Men's Basketball | 1/15/2015 7:11:00 PM

THIS WEEKEND
The University of Mary sets sail on its longest Northern Sun road trip of the season when the Marauders visit Winona State University and Upper Iowa State University. The Marauders tangle with the Warriors on Friday, Jan. 16, in McCown Gym at 8 p.m. The visit wraps up against the Peacocks on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Dorman Gym. Tipoff between U-Mary and UIU is 6 p.m.
 
RECORDS
U-Mary is 4-10 overall and 2-8 in the Northern Sun (8th NSIC North Division, 15th overall)
Winona State Warriors are 7-7 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC (6th NSIC South, 10th overall)
Upper Iowa Peacocks are 10-6 overall and 6-4 in the NSIC (3rd NSIC South, 5th overall)

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders fell 81-52 to #13 MSU Moorhead before concluding the weekend with an 80-76 home win Northern State
Upper Iowa Peacocks swept two home games last weekend, defeating Southwest Minnesota State 105-103 in overtime and Sioux Falls 100-87
Winona State Warriors also swept at home, defeating Sioux Falls 79-64 and Southwest Minnesota State 73-68

WEEKEND HEADLINES
After Saturday's win over Northern State, Marauders are looking to win consecutive games for the first time this season
With a distance of over 600 miles to Fayette, Iowa, this is the longest conference road trip of the season for U-Mary
This is the second straight season the Marauders have visited Winona, Minn., and Fayette, Iowa
1st road trip of the season against teams from the NSIC South
Marauders are 14th nationally in fewest turnovers/game (10.8)
Marquealis Edwards ranks in the Northern Sun top 20 in points, rebounds, steals, assists and assist/turnover ratio

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. WARRIORS
The Marauders trail the Warriors 1-14 in the all-time series
WSU is 9-0 at home against U-Mary, including 3-0 in the NSIC tournament
The Marauders lost the first seven games of the series before winning 87-85 in overtime at home on 1.3.10 behind 29 points from Anthony Moody. The All-American hit 5-of-6 3-point attempts and captured NSIC Player of the Week honors for his efforts.
The Warriors have won seven straight games over the Marauders
Last Meeting
U-Mary jumped out to a 28-20 lead on the road but #21 and NSIC-leading Winona State ran off 11 straight points in the second half as the Warriors defeated the Marauders 74-60 in January 2014. Devan Douglas led the Marauders with 11 points and Marc Musungayi and Jalen Jaspers both added 10. Kellen Taylor led the Warriors with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds.

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. PEACOCKS
The Marauders trail the Peacocks 5-7
Upper Iowa is 5-1 at home in Dorman Gym
U-Mary is 4-2 at the McDowell Activity Center
The Marauders only win at UIU was a 65-56 win on 1.4.11 in a game delayed two days by storms. Anthony Moody led all players with 22 points and Eric Erdmann posted 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Peacocks have won the last three meetings
Last Meeting
Jalen Jaspers scored a career-high 31 points but U-Mary was unable to hold off Upper Iowa in a 79-71 road loss in January 2014. Leading 68-63 with 3:08 remaining, the Peacocks ran off seven straight points to go ahead in a game that featured seven lead changes and five ties in the second half. Jaspers tied the game at 70 before a Joey Woods game-winning trey. Jaspers made 12-of-14 shots in the game. Germain Decoste added 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Woods, who scored 12 straight points for UIU in the final 1:42, finished with 26 points and six assists.  

COMMONALITY
The Marauders, Warriors and Peacocks have played four common foes. U-Mary is 1-1 against Northern State, 0-1 against both Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls, and 0-2 against NSIC-leading MSU Moorhead... Winona State is 0-1 against MSUM and NSU and 1-1 against SMSU and USF... Upper Iowa is 2-0 against both USF and SMSU and 0-1 against both MSUM and NSU.

