Men's Basketball 11/17/2010 3:30:56 PM John Potter, Assistant Sports Information

Storm Hoops Invade Seattle for Sodexo Classic

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific next up for DSC

Dixie State Heads to the Emerald City for Sodexo Tip-Off

THIS WEEKEND: Dixie State College competes in their second tip-off tournament of the year travelling to Seattle, WA for the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic hosted by Seattle Pacific University. The Red Storm will face off against a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last season. On Friday, November 19 at 3pm Pacific, DSC tangles with the Vikings of Western Washington and then meet #10 Seattle Pacific on Saturday, November 20 at 7pm Pacific in the Brougham Pavilion.

RADIO: Live coverage from Seattle will be heard on KXDS 91.3FM with the “Voice of Red Storm Athletics” John Potter. The Intermountain Sports Medicine Pregame Show begins 15 minutes before scheduled tip time.

ONLINE AUDIO: Online audio for DSC's games during the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic will be available on Classical 91.3FM's website (Dixie.edu/classical91) and Network1Sports.com's Dixie State radio page. Links for the Network1Sports feed are available on DixieAthletics.com.

ONLINE VIDEO: Penn Atlantic and New Media Television Sports will present a live webcast of both Dixie State games this weekend for free. To access the webcast, log on to www.pennatlantic.com.

LIVE STATS: Seattle Pacific, the host school, will provide live stats for every game at the Sodexo Classic. Links are available on SPU's homepage – www.spufalcons.com. The full live link address is http://www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball/index.htm.

ALL-TIME SERIES:
Western Washington: 1-2 (Last meeting: L 81-73, December 29, 2010)
Seattle Pacific: 0-2 (Last meeting: L 71-67, December 30, 2006)

DSC PROBABLE STARTERS:
G – Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos), 6-1, 185, Sr. (7.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, .250 FG, .400 3FG, .714 FT)
G – Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas), 5-11, 165, Sr. (8.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.0 apg, .250 FG, .333 3FG, .667 FG)
F – Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie), 6-6, 185, Sr. (8.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, .261 FG, .267 3FG, .833 FT)
F – Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney), 6-5, 220, Jr. (15.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, .615 FG, .765 FT)
C – Everton Araujo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Torquato Caleiro), 6-7, 235, Sr. (5.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, .667 FG, .727 FT)

GRIFF'S AN ALL-STAR: Scoring 15 ppg with 4.3 rpg earned DSC's Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) a spot on the Disney Tip-Off All -Tournament Team. The forward led the Red Storm in scoring for all three tourney games posting a .615 field-goal percentage. Jones has made an impressive early start after tranferring from Spokane Community College in the summer.

THREE BALL ON THE WAY: Dixie State set a school record lauching 28 three-point attempts against Lewis University in Sunday's 61-51 loss. The previous high was 26 back in 2006 against the University of Montana.

THE OPPONENTS: Western Washington was 26-6 last season, placing second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 12-4 mark. They were the host and top seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Division II National Tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing 76-75 in overtime to eventual national champion Cal Poly Pomona. Six of the top seven scorers completed their eligibility, but four players with extensive experience return, led by the team's lone senior, forward Michael Duty. Duty had been named MVP of the Disney Classic in 2009 and was leading Western in scoring when he severely broke his finger in the fourth game of last season, eventually being granted a medical redshirt. He averaged 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in those four games after contributing 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds as a junior. The lone transfer from a four-year school is sophomore guard John Allen (Brier/Mountlake Terrace), who saw action in 13 games for NCAA I Washington State last season. Seattle Pacific lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year to BYU-Hawaii, but the Falcons have reloaded for 2010-11. Heading the list of returning Falcons is Chris Banchero, the 2010 GNAC Player of the Year. A senior point guard from Seattle's O'Dea High School, Banchero averaged 19.6 points last season and was named the West Region Player of the Year. Also back for SPU is post Ryan Sweet, who was the conference's fourth leading rebounder (7.8), along with four other letter winners. Head Coach Ryan Looney also add two big men from Division I programs – 6-11 Andy Poling from Gonzaga and 6-10 Modou Niang from Utah State.

2009-2010 SEASON IN REVIEW: The Red Storm had four goals entering the season – win 20 games, win the Pacific West Conference, earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament and never lose at home. All four goals were fulfilled on March 6 when Dixie State defeated Hawaii Pacific to notch win number 20, clinch a share of the Pac West title, punch a ticket to the dance and complete an undefeated 12-0 mark inside the Burns Arena. Additionally, head coach Jon Judkins posted his 350th career-coaching win when DSC defeated Cal State, Dominguez Hills on December 12. The magical season would end in the First Round of the NCAA Division-II Tournament as eventual national champion, Cal Poly Pomona, bested the No. 5-seed Storm 71-62. Junior forward Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) was a 1st Team All-Pac West selection while junior guard Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas) made the 2nd Team and senior forward Andy Palmer (St. George. UT/Pine View) was an honorable mention.

2010-2011 PREVIEW: Dixie State returns two All-PWC starters and seven others who contributed key moments to last year's championship trip. Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) and Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas) will be joined in the starting five by a pair of familiar faces – guard Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) and center Everton Araujo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Torquato Caleiro). Barnes was the first man off the bench and provided an undeniable spark of energy. Araujo got valuable time on the floor in his first year out of Snow College. The fifth starter will be newcomer Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (17.4 ppg, 6.8 ppg), a junior college transfer from Cheney, WA. Also returning for his senior season is guard/forward John Berger (Medford, OR/North Medford). All of the other returners are sophomores – three guards: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson), Kacen Smith (Saint George, UT/Dixie) & Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak); forward Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie). Massey is a sharp-shooting threat while Smith is still recovering from a knee injury that limited him to only six games last year. Clegg and Owen are both returning to DSC off their LDS two-year missions. In 2008, Clegg was the Pac West Freshman of the Year averaging nearly seven points a game. Owen is a hometown alumnus of Dixie High School.

WHO'S NEW?: This year, the Red Storm welcomes four newcomers to the 13-man roster – three junior college transfers and one changing sports. Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) gets the starting nod at the power forward spot. He was the East Division MVP of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges for Spokane CC. He averaged over 17 points per game and pulled down nearly seven rebounds. Another new presence in the paint will be Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont), a transfer from Salt Lake Community College. The 6-8 forward/center played in 27 games for the Bruins last season averaging seven points a game. At the guard spot is Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) from Norwalk, CA. Last season he garnered all-conference recognition at Rio Hondo College, the same school former point guard Adam Ross (Torrance. CA/North Torrance ) attended before playing at DSC. Cole is expected be the backup point guard behind Barnes. Brett Adams (Sandy, UT/Alta) decided three years in a Dixie State baseball uniform was not enough. The school's only baseball All-American (3rd Team in 2010) has traded in spikes for sneakers and will use his fifth year of athletic eligibility to play hoops. The leader in almost every statistical category on the diamond, most don't realize Adams was an all-state player for Alta High School.

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