Game Preview: #1 RVC Hosts Cedar Valley College in Home Opener
Rockford, IL – Rock Valley College Men's Basketball will begin their 2016-17 season at home on Saturday, November 5th at 3:00 PM against Cedar Valley College (Lancaster, TX).
Probable Starters
#1 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (0-0)
PG-
Malique Ross - 6'1, Fr., Oswego, IL
SG-
Dalton Menke – 6'3, So., Winnebago, IL; 8.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 43.6% 3PT (2015-16 at RVC)
SF-
Jace Kitchen – 6'6, So., DeKalb, IL; 4.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg (2015-16 at RVC)
PF-
DeMari Davis – 6'6, R-Fr., Indianapolis, IN
C-
Alec Pena- 6'7, So., Rockton, IL; 5.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg
Probable Starters
Cedar Valley College (1-1)
PG- Desmond Kennedy – Dallas, TX; 15.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
SF- Eric Stewart – Arlington, TX; 2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
SG- JF Thomas – Dallas, TX; 26 ppg, 11 rpg, 70.6% FG
C- Eli Rockett – Farmington, MN; 10.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg
C- Dalyn Mumphrey – Cedar Hill, TX; 9.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg
Game Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… RVC Men's Basketball enters the 2016-2017 season ranked #1 in the NJCAA DIII Preseason Poll… RVC Men's Basketball finished the 2015-16 season 33-3… The Golden Eagles won their 6 postseason games by an average margin of 21.3 points per game… Led by NJCAA First Team All-American and 2-time NJCAA National Tournament MVP,
LT Davis, RVC won the NJCAA DIII National Championship game in Loch Sheldrake, NY over Rochester Community and Technical College (MN) 88-75… The national championship marked RVC's 2nd in the last 3 seasons… Saturday's game will be the season and home opener for the Golden Eagles, with a ring ceremony presented to last year's National Championship team.
The Players
The Golden Eagles bring back 4 returners from last season's 33-3 team…
Dalton Menke (Winnebago, IL) started 34 of 36 games last season, and shot a team high 43.6% from the 3 PT range…
Jace Kitchen (DeKalb, IL) returns to the Golden Eagles after averaging 13.3 mpg… Sophomore big man
Alec Pena (Rockton, IL) returns after averaging 5.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg in 2015-16… Rounding out the 4 active returners from the 2015-16 national championship team is
Equavion Monroe (Rockford, IL)… RVC brings back 3 redshirts from last year's team, and adds 9 freshman that were part of the 2016 recruiting class.
Tough Scheduling
RVC plays 17 of its 30 games against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII opponents… During non-conference play, the Golden Eagles will also face South Suburban College (3rd place finish at the NJCAA DII national tournament in 2016), Indian Hills Community College (made NJCAA DI national tournament in 2016), and Columbus State Community College (made NJCAA DII national tournament in 2016, now NJCAA DIII member) all in a 17-day span… N4C play begins January 4th with rival Joliet Junior College… The N4C schedule also includes two games against Triton College, who finished national runner-up at the NJCAA DII tournament in Danville, IL.
Cedar Valley Notes
Cedar Valley College is a NJCAA DIII member located in Lancaster, TX… Head coach of the Suns, in his second year at the helm, is Cedric Jones… Jones was once a student-athlete at Cedar Valley College, and also coached at Christian Life High School (Rockford, IL)… Cedar Valley College comes into Rock Valley with a record of 1-1… Cedar Valley defeated Minnesota West Community & Technical College 102-79 on Tuesday, November 1st, and lost to Anoka-Ramsey Community College on Wednesday 90-66… The Suns play N4C member Harper College Friday afternoon before heading to Rock Valley for their fourth game in five days.
Evan Lavery has taken the reins as the Interim Head Men's Basketball Coach for Rock Valley College. The 2016-17 season will be Lavery's fourth with the program after serving as Associate Head Coach for one season and Assistant Coach for two seasons.
"We couldn't be more excited to bring Evan back to the Golden Eagle athletic department," said Director of Athletics Misty Opat. "Evan was integral in the success of our program over the last three years and is respected by our student-athletes, coaches and the campus community."
In Lavery's three years on staff, he has been integral in all aspects of the Golden Eagles men's basketball program with a focus on recruiting, player development, defense, zone offense, out-of-bounds sets, strength and conditioning, and game preparation. Lavery was also instrumental in the development of All-Americans Jared Mayes (NJCAA National Player of The Year in 2014, 1st Team Selection in 2015), LT Davis (NJCAA National Player of The Year 2016), and Elijah Williams (2nd Team Selection in 2016).
In 2015-16, the Golden Eagles were ranked #1 in NJCAA Division III all year long for the second consecutive season. The Golden Eagles would avenge a three-point loss to Richland College (Dallas, TX) in the previous year's title game allowing RVC to win two National Championships in three seasons. En route to their National Title, RVC won their six post-season games by an average margin of victory of 21.3 points per game. For a third straight season, Rock Valley broke the single-season record for victories, posting a 33-3 record. The Golden Eagles started the season off 19-0 which is the best start in school-history. RVC knocked off two NJCAA D1 opponents who were nationally ranked, both of who made the NJCAA D1 tournament in Hutchinson this season. The Golden Eagles took down #6 Vincennes (IN) on the road to start the season off and the following weekend defeated #7 Indian Hills (IA) on the road.
In 2014-15 the Golden Eagles were ranked #1 in NJCAA Division III from the pre-season national poll until the final poll. Along the way, RVC broke the school record for wins going 31-4 on the season. Rock Valley played in the NJCAA Division III National Championship game in Loch Sheldrake, New York for the second year in a row. Additionally, the Golden Eagles won the N4C Conference and the Region IV/District 2 championship.
In his first season at RVC, Lavery assisted the Golden Eagles to the NJCAA DIII National Championship. In charge of team defense and nearly all scouts and game preparation, RVC was ranked #13 in the country in defensive FG% (40.2) and 14th in the nation in defensive 3PT% (29.7%). In the national tournament semi-final game vs. defending national champion Brookdale CC, NJ (30-1), RVC held the Jersey Blues to a dismal 31.1%. In the National Championship game, Rock Valley College held Caldwell Tech, NC (29-6) to 22-65 from the field for a chilly 33.8%.
Lavery joined RVC following a one-year stint as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at NCAA Division III Rockford University (IL). While at RU, Lavery was instrumental in the development of 2nd Team All Northern Athletic Conference guard Scott Suchy. In addition, Lavery was in charge of monitoring academics, on-campus visits, and assisted in recruiting.
Lavery played two years at NJCAA Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois where he was a two-year starter and captain. In his sophomore season, he helped lead the Kougars to a 6th place finish at the 2010 NJCAA DII National Tournament. Lavery went on to finish his playing career at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. A native of Dyer, Indiana, Lavery graduated from Lake Central High School in 2007. In his prep career, he was named an all-area selection by both the Northwest Indiana Times and the Post-Tribune.
Lavery holds degrees from Kishwaukee College (AS), Central Methodist University (BS) and Fort Hays State University (MS).
