Game Preview: #1 Rock Valley College travels to College of DuPage on Saturday

Game Preview: #1 Rock Valley College travels to College of DuPage on Saturday

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Upcoming Date
Jan. 23 vs. College of DuPage, 3:00 PM; Glen Ellyn, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (19-2, 3-2 in N4C)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 16.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
PF- Jontrell Robinson, 6-5, So., Rockford, IL; 1.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 65.8% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.1 ppg, 2.3 apg

College of DuPage (15-4, 3-2 in N4C)
PG- Anthony Taylor, 5-11, So.; 2.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg
SG- Marcel Phillips, 5-10, Fr.; 10.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg
SG- Lawrence Stewart, 6-2, Fr.; 6.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg
PF- Christian Mathis, 6-3, So.; 18.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg
C- Moter Deng, 6-6, Fr.; 15.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg
6th – Fredrick Joshua, 6-0, So.; 7.0 ppg, 2.4 apg

College of DuPage Notes
College of DuPage is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Glen Ellyn, IL… Head coach of the Chaparrals is Dr. T. Earl Reed… Rock Valley swept DuPage 3-0 in their contests during the 2014-15 season, and are a perfect 8-0 overall during the Craig Doty era… In their last meeting, the Golden Eagles knocked off the Chaparrals 71-57 in the NJCAA III/Region IV Semifinal game on February 28th, 2015 in Joliet, IL… Two-time NJCAA DIII First Team All-American, Jared Mayes, led a balance Rock Valley scoring attack with 16 points... Byron native Dalton Payton scored 15 points while former Belvidere HS standout Mo Jackson added 10 points… The Golden Eagles were in control from start to finish, entering halftime with a 43-27 lead… Rock Valley shot 28-50 (56.0%) from the field in the game.

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 19-2, including a 13-1 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley lost 90-74 to the 3rd ranked team in NJCAA DII, Triton College… Big man Elijah Williams finished with a game-high 24 points (11-12 FG) and a game-high in rebounds with 13…The back-to-back loses for the Golden Eagles marks the first time this has happened in nearly 3 years, dating back to March 14, 2013, and March 15, 2013 in the NJCAA DIII National Tournament.

NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 19-2 (.905)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 16-4 (.800)
3. College of DuPage, IL: 15-4 (.789)
4. Joliet Junior College, IL: 15-5 (.750)
5. Harper College, IL: 10-11 (.476)
6. Mid Michigan College, MI: 8-9 (.471)
7. Lorain County Community College, OH: 9-11 (.450)
8. Madison College, WI: 7-12 (.368)

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.
 
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(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). 
 
 
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