THIS WEEK
The University of Mary men's basketball team wraps up their 2023-24 home schedule as the Marauders host a pair of Northern Sun foes at the McDowell Activity Center on Friday and Saturday, February 16-17.
 
Friday, February 16
7:30 pm vs. Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (9-16 overall, 4-15 Northern Sun)
McDowell Activity Center, Bismarck, ND
 
Saturday, February 17 | Senior Day
5:30 pm vs. #17 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (20-5 overall, 15-4 NSIC)
McDowell Activity Center, Bismack ND
 
SENIOR DAY
The Marauders will honor Zyon Smith during Senior Day on Saturday, February 16. The native of Montgomery, AL, is in his second season at UMary after transferring from Highland (KS) Community College. A two-year starter at guard, he is averaging 11.4 points per game for his career with the Marauders.
 
TOUGH ROW TO HOE
When the Marauders host the #17 Bulldogs on Saturday, it will be the fourth straight home Saturday that UMary will have hosted a nationally-ranked team, and the fourth home game out of five overall. UMary has hosted #1 Minnesota State (January 20), #19 Minot State (February 3), and #9 MSU Moorhead (Feb. 10) in the Marauders last three home games. This weekend UMary hosts Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 16, before closing the home schedule against #17 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Feb. 17.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-18 overall and 1-17 in the Northern Sun (15th place).
 
LAST WEEK
In a split home and away weekend series, Zyon Smith posted 16 points in a 75-61 loss at St. Cloud State on Thursday… Returning home to host #9 MSU Moorhead on Saturday, Xavier Lewis scored 13 points and Gunnar Swanson added 12 in the Marauders 83-64 loss to the Dragons.   
 
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

 
YOUTH
UMary is perhaps the youngest team in the NSIC. The ten Marauders who have played at least 165 minutes this season include two freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors and one senior. Both juniors are in their first year at UMary (Gerald Gittens, Rich Ashu) and senior Zyon Smith is in his second season.
 
TEN
Ten Marauders have earned starts this season.
 
DOUBLING UP
Ty Rogers just missed a pair of double doubles last weekend. With two already in the books this season, the sophomore forward had 10 points and nine rebounds at St. Cloud State and had nine points and nine rebounds against the Dragons.
 
The Marauders have a trio of players with double doubles this season, with Xavier Lewis and Ty Rogers with two each:
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)
Ty Rogers – 10 points and 11 rebounds at Northern State (February 1, 2024)
 
LINE PLAY
The Marauders are finding recent success at the free throw line after a cold start. In their last 11 games UMary is converting 73% (153-of-210), including a 19-of-21 effort at Sioux Falls. The Marauders made 58% of their free throws through the first 13 games… UMary is 5th in the NSIC in getting to the free throw line, earning 449 opportunities this season. The Marauders have a 449-421 edge in free throws attempted over the opposition.
 
 
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).
 
POWER TRIO
The Marauders have three players scoring at least 11 points per game: 

• Gerald Gittens, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, leads the Marauders in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He is shooting 44% from the floor, 38% on treys and averages 4.5 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 71.

• Zyon Smith averages 11 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The senior guard leads the team with 42 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 4.9 rebounds. The sophomore forward is shooting 48% from the floor and has 13 blocks.

 
HISTORY LESSON – MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN BEARS
UMary trails in the all-time series with Concordia-St. Paul 17-9… 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 6-10 on the road… LAST MEETING Brock Heffner scored 26 points and Gerald Gittens 22 in an 84-76 UMary loss at Concordia-St. Paul on January 6, 2024. UMary closed within 66-64 in he 2^nd half. Marcus Skeete had 27 points for CSP. The two teams combined to shoot 67 free throws. UMary was 0-for-12 on treys.
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. BULLDOGS
UMary trails Minnesota Duluth 11-20 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 Brock Heffner scored 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting in an 82-60 Marauders road loss to the #23 Bulldogs on January 6, 2024. UMary closed within 57-54 before UMD took control of the game. Drew Blair led UMD with 18 points.   
 
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is 19th in the NSIC in rebounding. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 5.6 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 16 of the NSIC in blocked shots… Rich Ashu averages 1.0 blocks/game to rank 7th in the NSIC. Heffner (0.7 blocks/game) ranks 16th and Lewis (0.8 blocks/game) is 15th… Overall the UMary defense is swatting away 2.88 shots/game to rank 7th in the NSIC.
 
THE GITTENS GUIDE

• A junior guard from Brooklyn, NY, Gerald Gittens has scored 20+ in six games this season, including a season-high 26 at Northern State
• 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.

 
HEFFNER HIGHS

• Sophomore forward Brock Heffner was named to the "NSIC Shining 5" after scoring 36 points against VCSU. He is the only 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)

 
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.
 
#marauders#