THIS WEEK
After playing at home the last two weekends, the University of Mary men's basketball team embarks on a southern excursion for a pair of Northern Sun contests on Friday and Saturday, January 26-27. The Marauders first face the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs on Friday at 7:30 pm in Marshall, MN. The weekend wraps up with a visit to Sioux Falls, SD, on Saturday with a 5:30 pm game against the University of Sioux Falls.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-12 overall and 1-11 in the Northern Sun (15^th place)… The Mustangs are 10-8 overall and 7-5 in the NSIC (5^th place)… The Cougars are 9-9 overall and 6-6 in the NSIC (7^th place).
 
LAST WEEK
Gerald Gittens scored 24 points and Brock Heffner added 15 in a 68-62 loss at home to Winona State. The Warriors went 21-of-25 at the line while the Marauders made 10-of-13. Zyon Smith added 10 points… Hosting the #1 team in the country for the first time since January 2007, UMary outscored #1 Minnesota State 44-42 in the second half but couldn't overcome a first half deficit in the Marauders 87-71 loss to the Mavericks. Gittens led the Marauders with 22 points and six assists. Smith added 15 points and six rebounds. Heffner had 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
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

 
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).
 
20/20 VISION
For the first time this season Gerald Gittens posted back to back 20 point games after dropping 24 points on Winona State on Friday and 22 against #1 Minnesota State on Saturday at the MAC. A junior guard from Brooklyn, NY, Gittens has scored 20+ in five games this season, including 23 v Mayville State, 25 at Bemidji State, 22 at Concordia-St. Paul.
 
STARTING FOR THE FIRST TIME
Several Marauders earned their first starts during the UMary home stand. Sophomore guard Marquel Saleek and freshmen Alex Mattes and Nick Harrell made their first career starts for UMary against Wayne State College. Mattes has now started three straight games.
 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders and Minnesota State are the only teams in the NSIC to have three players averaging at least 11.8 points/game this season. Gerald Gittens is 16th in the NSIC in scoring (14.6 ppg), Brock Heffner (13.4 ppg) is 21^st and Zyon Smith is in the top 30 (11.8 ppg):

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, leads the Marauders in scoring at 14.6 points per game. He is shooting 46% from the floor, 38% on treys and averages 4.9 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 60.
• Zyon Smith averages 11.8 points per game with 5.1 rebounds/game. The senior guard leads the team with 34 3-pointers and is making 32% of his trey attempts.
• Brock Heffner, a transfer from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, averages 13.4 points per game and 4.9 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 48% from the floor and has 13 blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. MUSTANGS
The Marauders trail the Mustangs in the series 16-5… UMary is 3-5 all-time at home in the MAC and 2-10 at SMSU's R/A Facility… The Marauders last win in Marshall, MN, was 91-82 on December 11, 2015, as Bryan Jefferson had 18 points and Marquealis Edwards had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists ... LAST MEETING The Marauders defeated the Mustangs 62-57 at home January 6, 2023. UMary scored the final 11 points of the game to rally for the win. Gertautas Urbonavicius had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Treyton Mattern and Zyon Smith both had 11 points.
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. COUGARS
The Cougars lead the series with the Marauders 10-3… USF won the first four games in the series before UMary claimed the next two… In the first meeting the Cougars beat the Marauders 75-63 on 11.20.99... The Marauders first win was a 69-65 road win on Dec. 12, 2015… Mary is 1-3 at home, 1-6 at USF and 1-0 in neutral site games… The two former NAIA competitors first met as NCAA and NSIC foes on 2.9.13 with USF gaining a 75-70 home win. The Marauders joined the Northern Sun for the 2006-07 season and the Cougars began NSIC play in 2012-13… LAST MEETING Visiting Sioux Falls outscored the Marauders 90-84 at the MAC January 7, 2023. Kam Warens led the Marauders with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Zon Smith added 20 points and Lucas Mayer had 15 points and five rebounds.
 
I KNOW YOU
In his first season at UMary in 2021-22, Marauders head coach Jack Nelson picked up his first two UMary coaching wins against a pair of schools at which he had been an assistant coach. Nelson earned his first win at Minot State on November 23, 2021, where he was an assistant coach from 2012-16. His second UMary win came against Sioux Falls on November 26, 2021, where Nelson coached the previous three seasons (2018-21) prior to joining UMary in what was his second stint at USF… Nelson is 4-3 against the two Northern Sun schools (3-2 vs. MSU, 1-1 vs. USF) at which he was previously an assistant.
 
LINE GAME
UMary is 7^th in the NSIC in getting to the free throw line, earning 332 opportunities this season. The Marauders have a 332-313 in free throws attempted over the opposition.
 
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is 11^th in the NSIC in rebounding. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 6.8 rebounds/game to lead UMary.
 
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 17 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.1 blocks/game to rank 6^th in the NSIC. Heffner (0.7 blocks/game) ranks 17^th and Lewis (0.8 blocks/game) is 11^th… Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 3.06 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.
 
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.
 
 
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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