THIS WEEK
The University of Mary men's basketball team plays their final two games of the 2024 calendar year this week, opening on the road before returning home for one last outing before Christmas break.
 
Playing a second straight road game, UMary visits St. Cloud State University for a 7:30 pm Northern Sun contest on Tuesday, December 17, at Halenbeck Hall on the SCSU campus in St. Cloud, MN.
 
UMary returns to the McDowell Activity Center on Saturday, December 21, when the Marauders host Bemidji State University. Tip off is slated for 3:30 pm.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Links to live video and stats are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 4-9 overall and 2-2 in the Northern Sun… SCSU is 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the NSIC… BSU is 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC prior to hosting SCSU on Thursday, December 19.
 
AFTER THE ACTION
Marauders fans should make plans to stop Buffalo Wild Wings following all home men's basketball contests. With two convenient Bismarck locations and great food and drink specials, it's easy to see why Buffalo Wild Winds is the preferred post-game hangout of Marauders Basketball! 
 
HIATUS
Following the UMary home game against Bemidji State, the Marauders will take some down time before hosting their first weekend doubleheader January 3-4 when Minnesota State University and Winona State University visit the MAC.  
 
HOME AND ROAD
In the first four games of the NSIC schedule, UMary is 2-0 on the road and 0-2 at home.
 
LAST WEEK
The Marauders split a pair of games last week… On Wednesday the Marauders dropped an 89-62 decision at home to #13 Minot State. Xavier Lewis scored 12 points for UMary… The Marauders rebounded with an 86-75 win at Minnesota Crookston on Saturday. Kevin McGaskey led UMary with 18 points and six assists. Jeremiah Jomes had a double double with 16 points and 11 assists. Ty Rogers added 15 points and eight boards.  Zavier Lewis and Rich Ashu made a combined 10-of-12 shots and scored 10 points each. UMary gained control of the game with a 15-0 run in the second half.
 
DOUBLING DOWN
Jeremiah Jones produced the first UMary double double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Marauders 86-75 win at Minnesota Crookston. The sophomore guard now has three career double doubles after positing two his freshman season in 2022-23.
 
ROLLING
The Marauders found their offensive rhythm in UMary's 86-75 win at Minnesota Crookston on Saturday. In addition to five players scoring in double figures and producing a season-high 86 points, the Marauders had their best shooting night of the season across the board:

• 58.5% field goal percentage (31-of-53)
• 57.1% 3-point percentage (8-of-14)
• 80% free throw percentage (16-of-20)

 
TRIAL BY FIRE
UMary faced a rigorous challenge the first 12 games this season which included:

• Five teams in national polls (#RV MSU Billings, #RV St. Edward's, #RV Alaska-Anchorage, #7 MSU Moorhead, #13 Minot State)
• Six teams who won at least 20 games last season (#RV MSU Billings, #RV St. Edward's, #RV Alaska-Anchorage, Central Oklahoma, #7 MSU Moorhead, #13 Minot State)
• Three teams who made the 2024 NCAA tournament (MSU Billings, Alaska-Anchorage, MSU Moorhead)

