'Dons Open 2012-13 With Exhibition

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The 2012-13 IPFW Mastodons open their season on Monday evening at 7 p.m. when the squad hosts the Alma Scots at the Memorial Coliseum.

Opponent: Alma Scots
When: Monday, November 5 | 7 p.m.
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Memorial Coliseum (5,200)
Radio: WKJG ESPN Radio 1380 AM (Kent Hormann, play by play; Jeff Parrish, analyst)
Live Stats: IPFW Live Stats
Streaming Video: IPFW All-Access (Subscription required)

IPFW SEASON PREVIEW
IPFW second-year head coach Tony Jasick returns seven letterwinners from last season's team – including All-Summit League First Team honoree Frank Gaines – and brings in a strong class of newcomers to help ease the pains of losing four starters from last season's squad.

Returning for the Mastodons is Gaines, who last season finished ninth in the country in scoring, averaging 21.2 points per game. He ended his season strong, reaching 26 or more points in each of his last eight games of the year. Also back for IPFW are forwards Mario Hines and Michael Kibiloski, and guards Isaiah McCray and Joe Edwards.

Back at guard for IPFW is a quartet of players, including Gaines, who also led the team in rebounding and steals while his 18 blocks were the second-most on the team. Four times he scored 30 points, while scoring at least 20 points 19 times.

Also back are sophomores Isaiah McCray, Joe Edwards, and Michael Onuorah in addition to junior college transfers Pierre Bland and Kevin Harden, redshirt freshman Herbert Graham, and true freshman Will Dunn.

McCray and Bland will battle for the point guard spot. Last season McCray averaged 2.5 points per game coming off of the bench in all 25 games, picking up 17 steals and pulling down 57 rebounds. A year ago Bland averaged 12.1 points and 4.2 assists at Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Edwards, a 6-4 swing-guard, averaged 4.2 points last year, including scoring a season-high 12 at Purdue. He shot 34.3 percent (12-of-35) from long range, and made 42-of-88 (47.7 percent) from the field. He pulled down 44 total rebounds, while picking up 13 steals. Onuorah played in three games, scoring two points and grabbing a rebound in a reserve role.

Graham averaged 25.5 points per game two years ago as a senior in high school, while adding 6.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. The 6-4 North Miami Beach, Florida native was named honorable mention All-Broward County, and was the leading scorer in the tri-county area (Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties).

Last year Harden, a 6-2 guard, put up 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and was named a NJCAA All-America Honorable Mention selection. He was the Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year, shooting 47 percent from the floor and 33 percent from long range. Dunn, a 6-2 guard from Edina, Minnesota, was the sixth-rated recruit out of Minnesota last year.

Returning on the inside for IPFW is senior Mario Hines and junior Michael Kibiloski. The team also welcomes a group of newcomers that includes junior college transfers Luis Jacobo and Steve Forbes and freshmen Joe Reed and Brent Calhoun.

Hines, at 6-8, averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last year, leading the team with 20 blocked shots. He scored a season-high 20 points against Oakland on January 14, hitting 8-of-9 shots from the field.

Kibiloski reached double-figure scoring five times during the season, including a season-high 13 at Xavier on November 15. He averaged 5.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game last year, while dishing out 17 assists.

Jacobo is new to the squad after playing last season at the College of Central Florida, before spending his freshman year at Stetson. While with the Hatters, the 6-5 forward averaged just over nine points and four rebounds per game, starting in 27 of the team's 31 games, and hitting for 28 points and 11 rebounds against Jacksonville in the season finale.

Also new to the Mastodons via Stetson is 6-9 forward Steve Forbes, who spent last season at Brevard College. At Stetson he averaged 7.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, starting 20 times and shooting over 53 percent from the field. Joe Reed, a 6-7 freshman, was named an All-State Honorable Mention selection last year, averaging 21.1 points and over 10 rebounds per game with the Center Grove Trojans. Calhoun, a 6-8 first-year player, pulled down 126 rebounds and blocked 32 shots last season, helping his Warren Central squad to a 14-7 overall record.

The schedule opens on November 5 with an exhibition against Alma College, before traveling to face Auburn on November 9 in an 8 p.m. tip-off. The squad then competes in the EMU “Ice Man” Classic against Rochester, Texas-Pan American, Eastern Michigan, and Eastern Illinois. The non-conference road season includes trips to Dartmouth, Navy, Valparaiso, Drake, and Notre Dame, while the squad hosts Miami (Ohio), Kennesaw State, and Navy.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

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