Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – The four Midwest Conference (MWC) men's basketball teams that qualified for the 2018 MWC Tournament finished just two wins apart in the standings. The coaches expect another tight race as the same four teams all received at least one first-place vote and had a spread of six points in the 2018-19 preseason poll.
Monmouth College ended St. Norbert College’s streak of conference championships at five last season; however, the Green Knights top the poll with 72 points on two first-place votes. The Scots received one more first-place vote than St. Norbert but their total of 65 points puts them at fourth in the annual poll.
Lake Forest College and Ripon College both tied for second with 69 points but the Foresters garnered the highest number of first-place votes with four while the Red Hawks picked up just one. Grinnell College rounds out the top half of the field with 50 points in fifth.
Lawrence University comes in ten points back of the Pioneers with 40 in sixth while Illinois College is picked to finish seventh with a total of 27 points. Knox College edged out Cornell College for eighth 21 points to 20 respectively and completing the poll is Beloit College with 17 points.
The season tips-off with three games tomorrow night. Illinois College will host Webster University while Knox welcomes Principia College and Grinnell heads to Nebraska Wesleyan.
| Full Poll Results |
|
| 1. St. Norbert |
72 (2) |
| T2. Lake Forest |
69 (4) |
| T2. Ripon |
69 (1) |
| 4. Monmouth |
65 (3) |
| 5. Grinnell |
50 |
| 6. Lawrence |
40 |
| 7. Illinois College |
27 |
| 8. Knox |
21 |
| 9. Cornell |
20 |
| 10. Beloit |
17 |
Below is a team-by-team preview.
Beloit College Buccaneers
Head Coach: Brian Vraney (11th season) 86-169, 69-123 MWC
2017-2018: 5-20, 4-14 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 10th
Starters Returning: Tristan Shoup, Mason Jones, Andrew Walters, Darin Empereur
Returning All-MWC: 2nd Team – Tristan Shoup
Beloit is led by All-Conference Second Team member Tristan Shoup whose 18.2 points per game was second in the league to national leader Vinny Curta of Grinnell. Shoup also ranked second with 8.3 rebounds per game as he recorded seven double-doubles last season. The forward notched four games of 30 or more points including a season-high 40-point game at Grinnell where he set the MWC game-high with 19 made field goals. Joining Shoup in the starting lineup for 2018-19 is Mason Jones (7.0), Andrew Walters (5.6), and Darin Empereur (5.3). Walters also averaged 5.5 rebounds while Empereur led the team with 1.3 steals per game.
Cornell College Rams
Head Coach: Dave Schlabaugh (2nd season) 12-13, 7-11 MWC
2017-18: 12-13, 7-11 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 9th
Starters Returning: Craig Engle, Michael Drew
The 2018-19 Rams will lean heavily on youth as the team features ten freshmen and 15 of 22 players being underclassmen after losing three starters to graduation. Cornell will rely on returning starters Craig Engle and Michael Drew to lead the young group. Engle led the team with a 78.9 free throw percentage and was second with 31 made 3-point field goals and 41 assists. The teams leading three-point shooter also returns in Jan Siegien who sunk 37 threes last season as he shot 39.4 percent from behind the arc. Drew chipped in 112 rebounds including 93 on the defensive end.
Grinnell College Pioneers
Head Coach: Dave Arseneault Jr. (1st season), Record as Interim: 39-23, 27-23 MWC
2017-18: 13-11, 8-10 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 5th
Starters Returning: Vinny Curta, Ky-Sean Johnson
Returning All-MWC: 1st Team – Vinny Curta
Vinny Curta enters his senior season coming off a year where he led the NCAA in scoring average at 32.7 points per game and broke the Division III records for free throws made (252) and attempted (329) in a season. His 785 total points in the season rank third all-time in the conference record book. Curta also shared the wealth as he finished fourth in the MWC with 4.9 assists per game and contributed on the defensive end with 2.3 steals per game which was second best in the conference. Ky-Sean Johnson and his 15.9 scoring average also returns to the Pioneer starting lineup while Hannes Kogelnik returns as the top three-point shooter after making 87 last season.
Illinois College Blueboys
Head Coach: Steve Schweer (1st season)
2017-18: 8-17, 3-15 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 7th
Starters Returning: Mason Speer, Tim Parks, Sean McDonald
Illinois College returns the conference leader in assists as Mason Speer dished out 130 last season for a 5.2 per game average. Speer was also the Blueboys leading scorer as he averaged 12.7 points per game. The Blueboys were the best free throw shooting team in the conference making 75.4 percent from the line and return two of the league’s top ten free throw shooters. Tim Parks posted the fifth best percentage at 81.3 percent while Speers made them 75.9 percent of the time. Defensively, Sean McDonald grabbed 122 rebounds in 2017-18 including 103 on the defensive end. Illinois College also returns the conference’s second-best three-point field goal shooter in Isaac Collins as he connected on 48.6 percent from behind the arc.