THE OPPONENT: Winona State University
After advancing to the NCAA tournament nine times in the last ten seasons, Winona State is having a very uncommon season. Second in the NSIC last season and posting a mark of 26-8 overall, the Warriors are 7-7 this season and 4-6 in league play. In his 17th season as head coach, Mike Leaf has a record of 375-146 and two national championships. This year's record may be a little deceiving as the Warriors suffered a four-game losing streak while playing four of the top five teams in the NSIC standings. Riley Bambenek leads the team in scoring at 15.0 PPG. Also the team's assist leader with 44, he is third on the team in rebounding at 4.6/game. Isaiah Gray is the only other WSU player averaging double figures with 13.3 PPG. He is second on the team in rebounds (4.7/game) and assists (28) and leads in steals (14). One of the NSIC's top defensive teams, the Warriors allow 67.1 PPG (4th in the NSIC) and hold foes to a shooting percentage of 41.4 percent (3rd). After sweeping Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls at home last weekend, the Warriors are 7-2 at McCown.    

THE OPPONENT: Upper Iowa University Peacocks
Pairing the top scoring offense in the Northern Sun with a defense ranked last in points per game allowed, Upper Iowa has moved into the upper echelon in the league. The Peacocks are 10-6 overall and 6-4 in conference action, the fifth-best mark in the NSIC. Three of their four league losses have come against teams in the top four of the conference. The Peacocks cranked up their offense last weekend to key a home sweep, defeating SMSU 105-103 in overtime and 100-87 over Sioux Falls. UIU averages a league-leading 85.1 PPG while allowing 81.3 PPG. Struggling on the glass, Upper Iowa has a league-low -5.2 rebounding margin. The Peacocks make up for the board deficiency by leading the NSIC 8.4 steals/game and have a conference-best +4.56 turnover margin. A deep squad, nine players average at least 5.6 PPG. Bo Pagel leads the way with 13.5 PPG. Jordan Hay posts 12.1 PPG and 5.8 RPG while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor. Grant Lang checks in at 12.0 PPG and leads the team with 39 treys and a 48.1 percent mark behind the arc.



REWIND
For the second straight week, the Marauders gained a weekend split. Playing at home for the first time in four weeks, U-Mary couldn't keep pace with #13 MSU Moorhead in the second half of an 81-52 loss. Germain Decoste led the Marauders with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Damonta Henry and Marquealis Edwards both added nine. Aaron Lien led MSUM with 20 points and Jordan Riewer had 16 points and nine assists. Both had four treys... The Marauders earned their first home win of the season with an 80-76 upset over Northern State, receiving top 25 votes and sitting third in the NSIC. Holding the lead throughout the second half until the Wolves tied the game 71-71, Isaac Lindquist converted a conventional 3-point play to put the Marauders in front for good with 1:58 left in the game. Chris Mason hit two tough shots and hauled down a defensive rebounds in the final 82 seconds to preserve the win. Mason led all players with 27 points, making 10-of-12 shots. The senior guard also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jaycob Velasco scored 11 off the bench and Henry added 10. Luke Scott had six points and six assists. Skye Warwick led NSU with 14 points.

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT (FOR WINNING)
The Marauders have won on consecutive Saturdays, defeating Bemidji State 86-80 on the first Saturday of 2015 before returning home and defeating Northern State 80-76 last Saturday.

MIGHTY MIGHTY MASON
Senior guard Chris Mason put on a show in the Marauders 80-76 win over Northern State, scoring 27 points. It was his second best career-effort. A day after the birth of his son, Mason connected on 10-of-12 field goals. His .833 shooting percentage in the game was the sixth best figure since U-Mary began playing in the NSIC in 2006-07. Mason saved some of his best work for the final 82 seconds. He hit a step-back jumper with 1:22 left to keep U-Mary in front 76-73. After pulling down a defensive rebound, Mason hit a floater while getting fouled with 12 seconds remaining to push the advantage to 78-73.

