[Men's Basketball] MBB Gameday Preview: Falcons and Warriors square off in KCAC "Road to ...
The Lowdown: Sterling College at Friends University
KCAC "Road to Hartman" Game of the Week
Location: Garvey Center
When: Wednesday, Feb. 8 @ 8 pm
Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
Radio: ESPN Wichita 92.3 FM
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3HHLOXt
Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons fell in a pair of road games this past week at Ottawa University and the University of Saint Mary to come in at 4-20 overall and 3-15 in the KCAC.
Ian Konek leads the Falcons with 13.2 points per game, while Tim Barbieri (11.7 ppg) and Al Emerllahu (10.6 ppg) also average double-figure points.
Barbieri leads the team and is third in the KCAC in both rebounds (8.5 rpg) and field-goal percentage (60.5 percent), while the trio of Trey Reid, Drew Patterson and Eastyn Ruffin each average a team-high 1.8 assists per game this season for the Falcons.
Scouting the Warriors: The Sterling College Warriors have lost their last three games and are now 13-11 overall and 9-9 in the KCAC.
Cedric Rollerson is pacing the Warriors in both points (15.3 ppg) and assists (3.0 apg), while ranking third in the KCAC in three-point percentage (43 percent). Sterling is also receiving double-digit scoring from Kavonte Kinney (13.3 ppg), Derrian Reed (12.5 ppg), Lucas Briar (11.2 ppg) and Will Thigpen (10.5 ppg), who also leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game.
The Series: Sterling won the first meeting this season 73-69 at home to snap a streak of five consecutive season sweeps by Friends. The Falcons have still won 16 of the past 20 matchups overall over the Warriors, including eight of nine matchups in Wichita during that stretch.
Quoting Head Coach Austin McBeth:
"It's nice to be back at home. Our previous match-up in Sterling went down to the wire, and our guys are looking forward to having another shot to compete against them. It will be a physical matchup, and our guys are prepared to compete."
Welcome to the Club: Senior guard Ian Konek became the 10th member of the modern-era 1,000-point club in Friends University Men's Basketball history back on Dec. 3 vs. Ottawa University. Konek now has 1,121 career points and currently leads the Falcons with 13.2 ppg this season.
Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton back as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.
Tickets: Fans are able to purchase tickets for all home basketball games by clicking HERE.
Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall record: 4-20
KCAC: 3-15
Home: 3-7
Road: 1-12
Neutral: 0-1
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 0-0
50-59 points: 0-4
60-69 points: 0-6
70-79 points: 1-6
80-89 points: 2-4
90+ points: 1-0
When allowing:
Under 50 points:
50-59 points: 0-0
60-69 points: 2-1
70-79 points: 1-8
80-89 points: 1-9
90+ points: 0-2
When leading at halftime: 3-7
When trailing at halftime: 1-12
When tied at halftime: 0-1
When committing fewer turnovers: 1-1
When committing more turnovers: 3-19
When turnovers are tied: 0-0
When leading in field-goal percentage: 4-8
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-11
When field-goal percentage is tied: 0-1
When leading in three-point percentage: 3-6
When trailing in three-point percentage: 1-14
When three-point percentage is tied: 0-0
When leading in rebounding: 4-7
When trailing in rebounding: 0-12
When rebounding is tied: 0-1
When leading in assists: 4-9
When trailing in assists: 0-10
When assists are tied: 0-1
In OT: 1-1
The Coaches:
Austin McBeth is in his second season as head coach of the Friends University men's basketball program.
In his debut season, McBeth coached two All-KCAC performers and a pair of all-freshman members.
McBeth arrived at Friends following a highly successful stint as the head assistant coach at NCAA D-II Truman State University of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
Serving as the recruiting coordinator for Truman State, McBeth was at the heart of a team that won the GLVC regular season championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA D-II National Tournament.
At Truman, McBeth also served in roles as the director of strength and conditioning, academic advisor for "at risk" players, summer camp director and director of community service while being heavily involved in fundraising and skill development for guards and post players.
McBeth's coaching experience includes head assistant coaching stops at the University of Illinois-Springfield, also of the GLVC and NAIA program Montreat College in Black Mountain, NC.
He was also a part of his alma mater team, the Iowa State University men's basketball program under head coach Fred Hoiberg, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
McBeth was a Volunteer GA Assistant Coach at ISU in 2013 and served as a camp instructor for the Cyclones in the summer of 2012.
Off the court, McBeth is a perfect fit for the Friends University Christian mission, having served as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) President at Iowa State while also filling the role of an FCA Co-Sponsor at Iowa State, Montreat and Illinois-Springfield. In addition, he has authored two books on coaching philosophies and the important role that coaches play in the lives of athletes.
Randy Stange is in his first season at the helm of the Sterling College men's basketball program.
Stange comes to Sterling from Johnson County Community College following a five-year stint as Athletic Director at JCCC.
His coaching career also includes serving as head coach at Hutchinson Community College and assistant coaching stints at Kansas State University, Saint Louis University and his alma mater, Missouri State University.
Up Next: The Falcons will play their final regular season road game Saturday night (Feb. 11) at Tabor College. Tip-off will be at 7 pm in Hillsboro, Kan.