Weekly Release
2010-11 Season Statistics
MCAC Standings

Peru State Live Stats
Peru State Audio

York and Central Christian Live Stats
York and Central Christian Video

This Week
The sixth-ranked Bellevue University men’s basketball team will play at in-state conference foe Peru State College on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. before returning home for the final two regular season home games. The Bruins will play host to York College on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Central Christian College on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 5:00 p.m. BU’s four seniors will be honored before tip-off with CCC.

Following the Action
All Bellevue University men’s basketball home games this year will feature free live stats. Fans can view the live stats by visiting BUBruins.com and clicking the “Live Stats” link under “Fan Zone” at the top of the page. A video broadcast will be available for both home games.

Live stats and audio will also be available for Tuesday’s game at Peru State.

Scouting Bellevue
Bellevue, winners of four of its last five games is ranked No. 6 in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches’ Poll released on Monday, Jan. 31, and is  20-5 overall record and are tied for first place with Oklahoma Wesleyan University with a 7-2 mark in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Bruins are coming off of a 89-50 conference road win at Southwestern Christian University on Feb. 5.

Eugene Bain leads BU in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with nine double-doubles and is third in the MCAC with a 55.7 field goal percentage. Also averaging in double figures is All-American Avery Tyler (10.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 3.5 apg). Jelani Johnson averages 9.2 ppg and is first in the conference with 92 assists. Johnson also has a team-high 36 steals. Ousseynou Diop adds 8.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg and is second in NAIA Division II with 93 blocked shots. Jeremy Cruise leads the squad with 56 made 3-pointers.  

BU scores 81.3 points per game and is first in the MCAC with a 48.4 shooting percentage. They also shoot 40.9 percent from three-point range. The Bruins hold opponents to a conference-low 66.1 points per game on 38.8 percent shooting.

The Bruins return three letterwinners and two starters from last year’s 28-8 squad that captured the MCAC regular season and tournament titles, while advancing to the semifinals of the NAIA II National Tournament.

Scouting Peru State
Peru State enters the week with a 6-18 overall record and a 2-7 mark in league play. The Bobcats have lost three straight games are coming off of an 80-62 loss at Oklahoma Weslyean University on Feb. 5.

PSC is led offensively by Derrick Williams, who leads the team in scoring (17.9 ppg) and assists (47) while pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game. Williams is fourth in the MCAC in scoring. The only other Bobcat averaging in double figures is Jovan Hitch, scoring 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Andrew Wells paces the Bobcats in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and blocked shots (34).

PSC averages 67.9 ppg on 43.1 percent shooting and 30.5 percent from three-point range. The Bobcats give up 80.0 ppg on 47.6 percent shooting from the field and are last in the MCAC in three-point percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 36.4 percent from behind the arc.    
 
Scouting York
York is currently 11-12 overall and 4-5 in league play and are coming off of a 72-70 home win versus Haskell Indian Nations University on Feb. 5.

The Panthers are led offensively by Corey Standerfer, who is third in the MCAC in scoring, averaging 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Desmond Strickland is the only other double figure scorer, averaging 10.7 ppg. Dee Ellison leads the team with 72 assists and 47 steals.

YC averages 79.2 ppg on 43.5 percent shooting and 30.3 percent from three-point range. The Panthers are last in the MCAC in scoring defense, giving up 80.6 ppg, and also in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 48 percent overall from the field and 34.7 percent from behind the arc.

Scouting Central Christian
Central Christian has an overall mark of 18-5 and are tied for second place with a 6-3 mark in conference action. The Tigers are coming off of a 62-58 conference loss at home versus Colllege of the Ozarks on Feb. 5.

CCC has five players scoring in double figures and are led by Don Gavin, who averages 17.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 2.7 apg. Gavin, who is fifth in the conference in scoring, shoots 51.3 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from three-point range. Also scoring in double figures include Christopher Jones (16.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg), Sean Posey (13.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.5 apg), Randall Conley (13.0 ppg) and Kaelon Gary (11.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.9 apg) 

CCC leads the MCAC in scoring, averaging 84.2 ppg while shooting 47.7 percent from the field, which ranks second in the conference. The Tigers also shoot 34.5 from three-point range. CCC hold opponents to 72.9 ppg and are second in the MCAC in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 39.8 percent.    

Meet the Coaches
In his first two seasons at the helm of the Bellevue University men’s basketball program, Shane Paben has guided the Bruins to two consecutive trips to the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship, including a semifinal finish in 2010 and a quarterfinal appearance in 2009. He has a career mark of 72-22 (.766) at BU. He is assisted by Bob Ludwig, Jason Isaacson and Micah Stancil. 

Troy Katen is in his third season as the head coach at Peru State and has an overall record of 12-72 (.143). He’s assisted by Jeremy Esry, Tom Linnell and Adam Blaylock.

York is led by first-year head coach Delton Deal who has been the Panthers head assistant coach the previous two seasons. Deal is assisted by Jeff Mills, Justin Ward and  Landon Bailey.

Tony Romero is in his second year as head coach and seventh season overall on the Central Christian bench. He was an assistant coach the previous five seasons before taking over in the 2009-10 campaign where he led the Tigers to a 21-11 record, the most wins in a season in more than 25 years at CCC. Romero’s assistant coaches include= by Louis Collins, Melvin Sanders and Todd Spehr.

Senior Day
The Bruins’ four seniors (Eugene Bain, Jeremy Cruise, Avery Tyler and Avery Walker) will all be honored before tip-off in the final regular season home game against Central Christian on Saturday, Feb. 12.

National Rankings
Bellevue is currently ranked No. 6 in the latest NAIA Men’s Basketball Division II Coaches’ Poll, released on Monday, Jan. 31. Two other MCAC teams are also ranked in the poll, Oklahoma Wesleyan University is eighth while College of the Ozarks is No. 18.

Block Party
Ousseynou Diop has blocked 93 shots this season which ranks second in NAIA Division II. He has totaled two or more blocks in 14 of the Bruins’ last 15 games. Diop tied a career-high with eight blocks last week versus Oklahoma Wesleyan on Jan. 28. He also had eight blocks this season against Harris-Stowe (Nov. 12). In his first two seasons, he has led the conference in blocked shots. For his career, Diop has swatted 195 shots.

Doubling Up
The frontcourt duo of Eugene Bain and Ousseynou Diop have accounted for all 11 of the Bruins’ double-doubles this season. Bain has registered nine, including a 16-point and 14-rebound performance at Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Feb. 4. Diop has notched two double-doubles, in back-to-back games, at Midland University (Nov. 11) and versus Harris-Stowe (Nov. 12).

Last Game Recap
BETHANY, Okla. -- The Bellevue University men’s basketball team outscored Southwestern Christian University 54-24 in the second half to cruise to an 89-50 MCAC win Saturday night at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.

With the win, the Bruins have now won four of their last five games to improve to 20-5 overall and 7-2 in the MCAC. The loss dropped the Eagles to 6-17 and 2-7 in league play.

James Parrott and Donald Jones led four Bruins in double figures, with 14 points apiece. Ben Imig scored 13 points and made all three of his three-point attempts while Jelani Johnson added 10 points. Ousseynou Diop recorded seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Riemond Prince led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds to pace SCU.

Up Next
The Bruins will conclude the 2010-11 regular season on the road next week when they travel to Haskell Indian Nations University on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. before playing at No. 18 ranked College of the Ozarks on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 5:00 p.m.