ROLLA, Mo. – A pair of top teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference's East Division will converge on Rolla this weekend, as the Miners play their first home games of the 2015 calendar year in a two-game weekend homestand that begins Thursday.
The two teams coming to Missouri S&T – Bellarmine and Southern Indiana – have a combined record of 19-2 heading into play this week. Bellarmine will be the first to visit as it will face the Miners in a 7:30 p.m. contest Thursday at Billy Key Court, then the Miners host Southern Indiana Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Miners are coming off a loss Sunday to then No. 7-ranked Indianapolis, a setback that ended their three-game winning streak. S&T comes into Thursday's contest at 8-3 overall and is 1-2 in the GLVC, while Bellarmine – ranked sixth in the latest NABC/Division II coaches poll -- has won its last three games and is 10-1 on the year with a 3-0 league mark.
S&T enters the contest as the GLVC leader in three categories -- scoring with an average of 90.5 points per game, steals with 13.7 a game and turnover margin at plus eight per contest. The Miners are currently third in NCAA Division II in steals and have three players ranked among the top 11 in the GLVC in that department, led by
Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) with three per game.
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) continues to lead the Miners in scoring with an average of 15.5 points per game, while
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) is scoring 14.3 a contest. S&T also has one of the top field goal shooters in the conference, as
Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.) is sixth with a mark of 61.7 percent.
The Miners shot the ball well in their 111-99 win at Saint Joseph's, including a 15-of-29 showing from three-point range, but hit a season-low 37 percent of their shots in Sunday's loss at Indianapolis.
Bellarmine has five players currently scoring in double figures, headed by Jake Thelen with an average of 17.2 points per game that is good for fourth in the league. Thelen, who is shooting 70.1 percent from the floor, is third in the nation in field goal percentage for a team that is the second-best in the GLVC at 51.2 percent.
Thelen is also the top rebounder for the Knights with a league-best 11 per game.
Josh Derksen is also averaging 12.4 points per game, while Chris Whitehead, a transfer from Fordham, is scoring 11.7 points a contest.
Saturday's opponent, Southern Indiana, is 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC after recording a pair of double-figure wins to open its conference slate over the weekend. The Screaming Eagles' only loss this season is to Florida Southern, who is currently ranked seventh and handed Bellarmine its only loss of the year in December.
USI has two of the GLVC's top seven scorers, led by Gavin Schumann with an average of 20.5 points per game. Schumann is third in the league in scoring, while George Edwards' mark of 17.3 a contest ranks seventh. The Eagles rank third in the GLVC in scoring as a team with their average of 85.3 points per outing.
Edwards is also USI's top rebounder with 8.7 a game – the fifth-best mark in the conference – while TeNale Roland has team highs in assists with 38 and steals with 16.
Southern Indiana will play at Drury Thursday before its game at Missouri S&T Saturday afternoon.
Thursday's links:
Game Notes – Miners vs. #6 BellarmineLive VideoLive AudioLive StatsSaturday's links:
Game Notes – Miners vs. Southern IndianaLive VideoLive AudioLive Stats
