Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes takes to the road for two final games before Christmas break looking to extend its four-game winning streak.  The Gray Wolves travel to Penn State-Shenango on Monday evening before heading south to Rio Grande for a Thursday afternoon affair.

Head Coach Dennis Hopson: In his second season on the Lourdes bench, Dennis Hopson is 38-20 (.655) 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 and Penn State-Shenango are meeting on the hardwood for the first time on Monday evening.  The Gray Wolves are 1-0 all-time against Rio Grande.  Lourdes posted a 59-53 victory over the Red Storm on Dec. 1, 2019 as part of the NAIA DII Classic held in Kingsport, Tenn.  This will be the two schools first meeting on one of their home courts.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes limited Cornerstone to just 38.5% shooting on Saturday (Dec. 11) and used a late 15-2 run to defeat the Golden Eagles 77-62 at home.  Joey Holifield led the Gray Wolves with 17 points while McRay White added 15 more.  Jackie Harris chipped in 14 points and Little Anderson scored 11 as four Gray Wolves finished the day in double figures.  Lourdes stepped out of WHAC play on Wednesday night (Dec. 15), jumped out to a 19-point halftime lead, and defeated the Bulldogs 89-66 at home.  Nick Welch tallied 32 points while White added 16 and Harris contributed 15 more.  Holifield scored 13 points as the Gray Wolves against finished the game with four players in double figures.

Scouting Penn State-Shenango: The Lions enter the weekend having dropped five straight games following a 95-81 setback at Penn State Hazelton on Saturday (Dec. 11).  Penn State-Shenango travels to Bethany on Saturday before hosting the Gray Wolves.  Jashun Cobb leads the Lions averaging 18.4 points per game while D'Montez Owens has added 17.9 points per outing.  DiMarius Hill and Malik Weatherington are both averaging double figures as well, scoring 13.9 and 10.4 points per game respectively.

Scouting Rio Grande: The Red Storm enter the weekend having won three of their last four games after downing Wilberforce 67-65 on Tuesday (Dec. 14).  Rio Grande heads to Northwestern Ohio on Saturday and Indiana Tech on Monday before hosting Lourdes.  Miki Tadic paces the Rio Grande offense, averaging 17.5 points per game this season while Shiloah Blevins adds 14.2 points per contest.

On a Winning Streak: Lourdes current four-game winning streak is its longest of the season.  The last time the Gray Wolves had a streak as long, or longer, was when Lourdes won six consecutive games from Jan. 13-31, 2021.  Prior to that was the program's school-record 11-game winning streak that took place from Nov. 23, 2019-Jan. 8, 2020.

Welch Has Career Night: Nick Welch had his best game as a Gray Wolf on Wednesday evening against Adrian.  The fifth-year senior scored a career-best 32 points, making 14-of-21 shots from the floor.  His previous high at Lourdes was a 22-point effort against Aquinas back on Jan. 29, 2020.  Welch is now second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per night after his eighth double figure scoring game of the season, and third 20+ point scoring night.

Sharing the Wealth: Lourdes has five players averaging in double figures this season, led by Joey Holifield who is scoring 17.2 points per game.  Nick Welch (14.6 ppg), McRay White (13.6 ppg), Jackie Harris (13.5 ppg), and Little Anderson (10.8 ppg) are all scoring 10 or more points per outing as well.  The Gray Wolves have had at least four double digit scorers in every game except one (Indiana Tech, 3) this season.

Dishing the Rock: Brett Lauf has run the Gray Wolf offensive this season, handing out 5.8 assists per contest this year.  He has a 1.52 assist-to-turnover ratio while directing the Lourdes offense.  In Wednesday's win against Adrian, Lauf dished out a career-high 11 assists, marking the second time in his career he had a double-figure assist game (Indiana Tech, Feb. 21, 2021).

Stellar Shooting: Joey Holifield is shooting 64.5% from the field for the Gray Wolves this season while Jackie Harris is connecting at a 43.0% clip from three-point range.  Harris is also a 94.1% free throw shooter (16-of-17) on the year.

Lighting Up the Scoreboard: Lourdes is averaging 90.4 points per game through the first 12 contests of the season.  The Gray Wolves have produced their top two scoring games in program history this season already, having tallied a school record 116 points against East-West before adding 115 in the win over Wilberforce.  Lourdes has surpassed the century mark three times, most in a season in program history.

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: The Gray Wolves are shooting 76.3% as a team from the free throw line ... the Gray Wolves are outscoring their opposition by 20.5 points per night ... McRay has blocked 14 shots in 12 games.