LONGBALL
Leading by two with three seconds left and facing a full press on the inbound pass, Luke Scott and Bryan Jefferson combined to place an exclamation mark on the Marauders win over the Wolves. Jefferson lost his defender and broke towards the Marauders basket. Scott found him with a long pass over the top of the Wolves defense. Jefferson hauled in the pass and slammed the ball home with a second remaining for the final two points of the 80-76 victory.

STAT STUFFER
Junior guard Marquealis Edwards is developing into one of the top all-around players in the Northern Sun. For the season Edwards is 17th in the NSIC in scoring (13.1 PPG), 20th in rebounding (5.4 RPG), 5th in assists (4.3 APG) and 2nd in steals (1.9 SPG).

REJECTION COLLECTION
In just one-and-a-half seasons, Germain Decoste has cracked the Marauders career leader board in blocked shots (since 1989). The senior forward has 34 career blocks, which places him 10th. Decoste had five blocks last weekend, three against #13 MSU Moorhad and two against Northern State. For the season the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is seventh in the NSIC with 1.0 blocks/game. He had 20 blocks last season in 20 games. Kurt Schwamp (1998-2000) is next on the list with 35 rejections. The all-time school leader is Marc Hawley (1995-97) with 108.

FOUR STRAIGHT
The Marauders have rolled with the same starting lineup for all four games of 2015: Chris Mason, Damonta Henry and Marquealis Edwards on the perimeter with Germain Decoste and Bryan Jefferson on the front line.  

NEW ROLE
Sophomore forward Bryan Jefferson made his first career start at Minot State and has remained in the lineup five straight games. A key reserve much of the season, the Aurora, Ill., native has posted double figures in points in nine of the 12 games he has played. He has led the team in scoring four times and rebounding five while posting the team's first double double (25 points and 10 rebounds at Point Loma). Jefferson leads the team in rebounding (5.8/game), is fourth in scoring (11.4 PPG) and third in field goal percentage (.520). He has also made 70 percent of his free throws. In the NSIC Jefferson ranks 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.1/game) and 11th in rebounding.   

WELCOME BACK
After an injury opening night caused him to miss six games, senior guard/forward Chris Mason is back in the lineup. The Marauders leading returning scorer contributed seven points and three rebounds in 17 minutes against Southwest Minnesota State in his first game back. In his next six outings Mason reached double figures four times, including a season-high 27 points against Northern State. For the season he is averaging 12.1 PPG while shooting 56.1 percent from the floor.   

MY PRECIOUS
Treating the ball like Bilbo Baggins treats The Ring, the Marauders refuse to turn the precious over. U-Mary committed a season-low seven turnovers against Minot State and average just 10.8 turnovers/game, the 14th-lowest figure in NCAA Division II and 6th fewest in the Northern Sun.

TURNING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS
In the ten Northern Sun games this season, the Marauders have outscored the opponents in points-off-turnovers seven times.

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
The Marauders rank ninth in the NSIC in assist to turnover ratio with a mark of 1.1. U-Mary averages 12.0 assists/game and 10.8 turnovers.

LEGAL THEFT
U-Mary ranks fifth in the NSIC in steals per game with 6.4. Marquealis Edwards is the ringleader with 1.9 per game, second best in the NSIC.

CHARITY DISPARITY
In Northern Sun contests, U-Mary opponents have made more free throws this season than the Marauders have attempted. The Marauders have taken 155 free throws while foes have made 127. U-Mary is 106-of-155 at the line (68.4 percent). Opponents are 161-of-217 at the line (74.2 percent).  

SHARING THE LOAD
Six different Marauders are averaging at least 6.9 points per game with four averaging in double figures. Marquealis Edwards leads the team in scoring at 13.1 PPG, followed by Chris Mason (12.1 PPG), Damonta Henry (11.4 PPG) and Bryan Jefferson (11.4 PPG).