THIS WEEK: Dixie State College of Utah hosts a two-day, four-game tournament featuring Northwest Nazarene University, Montana State University-Billings and Dominican University. The Pacific West Conference schools will face off against the two Great Northwest Athletic Conference schools.
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY NIGHT
Dominican University vs. Montana State Billings, 5pm
Northwest Nazarene vs. Dixie State College, 7:30pm
SATURDAY NIGHT
Dominican University vs. Northwest Nazarene, 5pm
Montana State Billings vs. Dixie State College, 7:30pm
THE RECORDS: The Red Storm are 2-1 after a split last weekend in Nampa. The Storm defeated Central Washington 78-75 before losing to the host Northwest Nazarene 71-56. The Crusaders remained a perfect 3-0 after winning their own Thanksgiving tourney. Montana State-Billings have a 2-1 record after losing on the road to Augustana College 82-63 on 11/24. The Dominican Penguins enter the classic 2-3 after sweeping victories in the NDNU Classic last weekend.
RED STORM WATCH: Dixie State College suffered its first loss to Northwest Nazarene in the finals of the NNU Thanksgiving Classic last Saturday in Nampa. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) notched his first collegiate double-double registering 10 points and 11 rebounds. He was named to the NNU Classic All-Tourney Team. Returning senior Andy Palmer (St. George. UT/Pine View) had 14 points to lead all DSC scorers. Palmer was a second-team all-league selection last year and was the only DSC hoopster on this year's Pac West Preseason All-Conference Team. Jon Judkins, the Pac West Coach of the Year in 2008-09, returns to the bench for a fifth season. Judkins is 63-52 in his Dixie State tenure.
STORM FAST BREAK TIDBITS:
-- Since moving to Division-II, the Red Storm have a 1-1 series record against Northwest Nazarene, winning in 2006 and losing in 2009.
-- Dixie State is 4-5 all time against teams from the GNAC after last Saturday's loss to NNU
-- Career Scoring Ranks: #7 Andy Palmer (St. George. UT/Pine View) (272; 14 points behind #6 Bowie Jeffs (Castle Dale. UT/Emery)), #9 Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) (253; 9 points behind #8 Johnny Little (Murray. UT/Murray HS)), #10 Kevin Lindquist (Gilbert. AZ/Lone Peak) (234)
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE: The Crusaders were 14-13 last season and finished tied for sixth in the GNAC. A trio of double figure scorers, including two GNAC all-stars are among five letter winners available for Northwest Nazarene head coach Tim Hills. Forward Kendall Gielow (6-7, 222, Sr., Medford, OR – South Medford) is the GNAC active career scoring leader with 1,095 points, ranking 35th on the all-time conference list. A year ago Gielow led the Crusaders in scoring (14.9) and ranked second in rebounding (5.4) in earning honorable mention all-league honors. Center Brian Barkdoll (6-10, 253, Jr., Portland, OR – Central Catholic) was also an honorable mention pick averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds and ranking third in the conference in field goal percentage (63.6). Guard Louie Beech (6-3, 190, Sr., Nampa, ID - Skyview) also returns from NNU's 2008-09 starting lineup. He averaged 11.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his junior season.
SCOUTING MSU-BILLINGS: Coming off one of the better turnarounds in school history, the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets represent the GNAC and hope to contend in the upper echelon of the conference. Derrick Wright, who led Montana State Billings in points (425) and blocked shots (18) and ranked second in rebounding (156) last year, is among six returning letter winners this winter for second-year head coach George Pfeifer. Wright averaged 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds leading the Yellowjackets to a 10-17 record. They'll be joined by 11 newcomers, including transfers from two Division I programs, one Division II school and three from NAIA programs.
SCOUTING DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: The Penguins are in their first year of play in the Pacific West Conference after moving from the NAIA Division-II California Pacific Conference last year. Located in San Rafael, CA, Dominican University joins Academy of Art and Notre Dame de Namur as one of three Pac West schools in the Bay Area. After a 16-13 record last season, Dominican has posted an early season record of 2-3 with victories over Western Oregon and CSU East Bay last week. Freshman guard Austin Bryan leads the Penguins in scoring averaging 23 points a game shooting at a 46-percent clip from the field. Senior forward Alex Ward is the other Penguin to average in double figures early with 12.2 points a game adding a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest. Dominican is coached by Bret Tovani, a 35-year veteran in Marin County. He took a two year break after the 2003 season to write a book - Defending the Middle Half: An Approach to Defensive Basketball – published in 2004.
