Men's Basketball Season Preview!
Last Season, the Lions finished with a 22-11 record and went 12-0 in conference play, winning the NIAC conference championship for the 2nd year in a row! After the Conference Tournament, the Lions matched up with North Central University, the #2 ranked team in the country. The Lions fought hard and led for the majority of the game but ended up losing 90-76 in the NCCAA North Region Semi-Finals.
The Lions hope to build off last season's success and make a deep run this year! The men's team returns four players from last year, and three of those 4 were starters: returning senior guard Trinity's All-time leading scorer, and 2nd-Team All-American Marcellus Mencarini. Also, Returning Senior Guard Quincy Wilson, was a First-Team All Region, and All-Conference selection last season. Back for his sophomore season 6 '4 forward and newcomer of the year Samuel Wilson! Last but not least, the Lions also return Senior forward Nehemiah Becker. Nehemiah provided a great spark last year for the Lions, and will contribute well to the team this year! In the words of Head Coach Jordan Nowell, "We have a great core of returners that all do different things for us. I'm excited to see them a year older and how they mix in with the new talent we have added to this year's team."
This offseason the men's team was able to add 8 new players! The Lions got 4 Junior College transfers; Colten Pagnac (6'4), Jacob King (5'11), Lachlan Moutsias (6'6), and Jonathan Ogugua (5'11). Colten and Lachlan both played at Minnesota North Hibbing Community College. Colten averaged 10.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg! Lachlan contributed 8.2 ppg while shooting 60.9% from the field! Jacob King is transferring from Cornell College. Jacob in high school was a first-team all-conference and all-district selection. While at Cornell he shot close to 50/40/90 splits! Jonathan Ogugua comes this season after taking a year off. Ogugua played at San Diego City College where he averaged 17.8 ppg 2.6 apg and 2.8 rpg. Jonathan was named first-team all-conference and conference player of the year! Coach Nowell had this to say when asked about the transfers. "The transfers we received this year will go a long way in determining how far this team makes it in March. Just like the returners, the different talents these four bring to the team will contribute a lot to the team's success. They will make us very difficult to guard and will raise the level of defense to a new level."
The Lions also bring in four true freshmen; Jude Morrow (5 '11), Owen Pollard (6' 8), Mason Bates (5'10), and Christian Shepherd (5' 11). Mason Bates in high school was named the Big Sky League MVP, 1,000-point club, and All-State Honorable Mention! Owen Pollard was a First Team All-League selection, All-Defensive Team, and All-State Honorable mention! Owen also holds the record for the highest field goal percentage in a career for 1A in Oregon at 63.2%. Jude Morrow was named his High School Team's MVP! Christian Shepherd joins us from Sisseton, SD with four years of high school basketball experience, and two of those years as a starter. Coach Nowell said "I'm excited to add some young faces and young legs to our team. It is quite the luxury to add freshmen to the team who are ready to compete and contribute right away, all while knowing they have a lot of growing and learning to do over the next couple of years. I can't wait to see what this group adds to our team!"
The Men's Team plays Today at 5:30 pm CST vs. Oak Hills Christian College for the home opener! We are super excited to see how the team does this season, Go Lions!