 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS VS. HUSKIES
UMary is 13-22 all-time against St. Cloud State… The Marauders are 10-7 at home, 3-13 at SCSU and 0-2 on neutral ground… UMary has won 3-of-4 at the MAC over SCSU and 4-of-6… UMary's first NCAA win came at SCSU 86-77 on 11.18.06… UMary's first signature NCAA win was a 77-48 home victory over #8 SCSU on 12.16.07… After splitting the season series four straight times, SCSU swept the two games last season… LAST MEETING: Zyon Smith scored 16 points and Ty Rogers had nine points and nine rebounds in a 75-61 loss at SCSU on February 8, 2024. Lucas Morgan led the Huskies with 13 points.   
 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS VS. BEAVERS
UMary leads the series with BSU 19-17… The series began in 1971 with a 92-87 home win for the Marauders… The two teams played twice in the 1987 season with each school winning at home… Since becoming a member of the NSIC, UMary captured the first five meetings before BSU broke through with a home win in the 2009-10 season… After six straight losses to the Beavers, the Marauders swept the season series in 2014-15 and 2015-16… The two teams split the next six season series until BSU swept both games in 2022-23 and took the lone game last season… UMary has won six out of its last 11 games in Bemidji… seven of the last ten games were played in Bemidji (both games in the COVID19 season of 2020-21)… BSU has won the last three meetings in Bismarck. The Marauders last home win was January 26, 2019, when Matthew Kreklow scored 27 points and Dennis Austin III had 17 points and 10 rebounds in an 83-66 UMary victory… LAST MEETING Gerald Gittens scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Zyon Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds in a 78-62 road loss for UMary at BSU. BJ Davis led the Beavers with 21 points and Dalton Albrecht had 20 points and 13 rebounds.
 
STAT STUFFER
Jeremiah Jones ranks among the Northern Sun's top-25 in multiple categories:

• 1^st steals/game (2.4)
• 12^th field goal percentage (.471)
• 18^th rebounds/game (6.1)
• 21^st points/game (12.8)
• 24^th assists (2.3)
• 25^th blocked shots/game (0.6)

The only other player to rank in the six categories above is Kyreese Willingham of Minnesota State.
 
STOP THIEF
Jeremiah Jones ranks 10^th in total steals (31) and 26^th in steals/game (2.4) in NCAA Division II… UMary is 6^th in the NSIC with 7.1 steals/game.
 
SHARING THE LOAD
Three Marauders are averaging over 10.0 points/game this season:

• Jeremiah Jones leads UMary in scoring at 12.8 ppg. He is shooting 47.1% from the field overall. The sophomore guard, who missed last season due to injury, also leads the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg), steals (31) and is 2^nd in blocks (8) and assists (30). Jones has reached double figures in eight games with a season-high 23 against Valley City State. 
•  Kevin McGaskey, in his first season at UMary as a graduate transfer from Prairie View A&M, is scoring 12.1 ppg and leads the squad in assists (43). Eight times he has scored ten or more points with a season-best 21points against MSU Moorhead.
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averages 11.2 ppg. He is making 51% of his shots and is pulling down 4.2 rpg.

 
DEBUTS
Eight Marauders made their UMary debuts this season. Kevin McGaskey has started all 13 games at guard. Cayden Redfield (12 games), Ty Johnson (13) and Tamerrein Henderson (12) have played key minutes off the bench. Transfer Daniel Hong (8), redshirt freshman Alex Dvorak (2), and freshmen Wylee Delorme (6) and Matija Otasevic (5) also have seen their first action in the Blue & Orange this year.  
 
BLOCK PARTY
Rich Ashu led the Marauders in blocks last season with 1.0 per game and is off to a strong start this year with 12 rejections in 13 games (.9/game). The senior forward has also been efficient shooting the ball, making 55% of his shots this season.
 
HIGH EFFICIENCY
Ty Rogers is converting an impressive amount of his shots. The junior forward is connecting on 51% of his field goal attempts through 13 games and has reached double figures in scoring eight times. He scored a career-best 22 points against Black Hills State.  
 
SHARING THE LOAD
11 Marauders scored points against Central Oklahoma while ten did so against Northeastern State. 
 
MCGASKEY NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH
 New arrival Kevin McGaskey is the preseason UMary Northern Sun Player to Watch for the Marauders in the 2024-25 season. A graduate transfer from NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M, McGaskey joins the Marauders after competing for two seasons for the Panthers. He played in 24 games in 2023-24, including 13 starts, for SWAC member PVAM. The 6-0 point guard averaged 4.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds while making 35 steals and hitting 71.0% of his free throw attempts in 25.5 minutes of play per game. The native of Missouri City, Texas, and graduate of Hightower High School posted season highs of 12 points and six rebounds against Alcorn State.    McGaskey played with former Marauders guard Zyon Smith at Highland Community College in Highland, KS, from 2020-22. 
 
