Valley College Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… In the NJCAA Division III Preseason Poll (October 27th, 2015), the Golden Eagles earned the top spot with a #1 ranking nationally, the next poll will come out next week… The Golden Eagles are a perfect 9-0 on the season which includes win over two top 10 NJCAA D1 programs (Vincennes and Indian Hills) as well as the 11th ranked team in NJCAA D2 (John Wood)… RVC is coming off a 114-32 victory at Harry S. Truman College last Thursday…The 82-point margin of victory is the largest in the Craig Doty Era… The 32 points allowed is the 2nd lowest in Doty's tenure as head coach… The lowest (30 points allowed) came against Clinton CC on November 9th, 2013… In Thursday night's rout, the Golden Eagles were led by Alec Pena, who scored 31 points (11-11 FG, 8-10 FG) and ripped down 12 rebounds in 22 minutes… Dalton Payton and Kooper Glick both filled up the box score with Payton contributing 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, while Glick added 12 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals… The Golden Eagles won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Truman 55-32… RVC also forced 28 Falcon turnovers while only committing 5 for the game…


(Alec Pena - RVC Athletics)

Pena Steps up BIG
Rock Valley reserve post Alec Pena had his number called against Truman College last Friday.  With Elijah Williams, who was National Player of the Week after going for 31 points and 15 rebounds in a win at #7 NJCAA D1 Indian Hills, injured, Pena made the most of his opportunity.  The Hononegah graduate went a perfect 11-11 from the field and 8-10 at the free throw line en route to a game-high and career-high 31 point scoring performance.  Additionally, Pena notched a game and career-high in rebounds with 12.  He was awarded by earning Region IV player of the week in the N4C conference.  While Pena will return to his reserve role with Williams back from injury against Sauk Valley, the coaching staff has big expectations for the local product moving forward.
"We love Alec," head coach Craig Doty stated. "He is a great student, his teammates like him, and he has the ability to play at a high level. Coach Lavery and Coach Edwards (RVC assistants) have done an outstanding job in developing Pena's offensive skill set over the past three months. It is up to Alec to bring the team high-energy minutes every time he steps on the floor. He has a bright future."

Tough Scheduling
The Golden Eagles will play one of the most difficult schedules in the country again this season…RVC has scheduled 14 of their 16 non-conference games against NJCAA D1 and D2 opponents including 2015 NJCAA D1 national tournament teams and top 10 ranked Vincennes University (W: 78-66, Oct. 30) and Indian Hills (W: 88-86, Nov. 7), as well as the 2015 NJCAA D2 National Runner-up John Wood Community College (W: 76-51, Nov. 13), all on the road.  Rock Valley will play no JV teams or prep schools.  For the complete schedule along with game times click here.
 
Tradition
The Golden Eagles men's basketball program started as NJCAA members in 1966 under Charles Behrends.  With a rich tradition, RVC has taken the men's basketball program to new heights over the past three seasons.  Despite reaching the NJCAA National Tournament only one time from 1966-2012 (in 2001 under  Carl Armato), the Golden Eagles have won the NJCAA Region IV tournament each of the past three seasons to make three straight trips to the national tournament in New York.  The Golden Eagles have placed 7th, won the National Championship and was National Runner-up respectively, over the past three seasons.  To view the year-by-year success of the Golden Eagles program click here.
 

(Head Coach Craig Doty - RVC Athletics)

Craig Doty is in his 4th season as the Golden Eagles' head coach. Doty has produced three of the best seasons in the 49 year history of the RVC program.  Rock Valley won the Region 4 Championship in all three seasons, earning a 7th place finish at the 2013 national tournament in Doty's inaugural season followed by a 30-5 season and winning the NJCAA DIII national championship in 2014. Last season, the Golden Eagles went 31-4 overall and made a return appearance in the National Championship game finishing 2nd in the country.  The 31 victories are the most in program history in a season.  In 2014, Doty was named the Spalding NJCAA national coach of the year, the Gary S. Cole coach of the national tournament, the NJCAA coaches association coach of the year, and the NJCAA national all-star game coach.  In all three seasons at RVC Doty earned Region 4 coach of the year, District 2 coach of the year as well as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year awards.  Doty graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Morningside College (IA) and served previous stints as an assistant at the University of Sioux Falls (NCAA Division II), Riverland Community College (NJCAA), Central Wyoming College (NJCAA) and Morningside College (NAIA).  Doty served as interim head coach at Central Wyoming College in the spring of 2011 and also spent a season as the head boys basketball coach at Akron-Westfield high school (IA).