Men's Basketball Takes on Familiar Foe in Summit Tournament Quarterfinals

PREGAME NOTES

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The IPFW Mastodons will face off against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies for the third time in a four-game span, as the teams meet up in the first round of the 2013 Summit League tournament in a 7 p.m. EST tip-off in the Sioux Falls Arena.

Opponent: Oakland Golden Grizzlies (16-15)
When: Sunday, March 10, 2013 | 7 p.m. EST
Where: Sioux Falls, S.D. | Sioux Falls Arena (6,300)
Radio: WKJG ESPN Radio 1380 AM | Kent Hormann, play-by-play; Jeff Parrish, analyst
Live Stats: The Summit League
Television: Midco Sports Network / Fox College Sports Atlantic

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES

Oakland comes into its second straight meeting with IPFW with a 16-15 overall record, having dropped just two games in their last 10, both to IPFW.

In the last loss, Drew Valentine led the Grizzlies with 15 points, while Corey Petros scored 14, Travis Bader 11, and Dante Williams and Duke Mondy each scored 11. Petros pulled down nine rebounds, with Mondy dishing out five assists.

For the season, the Golden Grizzlies are led by Bader, who averages 22.0 points per game, including hitting 131 three-point baskets this season. Petros averages 12.6 points and 8.2 rebounds, while Mondy and Valentine average 12.1 and 10.2 points, each. Ryan Bass is on the cusp of double figures at 9.1 points per game.

Petros and Valentine (6.6) lead the team in rebounding, while Mondy has dished out a team-high 161 assists and nabbing a league-high 97 steals.

TWICE AS NICE

When Frank Gaines was named to the All-League First Team on Thursday, he became the first player in IPFW's Summit League era to be named to the First Team twice in his career. The last time an IPFW player was named First Team All-League in two different seasons was in 1991-92 and 1992-93 when Sean Gibson was twice named First Team All-League in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference.

HAVEN'T I SEEN YOU BEFORE

With the playing of the Summit League first round, IPFW and Oakland will have done battle three times within a four-game span, the third of those meetings coming on Sunday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this same feat happened last season when Eastern Washington swept Idaho State in a three-game span ending in the conference tournament. Before that, the last time a NCAA Division I team played another three times in a four-game span was in 2006-07.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES

Luis Jacobo scored 21 and Frank Gaines 20 as the IPFW Mastodons won on the road against Oakland 74-72, to secure the regular-season sweep of the Golden Grizzlies.

The two teams will face off once more at the 2013 Summit League Tournament, the third time in a four game span, which is just the second time since 2006-07 that two NCAA Division I teams have met that frequently over a similar stretch of games.

The win improves IPFW to 15-16 on the season and 7-9 in Summit League play, while Oakland falls to 16-15, and 10-6 in League action.

Jacobo was 8-of-15 from the field and 5-of-11 from long range while Gaines was 8-of-19 from the field and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe. Joe Edwards added 11 points off the bench for the 'Dons, while Pierre Bland set a new career-high with nine points in the win.

Mario Hines pulled down nine rebounds, as the 'Dons out-rebounded Oakland 40-to-37. Bland dished out a team-high five assists, while he and Jacobo each picked up two steals. Jacobo, Gaines, and Hines each had two blocks for IPFW win the win.

The win was IPFW's third straight road win, and fifth straight to end the regular season, the longest regular-season-ending win streak since the 1992-93 team won seven in a row to end the regular season, leading up to the program's NCAA Division II Tournament berth, the program's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

The first half was one of a big run for each squad, as the 'Dons, trailing 11-9 with 16:11 to play in the half, opened a 7-1 run capped by a Jacobo three-pointer, before the Grizzlies immediately answered back with a 10-0 run to push ahead by three at 22-19.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, there were four ties and six lead changes, before the hosts scored the final four points of the half to take a 43-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Mastodons would not take their first lead of the second half until Jacobo drained a three-pointer with 9:26 to play, giving IPFW a 60-57 advantage, and the Grizzlies would not lead again.

Oakland quickly answered back with a three-point play from Travis Bader, as the teams traded baskets for the next two minutes, before IPFW went on a 4-0 run on a lay-in by Jacobo and a jumper by Gaines to lead 66-62.

IPFW's advantage never reached more than four the rest of the way, and the Grizzlies tied the game one final time - the 15th tie score of the game - on Bader's first three-point make of the game with 2:09 to play; however, the hosts would not score again.

Gaines hit a jumper with 1:12 to play to provide the game-winner, and neither team would score again, as the Mastodon defense stopped Oakland on back-to-back possessions late to secure the two-point road win.

IPFW IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

In IPFW's previous five trips to the Summit League Tournament, twice the squad advanced past the quarterfinal round, including in 2008, the Mastodons' first season in the League. IPFW's last tournament win came on March 7, 2010 with a five-point win over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the second year the tournament was in Sioux Falls.

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Men's Basketball Takes on Familiar Foe in Summit Tournament Quarterfinals

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