Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 NJCAA D3 Rock Valley College plays at #1 NJCAA D2 Triton College on Saturday

2/13/2016 9:56:00 AM

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Upcoming Date
Feb 13 vs. Triton College, 3:00 PM; River Grove, IL

Probable Starters

Rock Valley College (25-2, 9-2 in N4C)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 18.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 11.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg
PF- Jontrell Robinson, 6-5, So., Rockford, IL; 1.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 66.3% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.1 ppg, 2.6 apg

Triton College (25-2, 11-0 in N4C)
PG- Eddie Miles, 6-3, So., Chicago, IL; 7.8 ppg, 4.0 apg, 3.0 rpg
SG- Eric Gillespie, 5-10, So., Gurnee, IL; 15.5 ppg, 2.5 apg
SF- Nick Norton, 6-6, So., Downers Grove, IL; 8.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg
SF- Josh Doss, 6-4, So., Chicago, IL; 10.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg
C- Percell Washington, 6-6, So., Chicago, IL; 13.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg
6th – Dante Thorpe, 6-4, Fr., Washington, DC; 11.2 ppg, 2.6 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… In the last NJCAA DII national poll (February 9, 2016), Triton College checked in at #1 in the country… Entering Saturday's showdown, the Trojans are riding a 21-game winning streak, and are a perfect 15-0 on their home floor this season… Back on January 20th, 2016, Rock Valley suffered 90-74 loss to Triton in Rockford, IL… In the loss, Elijah Williams finished with a game-high 24 points (11-12 FG) and a game-high in rebounds with 13.
 

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 21 national polls dating back to 10-27-2014... Rock Valley is currently 25-2, including a 14-1 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley beat Joliet 93-73 in Rockford, IL… Rock Valley put five players in double-figure scoring led by sophomore big man Elijah Williams (Chicago, IL) who scored a game-high 23 points (9-14 FG)… Jace Kitchen (DeKalb, IL) played his best offensive game in a Golden Eagle uniform scoring 15 points on 6-7 from the field… Dalton Payton (Byron, IL) went for 14 points (5-6 FG, 4-4 3PT) while point guard Mo Jackson (Belvidere, IL) scored 12 points… RVC's leading scorer, LT Davis (Rockford, IL), battled his way through flu-like symptoms to score 10 points and grab a game-high 6 rebounds… RVC shot a blistering 32-52 (61.5%) from the field on the game including a season-best 59.1% (13-22) from behind the arch.
 
NJCAA DIII National Rankings
The Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 in the country for an unprecedented 21 straight NJCAA National Polls dating back to October 27th, 2014.  Here is the national poll released yesterday, Tuesday, February 9th, 2016. Note: Below records are reflected from last Sunday.

 
NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 25-2 (.926)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 20-6 (.769)
3. Joliet Junior College, IL: 19-8 (.704)
4. College of DuPage, IL: 16-9 (.640)
5. Mid Michigan College, MI: 12-10 (.545)
6. Lorain County Community College, OH: 12-15 (.444)
7. Madison College, WI: 10-15 (.400)
8. Harper College, IL: 10-17 (.370)
 
Individual and Team Stats
*Note: The NJCAA DIII level is represented by approximately 120 men's basketball programs from Texas to Minnesota, from Illinois to New York and throughout the United States.
-The Golden Eagles are led by LT Davis who is averaging 18.1 PPG.  LT ranks 3^rd in the country in 3PT field goals made with 96. LT has scored a total of 488 points this year which is 14^th best in the country… LT Davis redshirted last season after being named MVP of the 2014 NJCAA DIII National Tournament.  In the 2013-14 season Davis averaged 15.5 points per game, second on the team to Jared Mayes who averaged 19.0 PPG that season and earned National Player of the Year.
-Elijah Williams is second in scoring (16.5 PPG) and leads RVC in rebounding (7.7 RPG) this season.  Williams is 3^rd in the country in FG% shooting 159-240 for an impressive 66.3%.
-Kooper Glick is the third leading scorer for the Golden Eagles scoring 11.9 PPG.  Glick's free throw percentage of 82.6% ranks him 24^th nationally
-As a team, Rock Valley currently ranks 4^th in 3PT made per game (10.8).  Last season the Golden Eagles ranked 6^th at 9.2 3PTM per game.  In 2013-14 RVC finished 1^st in the nation hitting 10.0 3PT shots per game. In Doty's first season, RVC ranked 2^nd in the country at 9.2 3PTM per contest.
-The Golden Eagles are currently hitting a sizzling 72.9% of their free throws which ranks them 7^th in the nation
-Over the past three seasons the Golden Eagles have been ranked in the top 20 for assists per game.  This year RVC comes in at #14 (18.0 APG), in 2014-15 the Golden Eagles finished #7 in assists per game at 17.9 while in 2013-14, RVC handed out 17.8 assists per contest, good for 19^th nationally.
 
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.
 


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).