THIS WEEK
Following an 18 day break between games, the University of Mary men's basketball team returns to action with a pair of Northern Sun road games. UMary opens the 2024 portion of its schedule at #23 University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday, January 5. Tipoff between the Marauders and the Bulldogs is slated for 5:30 pm at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, MN… The weekend wraps up against the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears on Saturday, January 6. Game time is 3:30 pm at the Ganglehoff Center in St. Paul, MN.  
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-6 overall and 1-5 in the Northern Sun… The Bulldogs, coming off two straight NCAA appearances, are 10-3 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC (3^rd place)… The Golden Bears are 7-6 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC (11^th).
 
LAST WEEK
The Marauders had a busy final week before Christmas break… UMary had four players in double figures in a 68-61 loss to visiting St. Cloud State. Zyon Smith led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. Xavier Lewis added seven points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Brock Heffner posted 12 points, Gerald Gittens 11 and Marquel Saleek added 10 off the bench… Gittens and Smith combined for 40 points in a 78-62 loss at Bemidji State. Gittens had 25 points and nine rebounds, hitting four treys. Smith scored 15 points and had nine rebounds for a second straight game… The Marauders closed the 2023 calendar year with an 81-74 win over visiting Valley City State on December 18. Brock Heffner made 14-of-19 shots and scored 36 points. Smith added 16 points. Gittens had nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
 
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

 
HEFFNER NAMED TO NSIC SHINING 5 FOR VCSU EFFORT
Each week the Northern Sun selects a player of the week and highlights four other performances to make up the "NSIC Shining 5." Brock Heffner earned Shining 5 recognition after scoring 36 points in the Marauders win over Valley City State. It's the first time a UMary player made the NSIC honor list this season.  
 
36
Brock Heffner put on a show for the Marauders home crowd in UMary's 81-74 win over Valley City State University. The sophomore forward scored 36 points and virtually never missed. The Grafton WI, native made 14-of-19 shots from the field (1-for-2 on treys) and 7-for-10 on free throws. The 36 points was:

• The most points scored 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 most points in a regular season game by a UMary player since Anthony Moody dropped 42 at St. Cloud State on February 19, 2011
• The most points at home in the McDowell Activity Center by a UMary player since Eric Erdmann scored 37 against Upper Iowa on January 2, 2010
• The 2^nd most points scored by a UMary player in the MAC during the program's NCAA era

 
FINE 9s
As Brock Heffner was stuffing the scoring column for UMary against Valley City State, Gerald Gittens was filling every column. The junior guard just missed a triple double as he had nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists. 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.
 
DOUBLING UP
The Marauders already 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)

 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders are the only team in the NSIC to have three players averaging at least 13.2 points/game this season. Gerald Gittens is 18^th in the NSIC in scoring (14.3 ppg), Brock Heffner (13.3 ppg) is 21^st and Zyon Smith is 23^rd (13.2 ppg):

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, leads the Marauders in scoring with 14.3 points per game. He is shooting 47.2% from the floor, 45.9% on treys and averages 5.1 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 3.5 per game.
• Zyon Smith averages 13.2 points per game with 5.2 rebounds/game. The senior guard leads the team with 26 3-pointers and is making 35.1% of his trey attempts.
• Brock Heffner, a transfer from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, averages 13.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 49.6% from the floor and has ten blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. BULLDOGS
UMary trails Minnesota Duluth 11-19 in the all-time series… The Marauders first victory over the Bulldogs was an 80-77 overtime win on 1.16.09… The Marauders and the Bulldogs split their series in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before UMD swept in 2022-23… UMary last claimed a sweep in 2018-19 with a pair of memorable games. UMary defeated UMD 73-70 at home in overtime on Dec. 8, 2018, when Dennis Austin III hit a 3-pointer with .7 seconds left in the extra session. UMary rallied from an 8-point deficit with six minutes left in regulation. Jaylan White hit five treys and scored a career-high 29 points. Matthew Kreklow made all ten of his free throws and scored 18 points. Austin finished with ten points. Sean Burns had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Brandon Myer had 15 and 17… In another wild ballgame at UMD on Jan. 11, 2019, the Marauders closed the season series with a triple overtime 100-98 road victory on a Jaylan White basket with under two seconds remaining on the clock. White scored 12 of his 25 points in the overtime sessions. Connor Hellebust added 21 and Tom Kubank 18. Brandon Myer had 31 points and 11 rebounds for UMD… Davids Atelbauers drained a game-winning three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the contest as the University of Mary overcame a double-digit second half deficit to knock off the nation's 6th-ranked and Northern Sun North Division champion University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 75-71 on February 11, 2022 for UMary's last win. The Marauders scored the final eight points in the game in the final minute of play, with Atelbauers scoring the last five. The 6th ranked Bulldogs are the highest-ranked NCAA team the Marauders have beaten at the McDowell Activity Center (The previous mark was a 77-48 win over #8 St. Cloud State University on December 16, 2007). Kai Huntsberry had 19 points, Atelbauers 13, Gertautas Urbonavicius 11 and Kam Warrens 10… in the 2022 NSIC quarterfinals Kai Huntsberry tied a Marauders NCAA era scoring mark with 42 points while hitting an NSIC tournament record seven treys in an 84-73 loss to the Bulldogs in the NSIC tournament quarterfinals. Huntsberry also had nine rebounds... LAST MEETING Zyon Smith scored 14 points in an 83-68 loss at UMD on February 10, 2023.  
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN BEARS
UMary trails in the all-time series with Concordia-St. Paul 16-9… The Marauders won the first two meetings between the schools in the 1980s when both were members of the NAIA… When UMary joined the NSIC in 2006-07, CSP won the next five meetings… The Marauders broke their losing streak to the Golden Bears with an 83-74 win at the NSIC Holiday HoopsFest on November 29, 2009, soon followed with a 75-68 win at the MAC on January 23, 2010, behind 24 points by Eric Erdmann. It was the first NSIC win for UMary over CSP… UMary is 3-7 at home against CSP and 6-9 on the road… LAST MEETING Treyton Mattern scored 20 points for UMary in a narrow 67-62 loss at CSP on January 28, 2023. Down 15 points at half, the Marauders twice pulled within three points. Zyon Smith added 13 points for UMary.  
 
BOARD GAMES
The Marauders are +3.5 rebounds per game over the opposition to rank 7th in the Northern Sun. Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is a big key to the Marauders advantage. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 7.9 rebounds/game to lead UMary. He is 5th in the NSIC. Additionally Zyon Smith (5.6 rpg) ranks 22nd 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 10 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.4 blocks/game to rank 2nd in the NSIC. Heffner and Lewis average 0.8 blocks/game to rank 10th. Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 3.33 shots/game to rank 6th in the NSIC.
 
PICKING POCKETS
The Marauders average 6.08 steals/game to rank 4^th in the Northern Sun. 
 
FOR THREE!
Zyon Smith is having a strong season behind the arc. The senior guard is knocking down 2.2 treys/game and shooting a stellar 35%. Gerald Gittens has been tremendous, making 17-of-37 for a 45.9% 3-point shooting percentage. Freshman Alex Mattes is also knocking down a high percentage, making 13-of-34 (38.2%) from downtown.   
 
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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