THIS WEEK
A 4-game home stand continues this weekend when the University of Mary hosts Winona State University and #1 Minnesota State University in Northern Sun contests on January 19-20. The weekend opens when the Marauders face the visiting Warriors at 7:30 pm on Friday, January 19. The Marauders then face the tall task of taking on the #1 Mavericks on Saturday, January 20, at 5:30 pm. Both games will be played on the University of Mary campus in the McDowell Activity Center.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-10 overall and 1-9 in the Northern Sun (15^th place)… The Warriors are 9-7 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC (9^th place)… The #1 Mavericks 16-0 overall and 10-0 in the NSIC (1^st place).
 
TAKING ON #1
When UMary hosts #1 Minnesota State, it will be the third time the Marauders have faced a team ranked first in NCAA Division II:

• UMary hosted #1 Winona State January 28, 2007 (WSU 80 UMary 63)
• UMary played at #1 Augustana January 30, 2016 (Augie 87 UMary 80)

 
SCHEDULING NOTES

• After spending the first half of the Northern Sun schedule playing the doubleheader opener and the women playing the second game, starting January 19 the women play the first game and the men play the second game.  
• Since the Northern Sun season opened November 21, the Marauders played their first eight conference games over eight weeks. The final 14 games will be played in seven weeks.
• The Marauders start the second half of their 22-game Northern Sun schedule against the Mavericks on Saturday.

 
LAST WEEK
At home for the first time in over three weeks, the Marauders played at the McDowell Activity Center to start a 4-game home stand… Zyon Smith led the Marauders with 12 points in an 83-50 loss to visiting Augustana… Rich Ashu had eight points, five rebounds and two steals in UMary's 73-53 loss to Wayne State College.  
 
FOLLOW LIVE

• Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt broadcasts all Marauders home games and Northern Sun contests on Fox Sports 710 and online at https://foxsports710.iheart.com/
• Free video streaming of Marauders home and all Northern Sun games is available at https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary and at www.GoUMary.com/coverage
• Live stats for Saturday's games are available online at www.GoUMary.com/coverage

 
MARAUDERS MOVE TO 550 KFYR AM FOR SATURDAY
The Marauders-Mavericks men's and women's basketball games move to 550 KFYR AM on Saturday, January 20.
 
STARTING FOR THE FIRST TIME
Sophomore guard Marquel Saleek and freshmen Alex Mattes and Nick Harrell made their first career starts for UMary against Wayne State College.
 
DOUBLING UP
The Marauders have a trio of players with double doubles this season:

• Xavier Lewis – 15 points, 12 rebounds at Northeastern State (Nov. 11, 2023)
• Xavier Lewis – 12 points, 13 rebounds vs. Minnesota Crookston (Dec. 8, 2023)
• Brock Heffner – 25 points, 11 rebounds vs. Mayville State (Nov. 15, 2023)
• Ty Rogers – 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Trinity Bible College (Nov. 24, 2023)

 
20 + 20
Twice this season UMary has had a pair of 20 point scorers in a game:

• Brock Heffner (25) and Gerald Gittens (23) vs. Mayville State (11.15.23)
• Brock Heffner (26) and Gerald Gittens (22) at Concordia-St. Paul (1.6.24)

The last time two Marauders scored 20 points in a game was Kam Warrens (21) and Zyon Smith (20) against Sioux Falls (January 7, 2023).
 
HEFFNER ON A RUN
Sophomore forward Brock Heffner was named to the "NSIC Shining 5" after scoring 36 points against VCSU. He is the first UMary player to make the NSIC honor list this season. He followed with 19 points at Minnesota Duluth and 26 at Concordia-St. Paul.

• The 36 points was the most by a UMary player since Kai Huntsberry scored 42 against the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Northern Sun quarterfinals on February 26, 2022
• The last time a UMary player scored 36 points in the regular season was Anthony Moody (42 at St. Cloud State on February 19, 2011)
• Eric Erdman is the only UMary player to score more than 36 at the McDowell Activity Center during the Marauders NCAA era (37 vs. Upper Iowa on January 2, 2010)

 
TRIPLE 9s
Junior guard Gerald Gittens just missed a triple double with nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists against VCSU on December 18. The last time a Marauders player had at least nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a game was December 15, 2015, when Marquealis Edwards had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 100-76 win over Presentation. It remains the Marauders lone NCAA era triple double.
 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders and Minnesota State are the only teams in the NSIC to have three players averaging at least 11.7 points/game this season. Gerald Gittens is 19th in the NSIC in scoring (13.6 ppg), Brock Heffner (13.4 ppg) is 21^st and Zyon Smith is in the top 30 (11.7 ppg):

