Game Preview: Nationally Ranked Men's Basketball Programs Collide at Fourth Annual "Rumble in The Rock"
Rockford, IL – #3 Rock Valley College Men's Basketball (16-5, 4-1 in N4C) will host #3 NJCAA DII Triton College in the fourth annual "Rumble in the Rock" event on Saturday, January 20th at 8:00 PM. The "Rumble in the Rock" consists of four Rockford Public Schools games, and the men's and women's teams of Rock Valley College.
"Rumble in the Rock" Schedule
10:00 AM - Auburn Knights vs. Jefferson J-Hawks (Varsity Girls)
12:00 PM - East E-Rabs vs.Guilford Vikings (Varsity Girls)
2:00 PM - East E-Rabs vs. Guilford Vikings (Varsity Boys)
4:00 PM - Triton College Trojans vs. RVC Golden Eagles (Women)
6:00 PM - Auburn Knights vs. Jefferson J-Hawks (Varsity Boys)
8:00 PM - Triton College Trojans vs. RVC Golden Eagles (Men)
Probable Starters
#3 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (16-5, 4-1 in N4C)
PG-
Malique Ross - 6'1, Fr., Oswego, IL; 12.4 ppg, 5.5 apg
SG-
Dalton Menke - 6'3, So., Winnebago, IL; 11.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg
SF-
Elijah Pappas - 6'3, Fr., Rockford, IL; 7.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg
PF-
DeMari Davis - 6'6, R-Fr., Indianapolis, IN; 7.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg
C-
Alec Pena - 6'7, So., Rockton, IL; 16.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg
6th-
Jace Kitchen - 6'6, So., DeKalb, IL; 13.7 ppg, 44.7% 3 PT
#3 NJCAA DII Triton College (19-1, 5-0 in N4C)
PG- Matt Johnson - 5'11, Fr., Lincolnshire, IL; 8.2 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.9 spg
SG- Dante Thorpe - 6'4, So., Washington, DC; 20.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.0 spg
SF- Deonta Terrell - 6'4, Fr., Chicago, IL; 18.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg
PF- John Joyce - 6'5, So., Chicago, IL; 8.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg
C- Liddell Davis - 6'7, Fr, Hillside, IL; 2.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg
6th- Johnny Fox - 6'5", So., Chicago, IL; 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg
RVC Falls to Milwaukee Tech at Home
Rock Valley hosted NJCAA DIII Milwaukee Area Technical College on Wednesday… The Golden Eagles struggled out of the gates, but went on a 21-11 run with 6 minutes to play in the first half to tie the game at 32 a piece…RVC never lead at any point in the game, and eventually fell to the Stormers 69-65… Rock Valley's loss came behind 31% shooting from the field and 18 turnovers…
Jace Kitchen (DeKalb) continued his stellar offensive play, pouring in 24 points on 7-11 shooting from behind the arc… The only other double digit scorer for RVC was
Dalton Menke (Winnebago, IL) who ended up with 16 points…
DeMari Davis fell just short of a double double with 9 points and 14 rebounds, 9 which came on the offensive glass.
Game Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… RVC Men's Basketball checked in at #3 nationally in the NJCAA DIII Poll released on January 16th, 2017… Rock Valley, with a record of 16-5 and 4-1 in N4C play, will host #3 NJCAA DII Triton College in the finale of the Rumble in the Rock… Last season, Triton handed Rock Valley 2 of its 3 losses… In the first match up at home, the Golden Eagles fell to Triton in a 90-74 loss...
Elijah Williams (Chicago, IL) led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 24 points… When Rock Valley traveled to Triton, they found themselves on the losing end of a 81-74 game, where
Dalton Payton (Byron, IL) led the way with 19 points… RVC is playing in their fourth annual "Rumble of the Rock" event, followed by 2 more home games where the Golden Eagles will host Madison College on Wednesday, January 25th, and Joliet Junior College on Saturday, January 28th.
Triton College Notes
Triton College is an NJCAA DII member located in River Grove, IL… The Trojans are coached by Steve Christiansen in his 13
th season at the helm… Coach Christiansen is 323-90 in his time at Triton, winning an average of 25 games a year… The Trojans have won 3 consecutive conference championships, including going undefeated in conference last season… Triton finished as runner-up at the 2016 NJCAA DII National Tournament in Danville, IL, falling to Kirkwood Community College 83-76… This season, the Trojans are off to an 19-1 start (5-0 N4C) and are currently on a 9-game winning streak with their only loss coming to Parkland College…The Trojans are led by Dante Thorpe's 20.4 points per game.
N4C Conference Standings
| School |
N4C |
PCT. |
Overall |
Pct. |
Streak |
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
| Triton College |
5-0 |
1.000 |
19-1 |
0.950 |
W9 |
12-0 |
7-1 |
0-0 |
| Rock Valley College |
4-1 |
0.800 |
16-5 |
0.762 |
L1 |
9-4 |
7-1 |
0-0 |
| Madison College |
4-1 |
0.800 |
12-7 |
0.632 |
W5 |
9-1 |
2-5 |
1-1 |
| Joliet Junior College |
2-3 |
0.400 |
16-5 |
0.762 |
W2 |
11-2 |
5-3 |
0-0 |
| MATC-Milwaukee |
2-3 |
0.400 |
9-11 |
0.450 |
W1 |
5-2 |
4-9 |
0-0 |
| Harper College |
1-4 |
0.200 |
6-15 |
0.286 |
L2 |
3-8 |
3-7 |
0-0 |
| College of DuPage |
1-4 |
0.200 |
1-16 |
0.059 |
L3 |
0-7 |
1-9 |
0-0 |
| Wilbur Wright College |
1-4 |
0.200 |
1-18 |
0.053 |
L5 |
0-10 |
1-8 |
0-0 |
