THIS WEEK
It's another split weekend for the University of Mary men's basketball team. Once again the Marauder spend Thursday on the road before returning home for a contest on Saturday.
 
Thursday, February 8
7:30 pm at St. Cloud State University (9-13 overall, 5-11 NSIC)
Hallenbeck Hall, St. Cloud, MN
 
Saturday, February 10
5:30 pm vs. #9 MSU Moorhead (19-3 overall, 13-3 NSIC)
McDowell Activity Center, Bismack ND
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 6-16 overall and 1-15 in the Northern Sun (15th place).
 
LAST WEEK
Continuing his strong play, Gerald Gittens scored 26 points, Zyon Smith added 12 and Ty Rogers had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in an 85-71 loss at Northern State… UMary returned home and suffered an 87-53 loss to #19 Minot State. Gittens had 17 points and Alex Mattes 10.   
 
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
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 nine games UMary is converting 72% (129-of-178), 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 417 opportunities this season. The Marauders have a 417-376 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).
 
MATTES ON MARCH
Freshman Alex Mattes is making forward strides since joining the starting lineup the last seven games. At SMSU he tied his season high with three treys and had a career-best four steals. At Sioux Falls the guard from Woodbury, MN, scored 13 points and distributed a career-high three assists. Mattes owns a career-high 14 points earlier this season against Peru State. He has reached double figures in two of his last three games.
 
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 15.3 points per game. He is shooting 45% from the floor, 40% on treys and averages 4.6 rebounds/game. He also leads UMary in assists with 69.

• Zyon Smith averages 11.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The senior guard leads the team with 40 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. HUSKIES
UMary is 13-21 all-time against St. Cloud State… The Marauders are 10-7 at home, 3-12 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… The Marauders and the Huskies have split their last four season series… LAST MEETING: The visiting Huskies downed the Marauders 68-61 on December 12, 2023. Zyon Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds for UMary. Xavier Lewis had 11 rebounds, Brock Heffner 12 points, Gerald Gittens 11 and Marquel Saleek 10.
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. DRAGONS
The Marauders trail the Dragons 26-17 in the all-time series… Since joining the NCAA and NSIC, UMary is 12-23 against MSUM… The Marauder have won five of the last 12 games… 8 of the last 12 games were played in Moorhead… The Marauders won the first conference match-up 75-72 at MSUM on January 16, 2007… The Dragons followed with five straight wins, including an overtime victory, one win by one point and another by two points… The Marauders snapped the Dragons streak 74-58 at home on Jan. 30, 2010, the first of five straight UMary wins that concluded with a 72-51 win over 19th ranked MSUM on Jan. 7, 2012, at the MAC… The Marauders snapped an 8-game losing streak to the Dragons with a 77-73 upset win at 3rd ranked MSUM on January 8, 2016… LAST MEETING: #7 MSUM downed visiting UMary 99-55. Gerald Gittens led UMary with 17 points and Zyon Smith had 12. Jamir Price led MSUM with 19 points.
 
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore forward Xavier Lewis is 15th in the NSIC in rebounding. The Lynwood, IL, native averages 5.9 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 1.1 blocks/game to rank 6th 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 2.95 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.
 
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