Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 Golden Eagles travel to Lincoln College to play 2010 & 2011 NJCAA D2 National Champs

12/10/2015 11:49:00 AM

Related Links

Upcoming Dates
Dec. 10- vs. Lincoln College, 7:30 PM; Lincoln, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (13-0)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 40.5% 3 PT
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
SG- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 17.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 62.1% FG
6th- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.8 ppg, 2.5 apg
 
Lincoln College (5-7)
PG- Stephen Williams, 5-8, Fr., Chicago, IL; 12.5 ppg, 5.8 apg
SG- Conlan Callahan, 6-2, So., Seneca, IL; 14.2 ppg, 47% 3PT
SF- Edward Bowlby, 6-4, So., Lincoln, IL; 5.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg
PF- Juvon Turner, 6-6, So., Chicago, IL; 9.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg
PF- Jamaal Murray, 6-6, So., Country Club Hills, IL; 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg
6th – Jacob Wood, 6-3, So., Centralia, IL; 7.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Lincoln College Notes
Lincoln College is an NJCAA DII member of the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) located in Lincoln, IL… Head coach of the Lynx is Pat Lepper… In their last contest out (12/5/15), Lincoln fell to NJCAA DI #19 Indian Hills CC 105-77 in Ottumwa, IA… In last year's match-up (10/31/14), Rock Valley College defeated Lincoln 71-63 in Rockford, IL… Two-time NJCAA 1st Team All-American, Jared Mayes, led Rock Valley with 22 points and 8 rebounds… The Golden Eagles also had solid contributions from current University of Minnesota-Crookston player Ben Grygiel (13 points) and Belvidere native Mo Jackson (12 points)… Despite shooting a chilly 18-54 (33.3%) from the field and 2-17 (11.8%) from the three point line, Rock Valley made a living at the free throw line, scoring 33 points from the charity stripe on the evening… The Lynx have a tremendous amount of pedigree in the junior college ranks winning back-to-back NJCAA DII National Championships in 2010 and 2011.

Rock Valley College Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… In the latest NJCAA Division III National Poll (December 8th, 2015), the Golden Eagles earned the top spot with a #1 ranking nationally… The Golden Eagles are a perfect 13-0, including an 11-0 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… RVC is coming off a 94-60 victory over College of Lake County on Tuesday… Rock Valley was led by Elijah Williams' double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds… Mo Jackson (16), LT Davis (14), and Dalton Menke (11) rounded out the Golden Eagles in double figure scoring… RVC shot 34-60 (56.7%) from the field and had 25 assists on the evening, which is a season-high for the Golden Eagles.

Tough Scheduling
The Golden Eagles play one of the most difficult schedules in the country again this season…RVC has scheduled 13 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).