Knox College Prairie Fire
Head Coach: Kevin Walden (7th season) 25-115, 17-91 MWC
2017-18: 7-18, 5-13 MWC
Projected 2017-18 MWC Finish: 8th
Starters Returning: Jonathan Damota, Blake Goldbold, Deryk Ruple
The Prairie Fire return their top three scorers from last season led by senior Jonathan Damota’s team-high 12.7 points per game. Joining him in the starting lineup is Blake Goldbold who had a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game while contributing 11.2 points per game and Deryk Ruple who shot 36 percent from behind the arc and averaged 9.7 points per game. Ikenna Ozor also looks to be a key contributor as he made 67 percent of his field goals and finished the season with two double-digit games including a season-high 16 points in a win over Grinnell.
Lake Forest College Foresters
Head Coach: Ken Davis (5th season) 53-43, 43-29 MWC
2017-18: 17-9, 13-5 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: T2nd
Starters Returning: Danny Sotos, Sean Espinosa, Jordan Moran, Aram Arslanian
Lake Forest returns four starters from last season’s MWC Tournament team. The Foresters tied for first in the conference with a 48 field goal percentage and had the third-best defense, allowing just 70.2 points per game. Jordan Moran returns after ranking third in the conference in field goal percentage at 56.8 percent and averaged 8.7 points per game. Danny Sotos is the teams highest returning scorer as he averaged 12.9 points per game while also grabbing a team-best 6.3 rebounds. He most likely got the ball from Sean Espinosa as the guard finished tied for second in the league with 5.0 assists per game. Lake Forest got a boost late in the season when Aram Arslanian joined the starting lineup for the season’s final ten games and averaged 8.7 points per game.
Lawrence University Vikings
Head Coach: Zach Filzen (1st season)
2017-18: 11-13, 7-11
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 6th
Starters Returning: Bryce Denham, Quinn Fisher, Mason Materna
The Vikings hope new head coach Zach Filzen can lead them to a top half finish in the standings along with returning sophomore forward duo Byrce Denham and Mason Materna. Denham is the Lawrence’s highest returning scorer as he averaged 11.8 points per game along with grabbing 4.5 rebounds while Materna contributed 6.6 points per game and 1.6 rebounds. Guard Quinn Fisher led the team with 76 assists and had a team-high 80.8 free throw percentage while putting in 8.7 points per game.
Monmouth College Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Todd Skrivseth (8th season) 75-92, 59-67 MWC
2017-18: 20-8, 15-3 MWC
Projected 2018-18 MWC Finish: 4th
Starters Returning: D.J. Swift, Justin Batterton
Monmouth will try to defend their MWC Regular Season and Tournament Championships despite losing both of its All-MWC performers including Player of the Year Will Jones. Instead, the Scots will look to returning starters D.J. Swift and Justin Batterton to lead them in their title defense. Swift 9.7 points per game and led the team with 58 made three-point field goals. Batterton contributed 8.3 and is the team’s returning rebounder after grabbing 104 last season.
Ripon College Red Hawks
Head Coach: Ryan Kane (7th season) 96-51, 78-30 MWC
2017-18: 18-7, 14-4
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: T2nd
Starter Returning: Cal Schultz, Trent Jones, Kyle Rutkowski
The Red Hawks are coming off back-to-back second-place regular season finishes and with three returning starters leading the way they hope to win their first MWC Championship since 1998-99. Ripon averaged the third most points per game at 77 while surrendering the second lowest at 67.4. The Red Hawks also led the conference with a team field goal percentage of 48.1 percent and a three-point percentage of 40.8 percent. Cal Schultz and his 13.3 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting returns along with Trent Jones who had the second-highest shooting percentage at 48.8. Seth Kostroski returns as the team’s leading three-point shooter and fourth-best in the league at 44 percent. Defensively, Kyle Rutkowski returns after averaging 5.8 rebounds per game and blocking 21 shots last season.
St. Norbert College Green Knights
Head Coach: Gary Grzesk (13th season) 232-73, 169-39 MWC
2017-18: 19-7, 14-4 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 1st
Starters Returning: Connor Curtis, Wade Geenen, Joe Lemon, Joe Ciriacks
St. Norbert returns four starters as it looks to reclaim the MWC Championship after finishing a game out of first place last season. The Green Knights had the best defense in the conference in 2017-18 as they allowed a league-low 62.9 points per game and grabbed a league-high 28.7 defensive rebounds per game. Joe Lemon and Connor Curtis will lead the rebounding efforts after averaging 5.3 and 4.2 per game respectively. Lemon also led the team with 26 blocked shots to average one per game. Curtis is St. Norbert’s returning scoring leader as he averaged 10.8 points per game on 59 percent shooting.