John Dawson Invitational Preview

Nov. 19, 2009

ADRIAN, Mich. -

Adrian College is proud to host the 2009 John Dawson Invitational. This two-day tournament will be held at the Merillat Sport & Fitness Center Gymnasium and will feature your Adrian College Bulldogs along with the Defiance Yellow Jackets, the Mount Union Purple Raiders and the Marygrove Mustangs.

The first tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21st. Game one will be a matchup between Mount Union and Defiance. The Bulldogs will face Marygrove immediately after at 8:00 p.m. The consolation game will be on Sunday at 2:00 p.m., while the championship will follow at 4:00 p.m.

Here is a capsule of the four teams competing in this year’s tournament:

ADRIAN BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs roster has been shook up due to a head coaching change at Adrian. Former Adrian College standout Mark White will begin his first season as the head coach of the men’s varsity basketball team. White brought in many new faces as the Bulldogs have nine freshmen on the varsity roster with only four letter winners returning from a year ago.

Two of those letter winners include senior point guard Michael Staley (Perry, Ohio-Mentor Lake Catholic) and forward/center Matt Wayne (Beverly Hills, Mich. - Riverview). The senior duo will be relied on as each played a significant role for the team in 2008-09. Staley was the floor general for Adrian last season. He averaged just under 15 points per game (14.9) and he also led the team in assists (5.8). Wayne controlled the paint as a solid post player. He averaged 11 points per game, but also contributed by leading the team in blocks and by grabbing four rebounds a game.

MARYGROVE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs are off to a rocky 0-4 start to the 2009-10 season. Sophomore guard Marcus Hopkins is the leading returner at Marygrove. Hopkins averaged nearly 16 points per game (15.9) as a freshman a year ago. He also added three assists, two rebounds and one steal per game for the Mustangs.

Eric Johnson will be the man in the middle for the Marygrove offense. Johnson averaged 10.9 points and seven rebounds per game as a sophomore. He shot 63 percent from the floor and also added one block per game.

The Mustangs will also have to rely on swingman Justin McKinney during the 2009-10 season. McKinney averaged 10 points and seven rebounds per game a year ago. He led the team in rebounds (7.8), steals (2.1), and field goal percentage (.682)

MOUNT UNION RAIDERS
Mount Union will look for two returning starters to lead them to victory this upcoming weekend. Junior swingman Dave Pellerite averaged 15.3 points per game a season ago to go along with 6.2 rebounds per game which led the team. Complimenting Pellerite will be Sam King. King is a talented guard that averaged six points per game, but more importantly led the team in assists (3.0).

The Purple Raiders were 12-14 overall last year with a 6-12 mark in the OAC. In order for Mount Union to improve their record juniors Ben Hodkinson, and LaRon Marshall will have to step into a starting role after coming off the bench last season.

DEFIANCE YELLOW JACKETS
The Defiance College basketball program is headed in the right direction as head coach Kyle Brumett guided the Yellow Jackets to an 18-9 overall record including a 12-4 mark in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference during his first year at the helm. DC will return four starters and 11 letter winners from its 18-win team in 2008-09.

Key players for Defiance include All-American candidates Mike Floyd and Nick Sales. Floyd has led the conference in assists in all three of his seasons as the point guard for the Yellow Jackets. The senior averaged 7.7 points per game, but more importantly ran the DC offense by starting in 26 games and logging the most minutes per game at 33.0.

 Sales is a post player that averaged 16.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game as a junior. Sales shot an impressive 63.8 percent from the field as a junior ranking him eighth in the nation. The versatile forward will enter this season needing just 70 points to reach 1,000 in his career.