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Highest-scoring team on planet to
visit Monmouth Tuesday night
Release Date: January 9, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — For more than a
decade, the Grinnell College basketball team has employed coach Dave
Arseneault’s unusual “system” of basketball that has drawn
nationwide attention for producing scores like the 150-145 game the
Pioneers had against Monmouth College during the 1999-2000 season.
In fact, both Monmouth and Grinnell have exceeded the century mark
in 17 of their previous 24 meetings.
New research from the Midwest Conference, however, shows that
Grinnell’s fame might be spreading beyond U.S. borders. The
Pioneers’ average of 126.4 points per game makes them, according the
MWC office, “the highest scoring team on the planet.” Unless the
movie “Space Jam” is accurate, they just might be the highest
scoring basketball team in the universe, too.
Area basketball fans will get an opportunity to see Grinnell play
Tuesday night, when they face off against the Fighting Scots in a
key MWC battle at 7 p.m. at Glennie Gym. The game will be preceded
by a matchup of the schools’ women’s teams at 5 p.m.
Said MC women’s coach Melissa Jones of the early game, “Grinnell is
very guard-oriented. They want to shoot a lot of three-pointers.
They don’t quite play Dave Arseneault’s system, but it’s close. They
live and die by the three, and if they get hot, it turns into rapid
fire, and they can change a game very quickly.”
Indeed, Grinnell’s women hoist nearly 39 three-pointers per game,
making an average of 12.6, good for No. 1 in the nation. They are
led by Hannah Wolf, who is tops in the nation with 4.6 treys per
game.
But it’s the stats that the Pioneers’ men compile that calls
attention to the school. Although Grinnell flopped before an ESPN2
audience last February, scoring just 85 points in defeat, they have
a revamped squad this season and will enter Tuesday’s game with a
3-0 league record (7-2 overall).
Entering 2006, John Grotberg was second in the nation in scoring at
29.1 points per game and 4.9 three-pointers per game. Other Grinnell
players in the NCAA’s top 10 include national assist leader David
Arseneault – the coach’s son – with 9.6 per game, Michael Schmidt
(4.9 three-pointers) and Paul Nordlund (3.3 blocks). Both Grotberg
and Arseneault are freshmen.
Besides scoring, Grinnell also leads the nation in made
three-pointers per game (22.4).
Speaking of three-pointers, that is also an area of specialty for
this year’s Monmouth team, which is ranked 13th nationally with 10.6
per game. The last time the Fighting Scots played a home game, they
shattered their school record by making 20 treys in a win over
Aurora University. Chris Hebeler had 12 of those three-pointers on
his way to a career-high 38 points.
Many previous Monmouth teams have not been allowed to shoot threes
against a scrambling defense from Grinnell that is prone to allowing
layups, but look for MC coach Terry Glasgow to give the green light
to Hebeler, Jim Dibble and the Scots’ all-time leading three-point
shooter, Anthony Beaird. If healthy, Raun Singleton would also be in
that green-light group, but the former Roseville star missed
Saturday’s 84-77 loss at Lake Forest with an ankle injury, and he is
doubtful for Tuesday.
With that loss, the Scots fell to 0-3 in the MWC, making Tuesday’s
game a must-win for Monmouth as it looks to get back in the league
race.
Men's Basketball |
Women's Basketball
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