Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes closes out the 2019 calendar year on Saturday afternoon, heading to New Philadelphia, Ohio for a non-conference game at Kent State-Tuscarawas.  The Gray Wolves are looking to extend an eight-game regular season winning streak.

Head Coach Dennis Hopson: In his first season on the Lourdes bench, Dennis Hopson is 11-3 (.786) with the Gray Wolves and as a men's collegiate head coach.  He is only the third head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Series Notes: Lourdes holds a 3-0 all-time series advantage against Kent State-Tuscarawas dating back to Dec. 29, 2017.  The Gray Wolves posted 104-61 and 82-43 victories over the Golden Eagles last season.  Lourdes won the only previous meeting to be played in New Philadelphia last season.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes completed the season sweep of Concordia (Mich.) last Wednesday evening with a 74-60 victory over the Cardinals in Ann Arbor, Mich.  Julian Egbo tallied a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Little Anderson added 14 points and nine boards.  On Friday, the Gray Wolves downed NCAA Division II foe Ashland 62-59 on the road in exhibition action.  Mike Bruce came off the bench to score 23 points while Clif Snow added 12 more.  Nick Welch tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.

Scouting Kent State-Tuscarawas: The Golden Eagles enter the contest having won back-to-back games, the most recent of which was an 83-44 victory over Penn Highlands last Friday night.  Andre Leavell leads four Kent State-Tuscarawas players averaging in double figures with 15.2 points per game while grabbing a team-high 5.3 rebounds per night.  Malik Campbell adds 14.7 points and 5.3 boards per game while Gunnar Tharp is scoring 14.0 points per outing.  Braden Rostad chips in 10.7 points per contest for the Golden Eagles.

Crashing the Polls: Lourdes jumped into the NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll for the first time this season on Dec. 11, checking in at 14th in this week's ranking.  The ranking is the highest ever for the Gray Wolves in men's basketball, surpassing the No. 18 ranking in the Dec. 3, 2013 poll.  Lourdes is ranked for the first time since the Gray Wolves were 25th in the Dec. 10, 2013 poll.  The next poll will not be released until Jan. 15.

Matching the School Record: Lourdes current eight-game winning streak matches the longest regular season winning streak in program history.  The Gray Wolves also won eight consecutive games from Jan 23.-Feb. 13, 2013 in a season in which Lourdes won a school-record 22 games overall.  Lourdes looks to set the record outright on Saturday with a win at Kent State-Tuscarawas.

Closing Out 2019: Lourdes enters the final game of the 2019 calendar year looking for its 19th victory since Jan. 1.  The Gray Wolves enter play on Saturday 18-10 since the beginning of 2019.

Doubling Up: Julian Egbo recorded his third double-double of the season last Wednesday at Concordia (Mich.) with his 20-point, 11-rebound performance against the Cardinals.  The redshirt-junior also tallied double-doubles this year at Mount Vernon Nazarene (11 points, 10 rebounds) and at home against Wright State-Lake (23 points, 13 rebounds).

Playing Defense: Lourdes ranks fourth in the NAIA Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 65.5 points per game.  The Gray Wolves have held six of their 14 opponents to 60 points or less this season, and have not allowed more than 66 points in a game since yielding 72 to Madonna on Nov. 20.

More National Rankings: Lourdes has crashed the boards this year, holding a +8.5 rebounding margin, a mark that ranks 15th in the country.  In addition, the Gray Wolves are shooting 47.9% from the floor, 29th best in NAIA Division II.  Lourdes opponents are connecting at just a 42.2% clip, 35th best nationally while the Gray Wolves' +9.6 scoring margin is 36th best.

A Balanced Scoring Attack: While Clif Snow leads the Gray Wolves scoring 18.2 points per game this season, Lourdes is getting production from a variety of players.  Five Gray Wolves are averaging between 9.0 and 9.6 points per outing, giving Lourdes a balanced offensive attack.

Taking Care of the Basketball: Lourdes is averaging just 11.9 turnovers per game this season.  In five games this season the Gray Wolves have committed 10 or fewer miscues, including a season-low four in the win a Indiana Tech on Nov. 16.  Lourdes has committed more than 15 turnovers just twice this year.

Making Halftime Adjustments: Despite an 11-3 record, the Gray Wolves have outscored opponents just 466-457 in the opening 20 minutes of play this season.  Lourdes has made the most of locker room adjustments in the second half, though.  Over the second 20 minutes, the Gray Wolves have outscored their opposition 573-439 this season.

Team Captains: Lourdes has four captains this season.  Bryce McComb, Clif Snow, and Brett Lauf join newcomer Nick Welch, a transfer from Spring Arbor, in leading the Gray Wolves.

This and That: Mike Bruce made his first appearance as a Gray Wolf in the exhibition game at Ashland, scoring 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes ... Clif Snow, Nick Welch, and Little Anderson have started all 14 games this season ... Snow surpassed 1,100 points for his career at Concordia (Mich.) and now has 1,110 in three years ... with a win at Kent State-Tuscarawas, Lourdes would finish the month of December with a 6-0 record.