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, leads the Marauders in scoring at 13.6 points per game. He is shooting 44% from the floor, 38% on treys and averages 4.9 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 52.
• Zyon Smith averages 11.7 points per game with 4.8 rebounds/game. The senior guard leads the team with 29 3-pointers and is making 31% of his trey attempts.
• Brock Heffner, a transfer from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, averages 13.4 points per game and 4.8 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 48% from the floor and has 12 blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. WARRIORS
The Marauders are 3-22 all-time against the Warriors with wins in the last two games… UMary is 2-9 all-time at the MAC against Winona State… WSU is 13-1 at home against UMary, including 3-1 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… LAST MEETING Gertautas Urbonavicius and Kam Warrens both scored 19 points for the Marauders in a 67-59 UMary home win on January 21, 2023. It was the second straight win for the Marauders over the Warriors and the third win all-time in 25.
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. MAVERICKS
The Marauders are 5-13 all-time against the Mavericks… UMary has won two straight games against Minnesota State… UMary snapped a 5-game losing streak to Minnesota State with a 96-91 overtime win in the 2016 NSIC quarterfinals… The two teams first met Dec. 12, 2008, in Bismarck with the Mavericks winning 83-61… After losing the first four games in the series, UMary claimed its first win 84-69 over MSU in Bismarck on January 15, 2011 as All-American Anthony Moody hit eight treys and scored 31 points and Jordan Wilhelm added five three-pointers and 17 points… The Marauders picked up their first – and only - win at the Taylor Center 75-61 on January 14, 2017… LAST MEETING Leading from the first basket to the last, the University of Mary men's basketball team earned a 69-68 win at Minnesota State University on January 27, 2023. Treyton Mattern led a Marauders attack, draining 4-of-5 shots from behind the arc on his way to a team-leading 20 points. UMary was 7-for-12 on 3s in the first half and 10-for-21 for the game. Kam Warrens added 15 points and Gertautas Urbonavicius had 11.
 
LINE GAME
UMary is 6^th in the NSIC in getting to the free throw line, earning 305 opportunities this season.
 
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is 9^th in the NSIC in rebounding. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 7.2 rebounds/game to lead UMary. He is 7th in the NSIC. Additionally Zyon Smith (5.3 rpg) ranks 25^th in the NSIC.
 
GET THAT OUTTA HERE
Rich Ashu, Brock Heffner and Xavier Lewis are making things difficult for Marauders opponents to score inside as all three rank in the Top 16 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.1 blocks/game to rank 5^th in the NSIC. Heffner (0.8blocks/game) ranks 16^th and Lewis (0.8 blocks/game) is 13^th… Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 3.13 shots/game to rank 6th in the NSIC.
 
CLUTCH
Gerald Gittens has shown a magic touch in a pair of late game situations. The Brooklyn, NY, native in his first season at UMary hit a shot to beat the buzzer in the Marauders 63-61 win at Northeastern State University in the second game of the season… in the Marauders home opener he hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70-70 and force overtime. Gittens hit five straight free throws to seal the 81-72 UMary win.
 
SMITH NAMED UMARY'S NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH IN 2023-24
A senior guard from Montgomery, AL, Zyon Smith is UMary's NSIC Player to Watch for 2023-24. Smith joined the Marauders last season as a transfer from Highland (KS) Community College. In his first season at UMary he averaged 11.7 points per game. Smith hit a team-best 44 treys and averaged 2.8 rebounds per game. In the Marauders lone exhibition game of the preseason Smith hit four treys and scored a game-high 20 points at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University.
 
MARAUDERS MEMOS

• Senior G Zyon Smith is the lone starter returning for UMary after graduating four starters
• The Marauders return six players who saw action in at least 16 games, including junior F Liam Doherty and sophomores Jeremiah Jones, Gunner Swanson, Ty Rogers and Xavier Lewis.
• Several newcomers will play key roles for the Marauders this season, including a trio of reserves: Junior guard Gerald Gittens (North Central Missouri College), junior forward Rich Ashu (Ellsworth Community College) and sophomore forward Brock Heffner (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay)
• Marauders were picked to finish 13th in the NSIC in the preseason coaches poll

 
YEAR THREE
Head coach Jack Nelson enters year three with the Marauders. In his first season in 2020-21 he led UMary to its best conference record in four years. Nelson directed the Marauders to their first Northern Sun tournament road victory with an 82-70 win at Winona State to send UMary to the quarterfinals and a trip to the Sanford Pentagon. During the regular season the Marauders defeated #6 University of Minnesota Duluth 75-71, the highest ranked NCAA team UMary has beaten at home. Nelson recruited and coached Kai Huntsberry, the 2021-22 NSIC Newcomer of the Year and a 1st team all-conference selection who broke the NSIC tournament record for 3s in a game with eight.
 
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