Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: In the battle of the 2015 N4C Co-Champions, NJCAA D2 #5 Triton plays NJCAA D3 #1 Rock Valley College

1/19/2016 6:48:00 PM

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Upcoming Date
Jan. 20 vs. Triton College, 7:30 PM; Rockford, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (19-1, 3-1 in N4C)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg
SF- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 15.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 64.0% FG
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.1 ppg, 2.4 apg
Sub- Alec Pena, 6-6, Fr., Rockton, IL; 6.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg
 
Triton College (18-2, 4-0 in N4C)
PG- Eddie Miles, 6-3, So., Chicago, IL; 7.8 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.0 rpg
SG- Eric Gillespie, 5-10, So., Gurnee, IL; 15.6 ppg, 2.5 apg
SF- Nick Norton, 6-6, So., Downers Grove, IL; 8.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg
SF- Josh Doss, 6-4, So., Chicago, IL; 10.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg
C- Percell Washington, 6-6, So., Chicago, IL; 13.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg
6th – Dante Thorpe, 6-4, Fr., Washington, DC; 12.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg

Triton College Notes
Triton College is an NJCAA DII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in River Grove, IL… Head coach of the Trojans is Steve Christiansen… Last season, Rock Valley and Triton split their games, with each team defending their home court in a winning fashion… Both the Golden Eagles and the Trojans finished conference play 13-1 to share the N4C title… In their last meeting on February 14th, 2015 in Rockford, IL, Rock Valley came away victorious with a 75-72 win… At the time of the match-up, Rock Valley was #1 in the NJCAA DIII poll while Triton was ranked #1 in the NJCAA DII poll… The balanced Golden Eagles scoring attack proved to be too much for the Trojans as Ben Grygiel, Dalton Payton and Cimino led the way with 15 points each… RVC held Triton to a chilly 33.3% from the field which helped negate a 50-44 rebounding advantage for Triton… The Golden Eagles led by as many as 11 points in the second half before Triton reserve Eric Gillespie got hot, torching the nets for seven three-point field goals in the game en route to a game-high 31 points… However, the Golden Eagles shot 21-28 (75%) from the free throw line compared to 16-27 (59.3%) for the Trojans which factored into the RVC win.

Rock Valley College Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… RVC is the #1 ranked team in the country at the NJCAA DIII level… The Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 for the last 17 national polls dating back to 10-27-2014... Rock Valley is currently 19-1, including a 13-0 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley lost at Joliet 70-66 on Saturday… In the losing effort the Golden Eagles shot 40% from the field including a chilly 9 of 32 (.280) from behind the 3-point line… LT Davis led the way for RVC with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists… Kooper Glick scored 14 points while Elijah Williams scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 19-1 (.950)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 15-4 (.789)
3. College of DuPage, IL: 14-4 (.778)
4. Joliet Junior College, IL: 14-5 (.737)
5. Harper College, IL: 10-10 (.500)
6. Lorain County Community College, OH: 9-9 (.500)
7. Mid Michigan College, MI: 7-9 (.438)
8. Madison College, WI: 7-11 (.389)

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 boysbasketball coach at Akron-Westfield high school (IA).