By naiahoopsreport_admin November 28, 2019 0 Comments
By Jake Pommerer
This holiday weekend the NAIA will have their own version of the Maui Invitational with the first annual Battle at the Beach, hosted in Panama City, Florida by Faulkner University, and Gulf Coast State.
Valley City State is looking for their first win of the season and LSU-A is looking to end a two-game losing streak. A tale of two totally different styles of play, The Vikings will look to slow the game down, while the Generals want to play fast. VCSU does have a win in an exhibition contest over NCAA Division II Minot State so they have proven they can beat good competition. Chris Vickers is the player to watch for LSU-A as he leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Kevin Schram will be the player to watch for Valley City State. Schram is a stretch forward that is averaging 12.1 PPG while shooting 49% from the field and 45% from behind the arc. The winner will face the winner of the Faulkner vs Carver game.
This game will be another battle of two different styles. Lindsey Wilson averages 91 PPG and Thomas averages 68. I personally have watched Thomas play a few times and they and they seem to want to get shots off as close to the hoop as they can. They do a good job of getting their guards off screens and downhill to the rim, but they also will feed their post players who will play physical down low. Lindsey Wilson seems to rely on the long ball a little more with three players shooting above 40% from the 3-point line. The players to watch in this game for me will be Reece Brooks for Lindsey Wilson who is averaging 18.5PPG and shooting 45% from beyond the arc. For Thomas it will be Jamal Scott who leads the Nighthawks in scoring while coming off the bench with 16 PPG. The winner of this game will play the winner of Talladega vs Voorhees.
The Faulkner Eagles are looking to make a deep run in their own tournament while the Carver Cougars are looking to get on the winning track. Faulkner is off to a good start at 6-2 and look to continue that success this weekend. Don’t let Carver’s 1-8 record fool you they have battled with some really good NAIA teams so far this season. Nate Bradley will be my player to watch for Faulkner, the senior is off to a great start averaging 10.88 PPG. Antonio Gardner will be my player to watch for Carver. Looking over his stats you’ll see that he gets it done in all facets of the game. The winner of this game will play the winner of LSU-A vs Valley City.
A game that will likely be fast paced Talladega scores 93 PPG and Voorhees averages 85 PPG. I have had the chance to see Voorhees play and they want to get out and go. I’m willing to bet this game turns into a track meet. Alex Brooks will be my player to watch for Vorhees a quick guard averaging 11.9 PPG. Darryl Baker will be my player to watch for Talladega as he enters the tournament as the leading scorer averaging 19.9 PPG. The winner of this game will play the winner of Lindsey Wilson vs Thomas.
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