Rock Valley College Athletics

M-Basketball Region Championship: #1 Rock Valley College (28-3) plays #3 Joliet JC (23-9) on Sunday

2/27/2016 7:50:00 PM

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Upcoming Date
Feb 28 vs. Joliet Junior College, 3:00 PM at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI

Probable Starters

Rock Valley College (28-3, 11-3 in N4C)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 7.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg
PF- Jontrell Robinson, 6-5, So., Rockford, IL; 1.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 66.9% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.6 ppg, 2.7 apg

Joliet Junior College (23-9, 9-5 in N4C)
PG- Darius Wells, 5-11, So., South Elgin, IL; 10.7 ppg, 4.2 apg, 5.9 rpg
SG- Kiwane Crowder, 6-3, So., Milwaukee, WI; 10.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg
SF- Robert Brooks, 6-3, Fr., Plainfield, IL; 12.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg
PF- Johnny Campbell, 6-2, Fr., Lockport, IL; 7.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg
PF- Patrick Kenny, 6-4, Fr., Naperville, IL; 12.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg
6th – Daymeann Stewart, 5-9, So., Milwaukee, WI; 13.7 ppg, 2.4 apg

Joliet Junior College Notes
Joliet Junior College is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Joliet, IL… Head coach of the Wolves is Joe Kuhn… Rock Valley split 1-1 against Joliet during the regular season… On January 16th, 2016, the Golden Eagles fell to the Wolves 70-66 in Joliet… 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…… On February 10th, 2016, 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.. Joliet advanced to the Region IV Championship with a 87-77 win at home over Harper College in the quarterfinals and a 94-79 win over Milwaukee Area Technical College on Friday night… Sunday's match-up marks the third time in four years that Rock Valley and Joliet have met in the Region IV Championship… The Golden Eagles beat the Wolves in 2013 and 2014 by a combined score of 3 points to advance to the national tournament in Loch Sheldrake, NY both years.

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 28-3, including a 15-2 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley beat College of DuPage 87-58 in the Region IV Semifinal… Mo Jackson (Belvidere, IL) connected on 8 of 11 attempts from behind the three-point line en route to a game and career-high 29 points, busting open a 9-point Golden Eagle halftime lead to take control of the contest… Kooper Glick (Columbus, IN) had many timely baskets in the second half scoring 16 points (7-10 FG)… Alec Pena (Rockton, IL) had his best overall performance since scoring 31 points at Truman College in November posting 13 points (6-6 FG) and a game-high 9 rebounds… Jontrell Robinson (Rockford, IL) led the charge defensively against DuPage's Christian Mathis, who entered the game averaging 17.9 PPG, good for 3rd in the N4C conference… Robinson and the Golden Eagles held Mathis to an 0-4 performance from the field in just under 27 minutes of action.

NJCAA DIII National Rankings
The Rock Valley College men's basketball program has been on a tear since winning the 2013-2014 NJCAA DIII National Championship. On Tuesday, the NJCAA national office in Colorado Springs, CO reported that the Golden Eagles were ranked #1 in the final national poll of the 2015-16 season.  This is the second consecutive season the Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 in the country for the entire season.  RVC took home all 8 first place votes while boasting a record of 27-3 (.900) overall which included road wins over top ten ranked NJCAA D1 powerhouse programs Vincennes and Indian Hills as well as a road win at the defending NJCAA D2 national runner-up John Wood CC.  Rock Valley started off the season 19-0 and, despite being an NJCAA D3 program, had a 15-2 (.882) record against NJCAA D1 and D2 scholarship programs.

#1 Ranking Facts

• Rock Valley men's basketball has been ranked #1 in the country since October 27th, 2014.
• RVC has been ranked #1 in the nation for 24 consecutive national polls.
• The Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 in NJCAA DIII for 484 days as of today (2/23/2016).
• RVC's record since being ranked #1 is 58-7 (.892) as of today.
• By the time the next national poll is released on October 25th, 2016, Rock Valley will have been ranked #1 for 729 consecutive days
• In head coach Craig Doty's 2nd season Rock Valley cracked the top 10 national poll on 12/3/2013. This was the first time in over a decade the Golden Eagles were nationally ranked. RVC held their top 10 national ranking and would climb as high as #2 in the country that season. The Golden Eagles would go on to win the NJCAA DIII National Championship that season.
• The October 27th, 2014 #1 ranking was the first time in the 48 year history of RVC men's basketball that the program was ranked #1 in the country.

NJCAA DIII National Poll for 2-23-2016 (records reflective of  Monday, Feb. 22, 2016)
 

Rank	College (1st Place Votes)	State	Record	Points	Prev
1	Rock Valley (8)	IL	27-3	80	1
2	Rochester	MN	25-2	71	3
3	Vermilion	MN	25-2	62	4
4	Central Lakes	MN	25-2	49	5
5	Davidson County	NC	27-3	44	2
6	Herkimer	NY	24-3	41	6
7	Nassau	NY	23-5	35	7
8	Sullivan County	NY	24-5	27	8
9	Eastfield	TX	24-7	17	10
10	Milwaukee Area Tech	WI	23-6	14	9

 
NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 28-3 (.903)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 23-7 (.767)
3. Joliet Junior College, IL: 23-9 (.719)
4. College of DuPage, IL: 18-12 (.600)
5. Mid Michigan College, MI: 16-10 (.615)
6. Lorain County Community College, OH: 12-18 (.400)
7. Harper College, IL: 11-20 (.355)
8. Madison College, WI: 10-19 (.345)

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 17.9 PPG.  LT ranks 5th in the country in 3PT field goals made with 102. LT has scored a total of 556 points this year which is 16th 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 (16.2 PPG) and leads RVC in rebounding (7.5 RPG) this season. Williams is 2nd in the country in FG% shooting 180-269 for an impressive 66.9%.
-Kooper Glick is the third leading scorer for the Golden Eagles scoring 12.7 PPG.  Glick's free throw percentage of 81.8% ranks him 24th nationally
-As a team, Rock Valley currently ranks 4th in 3PT made per game (10.6).  Last season the Golden Eagles ranked 6th at 9.2 3PTM per game.  In 2013-14 RVC finished 1st in the nation hitting 10.0 3PT shots per game. In Doty's first season, RVC ranked 2nd in the country at 9.2 3PTM per contest.
-The Golden Eagles are currently hitting a sizzling 73.6% of their free throws which ranks them 6th 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 #17 (17.8 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 19th nationally.
 
Tough Scheduling
The Golden Eagles play one of the most difficult schedules in the country again this season…RVC 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 played no JV teams or prep schools. The Golden Eagles went a perfect 16-0 in their non-conference schedule...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).