BACK IN THE BLUE & ORANGE
The Marauders have a strong returning. Ten players return from last season, including five who started ten or more games in 2023-24 and a 6^th player returning from injury:  

• Junior forward Xavier Lewis - the Marauders leading returning scorer (6.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.5 rpg) – started 16 out of 27 games
• Sophomore guard Alex Mattes, who started 13 games last season as a true freshman, chipped in 6.2 points per game
• Junior forward Ty Rogers averaged 5.7 ppg and 3.8 rpg while starting 10 games
• Junior guard Gunner Swanson hit 29 treys last season, tops among returners, while starting 18 games
• Senior forward Rich Ashu started 11 games for UMary and led the team in blocks (25 in 26 games)
• Junior guard Marquel Saleek played over 14 minutes per game and averaged 4.3 ppg and delivered 30 assists while starting one out of 27games
• Sophomore guard Nick Harrell averaged over 11 minutes per game in 19 outings while senior forward Liam Dougherty was limited to eight games by injury
• Guard Jeremiah Jones was a key reserve as a freshman in 2022-23 before missing all of last season due to injury. Jones averaged 6.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg while playing 24.2 minutes per game, the fourth most on the team. He led the team in steals (29) and was second in assists (64).
• Redshirt freshman guard Alex Dvorak looks to make his UMary debut this season.

 
FRESH FACES
The Marauders have added eight new faces for the 2024-25 season:

• Graduate transfer guard Kevin McGaskey joins the Marauders from NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M
• Other transfers include junior guard Daniel Hong (North Dakota), junior guard Ty Johnson (Highland (IL) CC), and junior guard/forward Cayden Redfield (United Tribes)
• Incoming freshmen are guard Wylee Delorme (Devils Lake, ND), Tamarrein Henderson (West Salem, WI), guard Ryan Larson (Jamestown, ND) and forward Matija Otasevic (Herceg Novi, Montenegro).

 
JONES NAMED TO TIPOFF CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Seeing his first action since February 2023 after missing all of the 2023-24 season due to injury, Jeremiah Jones returned to the court for the Marauders in impressive fashion. After averaging 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while adding eight assists and sight steals in three games, Jones was named to the 2024 D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead all-tournament team. Jones opened with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting – including a 2-for-3 effort on treys – while grabbing four rebounds and making three steals against host team MSU Billings. Jones hit three treys and scored 11 points against St. Edwards, adding seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. The sophomore guard finished the weekend with eight points, ten rebounds and three steals in a 73-72 win over Alaska Anchorage. He grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled trying to shoot with 1.7 seconds left in a tie game. After sinking the winning free throw, he protected the victory by knocking away a long inbound pass from the Seawolves. 
 
STAFF ADDITIONS
Marauders head coach Jack Nelson has several new faces on the bench alongside him this season. Bryan Forbes joins UMary as the lead assistant men's coach after serving as the head assistant coach at Briar Cliff the last five seasons following two years as the graduate assist at East Tennessee State University. Also joining the staff this season are DJ Sanchez, Nate Symens and former UMary player Zyon Smith.
 
YEAR FOUR
Head coach Jack Nelson enters year four with the Marauders. In his first season in 2020-21, the native of Dillon, CO, 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. Prior to joining the Marauders Nelson was an assistant coach at the University of Sioux Falls (2018-21) and Minot State University (2012-16) in the Northern Sun and the head coach at Central Wyoming College (2016-18) for two seasons in between… In his first three seasons at UMary, Nelson has had scholar-athletes earn NSIC Newcomer of the Year honors (1), NSIC Player of the Week accolades (1), All-NSIC 1^st team recognition (1) and NSIC All-Academic Team honors (13).  
 
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