Dordt Men Prep For Opening Round Friday

Oskaloosa, Iowa — The Dordt Defenders will travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa to play in the opening round of the NAIA National Championship. Dordt will face IU-Kokomo on Friday, March 11 at 3:00. The winner will advance and face the William Penn vs Bellevue victor on Saturday, March 12 at 4:00 for the right to move on to the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Cougars are 29-3 this season and finished the River States Conference with a 16-1 mark. Kokomo claimed the regular season title and won the postseason tournament championship. The lone loss for Kokomo in league play is to Alice Lloyd and the other two losses are to Indiana Northwest in non-conference play. The last loss for Kokomo came on December 16 in a 70-68 loss to Northwest and the Cougars have won 17 games in a row since then.

The Defender men have a 20-10 record and finished the GPAC season with a 12-8 record. Dordt lost three games in a row from January 8 to January 15 that dropped the Defenders to 13-7. From January 22-February 2 the Defenders won four games in a row and finished the season with a 3-3 record over their final six contests. Eight of Dordt’s losses are to teams that made the 64-team bracket and the Defenders did not lose to a team with a losing record.

The Defenders outscored teams 80.2-73.1 this season and outrebounded teams 35.4-33.9. The Defenders convert 49 percent of their field goals and limit opponents to 44.5 percent success. Dordt is converting 37 percent of its three-point shots and teams make 36 percent against the Defenders.

Bryce Coppock has scored 19.1 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and he has made 62 three-point shots. Jacob Vis is averaging 15.3 points per game with 8.0 rebounds and he converts 56 percent of his field goal attempts. Cade Bleeker adds 12.9 points per game and he has made 65 three-point shots while taking in 4.6 rebounds per game. Luke Rankin’s scoring average is 10.5 points per game and he hands out 4.6 assists per game. Jackson Louscher knocks down 8.4 points per game and Camden Bialas is good for 6.0 points per contest. Trey Hinote and Caleb Harmsen each average 3.6 points per game.

The winner of this game will advance on to face the William Penn-Bellevue winner on Saturday at 4:00 for the right to move on to the 16-team final site in Kansas City, Missouri.

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