Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes wraps up its season-opening homestand on Saturday evening with a Homecoming contest inside the Ebeid Rec Center.  The Gray Wolves will battle Miami-Middletown in their final tune-up before the start of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action begins.

Head Coach Dennis Hopson: In his second season on the Lourdes bench, Dennis Hopson is 30-17 (.638) 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 won the only previous meeting against Miami-Middletown.  The Gray Wolves defeated the ThunderHawks 82-63 on Jan. 3, 2020 in Middletown, Ohio.  This will be Miami-Middletown's first trip to Sylvania.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves had six players tally double figures on the way to a 116-54 victory over East-West on Tuesday (Oct. 26) in the 2021-2022 season opener.  Nick Welch and Jackie Harris led the way with double-doubles.  Welch scored 20 points and added 13 rebounds while Harris tallied 16 points and grabbed 10 boards.  Little Anderson added 19 points in the win for Lourdes.

Scouting Miami-Middletown: The ThunderHawks opened their season last Saturday (Oct. 30) with a 113-68 setback at Georgetown (Ky.).  Jalen Brown led Miami-Middletown with 14 points off the bench while Brendan Williams and Mario Caywood each tallied 13 points.  Caywood also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.  The ThunderHawks shot just 33.8% from the floor.

A Record-Setting Effort: Lourdes opened the 2021-2022 season in style against East-West, setting a new program record for points in a game.  The Gray Wolves tallied 116 points against the Phantoms, surpassing the old record of 114 set on Nov. 13, 2019 against Wright State-Lake.  The game marked the seventh 100-point effort all-time in program history.

Racking Up Double-Doubles: Nick Welch and Jackie Harris both tallied double-doubles for the Gray Wolves in the season opener.  Welch scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.  The double-double was the sixth of his career.  Harris tallied 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double in his debut as a Gray Wolf.

Crashing the Boards: In addition to Nick Welch's and Jackie Harris' double-doubles, McRay White also had a double figure rebounding game against East-West in the opener.  He began his final season with the Gray Wolves pulling down 11 caroms, including a team-high five on the offensive end.  As a team, Lourdes outrebounded the Phantoms 53-26 on the evening.

Shooting Lights Out: Lourdes shot a blistering 63.2% (48-of-76) from the floor to open the season against East-West.  Nick Welch was 9-of-11 on his way to 20 points while Little Anderson connected on 8-of-11 shot attempts while tallying 19 points.  Joey Holifield was 6-of-8 shooting the basketball as well while tallying 14 more points.

Lourdes Debuts: Lourdes had four players make their debuts wearing the terra cotta and black in the win over East-West.  Joey Holifield earned a start in his first game for the Gray Wolves.  N'Keeley Elmore and Jackie Harris played in their first game at Lourdes after transferring prior to the season while Ben Palma made his collegiate debut as a freshman.

Protecting the Basketball: The Gray Wolves had a better than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio to start the season.  Lourdes handed out 23 assists while committing just 11 miscues against East-West.  Little Anderson, Brett Lauf, and N'Keeley Elmore each dropped five dimes in the win.

Scoring Quick and Inside: Lourdes made the most of its transition game against East-West, outscoring the Phantoms 21-2 in fast break points.  The Gray Wolves also pounded the ball in the paint, scoring 58 points in the lane, more than East-West's entire scoring output for the game.  Lourdes had a 58-30 advantage in points in the paint.

From Downtown: Lourdes shot 40.6% from three-point range in the season opener, making 13 triples.  Jackie Harris drained four three-pointers while Charles Swain was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.  Little Anderson also had three three-pointers.  Eight of the 10 Gray Wolves that took the floor attempted a triple with different players making at least one.

Team Captains: The Gray Wolves have named tri-captains for the 2021-2022 season.  McRay White, Nick Welch, and Brett Lauf will also serve in the team's leadership roles this year.

Lourdes Tabbed Third in Preseason Poll: The Gray Wolves were selected to finish in third place in the WHAC this season in the preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches.  Lourdes was picked just ahead of Madonna and just behind Rochester (Mich.) in the league balloting.  Indiana Tech is the favorite to win the WHAC in 2021-2022.

This and That: Lourdes is 159-163 all-time in the program's 12th season ... the Gray Wolves have two NAIA National Championship appearances (2012 and 2013) ... the Gray Wolves are 39-25 all-time inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center ... Lourdes is now 11-1 in home openers after the victory over East-West.