Game Preview: #8 Golden Eagles Host Joliet Junior College in Region IV Tournament Semifinals

Game Preview: #8 Golden Eagles Host Joliet Junior College in Region IV Tournament Semifinals

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Rockford, IL – #8 Rock Valley College Men's Basketball (22-8) will host the Region IV Tournament Saturday, February 25th and Sunday, February 26th. The field includes Rock Valley College with the #1 seed, #4 Elgin Community College at the #2 seed, Madison College with the #3 seed, and Joliet Junior College at the #4 seed. See below for the entire schedule for the Region IV Tournament:

GAME SCHEDULE
February 25th, 2017
5:00 PM                 #1 Rock Valley College vs #4 Joliet Junior College 
7:00 PM                 #2 Elgin Community College vs #3 Madison College 

February 26th, 2017
3:00 PM                 Championship Game

Probable Starters
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#8 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (22-8) 
PG- Malique Ross - 6'1, Fr., Montgomery, IL; 11.9 ppg, 5.4 apg 
SG- Dalton Menke - 6'3, So., Winnebago, IL; 11.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg
SF- Elijah Pappas - 6'3, Fr., Rockford, IL; 7.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg 
PF- DeMari Davis - 6'6, R-Fr., Indianapolis, IN; 9.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg 
C- Alec Pena - 6'7, So., Rockton, IL; 16.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg 
6th- Jace Kitchen - 6'6, So., DeKalb, IL; 13.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg 

NJCAA DIII Joliet Junior College (23-8) 
PG- Richie Elias - 6'2, Fr., Plainfield, IL; 7.3 ppg, 4.3 apg
SG- Robert Brooks - 6'3, So., Plainfield, IL; 14.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg
PF- Clinton Berhow - 6'3, Fr., Skyline, UT; 11.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg
SF- Johnny Campbell - 6'2", So., Lockport, IL; 8.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg
C- Mitchell Kwasigroch - 6'5, Fr, New Lenox, IL; 10.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg
6th- Jarret Gmazel - 6'0", Fr., New Lenox, IL; 7.4 ppg

#4 NJCAA DIII Elgin Community College (26-5) 
PG- Charles Sanders – 6'0, So., Elgin, IL; 12.4 ppg, 4.1 apg
SG- Chris Benjamin – 6'2, So., Addison, IL; 17.5 ppg, 3.7 apg, 6.0 rpg
SF- Jordan Anderson - 6'1, So., Hanover Park, IL; 8.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg
PF- Juwan Stewart- 6'4", So., Elgin, IL; 8.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg
C- Homer Denson - 6'8, Fr, Chicago, IL; 14.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg
6th- Connor Boesch - 6'0, So., Huntley, IL; 4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg

NJCAA DIII Madison College (19-10) 
PG- Tyree Young - 5'11, Fr., Milwaukee, WI; 12.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg
SG- Zach Adkins - 6'3. So., Fennimore, WI; 2.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg
SF- Paul Schmelzer - 6'2, Fr., Madison, WI; 11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg
PF- Joel O'Donnell - 6'4, So., Madison, WI; 5.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
C- Shane Waldon - 6'7, So., Sun Prairie, WI; 17.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
6th- Stavon Staples- 6'1", Fr., Madison, WI; 9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg

Rock Valley Finishes N4C Play With Win Over Madison 
On Saturday, Rock Valley traveled to Madison, WI to face off against NJCAA DIII Madison College and came away with a 95-87 win, in the final game of the regular season… It was a back and forth first half, but Rock Valley found themselves up 42-37 heading into the break… Coming out of the half, Madison kept it close before a run sparked by Jace Kitchen's (DeKalb, IL) 10 straight points in 66 seconds helped RVC to pull away, and ultimately win the contest 95-87… The Golden Eagles shot 55% from the field and 60% from behind the three-point arc… Rock Valley was led by 20 points from Malique Ross (Montgomery, IL)... Jace Kitchen finished with 19 points, on 5-6 shooting from three-point land… RVC also got help from Alec Pena (Rockton, IL) with 17 points and 11 rebounds… Elijah Pappas (Rockford, IL) also added 14 points... The win gave the Golden Eagles a 10-4 conference finish, good enough for second place overall.

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 #8 nationally in the NJCAA DIII Poll released on February 20th, 2017… Rock Valley finished the regular season with a record of 22-8 and 10-4 in N4C play... Rock Valley, with the #1 seed in the region tournament, will host their match up against Joliet Junior College on Saturday at 5:00 PM… RVC has won the last four NJCAA DIII Region IV titles… In their two match-ups in the regular season, RVC came out of top in both games... In Joliet back on January 4th, the Golden Eagles knocked off the Wolves 81-74... In the rematch in Rockford, RVC came away with a 71-66 win... On Sunday, February 19th, Rock Valley scored two all-conference selections... Jace Kitchen (DeKalb, IL) was named to the All-N4C First Team, while Alec Pena (Rockton, IL) was named All-N4C Second Team... The Golden Eagles enter the post season winners of 6 of their last 7 games, with their only loss coming at the hands at #1 NJCAA DII Triton College.

Joliet Junior College Notes 
Joliet Community College is an NJCAA DIII member located in Joliet, IL… The Wolves are coached by Joe Kuhn… Coach Kuhn is in his 20th season, and has won over 450 games… Joe Kuhn led Joliet to NJCAA DIII National Championship in 2010, and was elected into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015… Joliet finished the season at 22-8 and 8-6 in N4C play... Joliet punched its ticket to the Region IV Semifinal with an 80-73 win over Milwaukee Area Technical College... The Wolves are led by sophomore Robert Brooks (Plainfield, IL) averaging 14.9 points per game... Brooks was named All-N4C First Team, while freshman Mitchell Kwasigroch (New Lenox, IL) was selected to All-N4C Second Team.

Elgin Community College Notes 
Elgin Community College is an NJCAA DIII member located in Elgin, IL… The Spartans are coached by Reed Nosbisch… Coach Nosbisch is in his 9th season at his alma mater, and has led the Spartans to a 26-5 record and the #4 seed in the national poll… The #2 seeded Spartans will travel to Rock Valley College on Saturday to play Madison College for their second match up with the Wolves… Last time these two teams met, Elgin won 94-74… Elgin is led by sophomore Chris Benjamin (Addison, IL), who is averaging 17.5 points per game.

Madison College Notes 
Madison College is an NJCAA DIII member located in Madison, WI… The WolfPack are coached by Bill Kegler in his 1st year as head coach… The WolfPack finished the regular season 19-10 overall and 10-4 in N4C play… Madison, the #3 seed in the tournament, travels to Rock Valley College to face off against the Elgin Community Spartans... The WolfPack are led by sophomore big man Shane Waldon's (Sun Prairie, WI) 17.4 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game… Madison has two all-conference selections, Shane Waldon, who was All-N4C First Team and Tyree Young (Milwaukee, WI), who was All-N4C Second Team.

 
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