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Inside look at high school and Oakland University sports from Oakland Press sports writer Dave Pemberton.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Summit League power rankings 1-5-08

1. Oakland (10-7, 3-1 Summit) — The Golden Grizzlies earned an impressive win over North Dakota State thanks to an Erik Kangas 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left. It was a total team effort for Oakland, with Kangas limited due to a cramp in his calf. The Grizzlies need a healthy Kangas in the games coming up after losing Derick Nelson for the season to a medical redshirt. Oakland has three straight road games starting with at Centenary on Thursday and at Oral Roberts on Sunday.
2. North Dakota State (8-5, 3-1) — Senior forward Brett Winkelman was phenomenal in the Bison’s heartbreaking loss at Oakland, scoring 33 points despite battling a stomach virus. Something tells me after three straight close losses to the Grizzlies, the Bison can’t wait until they host Oakland on Jan. 29 in what might not be the final meeting between the schools this season. NDSU hosts a pair of league contenders this week in IUPUI and Western Illinois.
3. IUPUI (9-5, 2-1) — The Jaguars won a pair of home league games, topping UMKC and Southern Utah. Junior forward Robert Glenn averaged 15.5 points off the bench in the two wins. Freshman Alex Young leads the team in scoring at 15.2 per game. IUPUI heads to the Dakotas this week, where it swept its two games last season.
4. Western Illinois (6-8, 3-0) — The Leathernecks stand as the only team undefeated in league play after home wins over UMKC and Southern Utah. Half of Western Illinois’ total wins this season are in league play. Senior David DuBois is averaging 19.3 points per game in three league games and junior Josh Rivers has established himself as solid second option, scoring in double figures in five straight games.
5. Oral Roberts (4-11, 2-1) — The Golden Eagles easily defeated a road weary Centenary team and will be looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season when they host IPFW on Thursday. Junior forward Kevin Ford is averaging 11.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in the seven games since he became eligible.
6. IPFW (6-9, 1-3) — The Mastodons embarrassed South Dakota State, 100-66, to earn their first league win of the season. Senior forward David Carson outscored the Jacks by himself in the first half, 20-18. Carson is averaging 20.5 points in four league games. After starting league play 0-3, IPFW has work to do and will start with games at Oral Roberts and Centenary this week.
7. Southern Utah (4-11, 2-2) — The Thunderbirds fell to .500 in league play with two losses last week, at IUPUI and at Western Illinois. Junior guard Davis Baker is averaging 21.3 points and senior forward Tyler Quinney 17.5 points in four league games. Southern Utah plays at UMKC on Saturday.
8. UMKC (5-12, 1-3) — The Kangaroos lost two close road games, both by three points last week. UMKC was down big in both games and rallied back, but couldn’t complete the comeback. Senior Dane Brumagin is averaging 23.8 points per game in four league games this season.
9. South Dakota State (6-10, 1-3) — The Jacks are now 0-11 all-time in Summit League road games after a pair of road losses last week. SDSU hit a school-record 15 3-pointers in a 86-81 loss at Oakland, but then got embarrassed at IPFW by 34 points. The Jacks host two league games this week.
10. Centenary (2-13, 0-3) — The Gents concluded their 15-straight games on the road with a 82-59 loss at Oral Roberts. Centenary will host Oakland Thursday in its first home game of the season in the newly renovated Gold Dome. Senior Nick Stallings surpassed 1,000 career points in the loss to the Golden Eagles. Stallings is averaging 17 points a game this season.

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4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

No more power rankings Dave, we always lose to the last place team when we play them. No more;)

January 9, 2009 at 12:35 PM 
Blogger Dave Pemberton said...

Yeah that's true. I'll make sure I don't rank a team last when Oakland is going to play them from now on. lol.

January 9, 2009 at 5:47 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dave,

Nice Blog. As an SDSU fan, you hit the nail right on the head kind of. The Jacks are too damn inconsistent to be competitive in this league. If they can play together, there might be a chance they make the conference tourney.

January 10, 2009 at 2:43 AM 
Blogger Dave Pemberton said...

Mysteriouss,

South Dakota St. really helped its chances of making the league tournament with two home wins last week and the Jacks are a team no one wants to see in Sioux Falls. But the Jackrabbits need to show they can win on the road to finish in the top half of the league.

January 12, 2009 at 2:10 PM 

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