Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 RVC plays final game before Christmas break at Waubonsee CC on Thursday

12/16/2015 11:47:00 AM

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Upcoming Date
Dec. 17 vs. Waubonsee CC, 7:00 PM; Sugar Grove, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (15-0)
PG- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.9 ppg, 2.5 apg
SG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 13.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 61.3% FG
6th- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg
 
Waubonsee Community College (3-7)
PG- Naiem Johnson, 6-0, So., Las Vegas, NV; 10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg
SG- Elliott McGaughy, 6-3, Fr., Oswego, IL; 12.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg
SF- Ryan Sharp, 6-2, Fr., Oswego, IL; 5.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg
PF- Sammie Hines, 6-3, Fr., Kankakee, IL; 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg
PF- Houston McCullum, 6-5, Fr., Oswego, IL; 4.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg
6th – Chris Buckley, 6-0, Fr., Coon Rapids, MN; 14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg

Waubonsee Community College Notes
Waubonsee Community College is an NJCAA DII member of the Skyway Conference located in Sugar Grove, IL… Head coach of the Chiefs is Dave Heiss… During his tenure at Waubonsee, Heiss has amassed 577 wins… In their last contest out (12/15/15), Waubonsee fell 56-54 to College of DuPage in Sugar Grove, IL… Rock Valley is 3-0 versus Waubonsee during the Craig Doty Era with an average margin of victory of 26.3 points per game… In last year's match-up (12/18/14), Rock Valley defeated Waubonsee 98-55 in Rockford, IL… Former Boylan standout Ben Grygiel paced the Golden Eagles with 23 points and 7 rebounds… The Golden Eagles also had solid contributions from current Golden Eagle, Dalton Payton (18 points, 6 steals, and 4 rebounds) and current Presentation College sharpshooter, Frank Cimino (17 points, 5-11 3PT)… The Golden Eagles shot the basketball well all evening long, netting 36-69 field goals (52.2%), 16-38 3PT (42.1%), and 10-12 (83.3%) from the free throw line.

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 15th, 2015), the Golden Eagles earned the top spot with a #1 ranking nationally… The Golden Eagles are a perfect 15-0, including a 12-0 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… RVC is coming off a 77-72 victory over Mid Michigan Community College on Sunday… LT Davis led the way for RVC with 22 points… Kooper Glick, who scored 15 points in the opening half, scored 21 on the game… In the contest, the Golden Eagles hauled in 26 offensive rebounds, which was their second highest single-game total of the season (29 vs. Sauk Valley Community College on 11/24/15)… This is the final contest for the Golden Eagles before winter break.

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).