Men's Hoops Home Opener Set For Sunday Afternoon

Who: Defiance Yellow Jackets
When: Sunday, Nov. 12 | 4:30 PM ET
Where: Gates Sports Center (1,800) | Fort Wayne, Ind.
All-Time Series: Defiance leads 2-0
Radio: ESPN 1380 AM/100.9 FM
Talent: Brett Rump and Art Saltsberg Link
Live Stats: Link
Live Video: www.GoMastodons.com/watch
Game Notes (PDF): Fort Wayne

FOR VETERANS DAY
• In honor of Veterans Day, Sunday's doubleheader is Military Appreciation Day. Veterans and/or active duty military personnel and their family members can purchase general admission tickets for $5 (half-off) by showing their military ID. Military personnel will be recognized at halftime.

• The Mastodons will join collegiate teams across the country in wearing special red and yellow Under Armour shooting shirts and shoes to recognize the sacrifices of our veterans.

FOR HOME OPENERS
Sunday will be Fort Wayne's 2017-18 home opener. The 'Dons are 11-5 in home openers all-time as an NCAA Division I member. The 'Dons enter Sunday's contest winners of nine-straight home openers.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
The NCAA Division III Yellow Jackets finished last season 6-19 and 5-13 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Defiance has two players from Fort Wayne on their roster. Freshmen guards Davontae Kinnie and Elijah Holmes played at Northside High School.

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
Sunday's game is a doubleheader with the women's basketball team. The Fort Wayne women host Loyola Chicago at 2 p.m.

THE SERIES
It has been nearly 40 years since Defiance and Fort Wayne last played. The Mastodons and Yellow Jackets have only two previous meetings and Defiance won both of the contests. Defiance won 85-58 on Feb. 8, 1977 at Defiance and 113-78 in Fort Wayne on Jan. 21, 1978.

LAST TIME OUT
Fort Wayne opened the 2017-18 campaign with an 85-71 loss at Horizon League favorite Oakland on Friday night. Bryson Scott finished with a career-high 31 points while adding eight rebounds and three assists. He was 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Freshmen Dylan Carl, Matt Weir and Cameron Benford each scored their first collegiate points. Carl had six points and Weir and Benford each had three.

UP NEXT
Fort Wayne welcomes Delaware State to the Summit City on Wednesday (Nov. 15) for a 7 p.m. start at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The game will air live locally on CN81.

CENTURY MARK
Sunday's contest against Defiance will be Jon Coffman's 100th game as Fort Wayne's head coach. His 60 wins over his first three seasons as Fort Wayne's head coach are the most by a Mastodon head coach in his first three seasons.

DUO HONORED
Fort Wayne had two student-athletes selected to the 2017-18 Summit League All-Preseason Teams. John Konchar was named to the First Team. Bryson Scott was selected to the Second Team.

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
According to KenPom.com computer rankings, John Konchar was third in the nation last season in offensive rating, which is a measure of personal offensive efficiency. Konchar owned an ORtg of 137.2, only Devontae Cacok of UNC Wilmington (141.4) and Ty Gibson of Eastern Washington (139.8) ranked higher.

PICKED FOURTH
Fort Wayne was picked to finish fourth in the 2017-18 Preseason Poll according to a vote by the coaches and media. 2017 tournament champion South Dakota State was picked for first. Regular season champion South Dakota was tabbed for second.

Team Points (1st place votes)
1. South Dakota State 339 (13)
2. South Dakota 327 (12)
3. North Dakota State 246
4. Fort Wayne 234
5. Denver 230
6. Omaha 124
7. Oral Roberts 104
8. Western Illinois 60

FROM THE FLOOR IN HIS CAREER
John Konchar owns a career 60.6 percent field goal percentage. His mark is fifth among all active players in the nation. Only Tacko Fall (Central Florida, 72.7 percent), Tyler Davis (Texas A&M, 63.5 percent), Josh Ibarra (Houston Baptist, 61.4 percent) and Jock Landale (Saint Mary's, 61.1 percent) own better career shooting percentages.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
John Konchar has 30 career double-doubles. Only three current players in the nation have more career double-doubles. Angel Delgado (Seton Hall, 51), James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan, 40) and Rokas Gustys (Hofstra, 34) rank above Konchar. Both Delgado and Gustys are seniors this season. Thompson IV, like Konchar, is a junior.

KASON IN HIS CAREER
Kason Harrell's career 3-point percentage of 44.9 percent ranks fourth among all active NCAA Division I student-athletes. Only Markus Howard (Marquette, 54.7 percent), Connor Burchfield (William & Mary, 49.5 percent) and Jordan Dartis (Ohio, 45.7 percent) own better 3-point percentages in their careers.

ONLY TWO
Fort Wayne and Valparaiso are the only two NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in the state of Indiana that have advanced to the postseason each of the last four years.

IN NATIONAL RANKINGS...
In the nation, Fort Wayne finished last season:
4th in 3-pointers per game (10.7)
4th in scoring (86.9)
7th in field goal percentage (49.6 percent)
8th in assists per game (17.5)
9th in total 3-pointers (352)
12th in 3-point field goal percentage (40.2 percent)

KONCHAR NEARING 1,000
John Konchar owns 945 career points. The Mastodons have 13 players in their history who have reached 1,000 career points.

SCOTT NEARING 1,000
Combined with the 291 points he scored at Purdue, Bryson Scott owns 854 career points.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Benford

Dylan Carl

Kason Harrell

John Konchar

Bryson Scott

Matt Weir