Men's Basketball Game Notes Volume 7 | Page 4

@MarianUHoops BASKETBALL NOTES NACC Standings NACC OVR 1. Marian 4-0 5-3 2. Lakeland 3-1 6-2 3. Edgewood 3-1 5-2 4. Aurora 3-1 5-3 5. Rockford 3-2 6-2 6. Benedictine 2-2 3-5 7. Concordia Wis. 2-3 2-5 8. MSOE 1-2 3-2 9. Wis. Lutheran 1-3 3-4 10. Dominican 0-3 0-7 11. Concordia Chi. 0-4 2-5 Around the NACC Wednesday, December 11 * Edgewood at Marian * Dominican at Aurora Saturday, December 14 GAMES 9-10: EDGEWOOD/CONCORDIA CHI. VELEKE HITS MILESTONE Marian senior forward Cody Veleke reached a milestone only 14 Sabres had before him. The Oakfield native who dons the #15 became the 15th member of the 1,000-point club at Marian when he led the Sabres with 24 points and 11 rebounds in an 84-82 overtime victory at Wisconsin Lutheran on Dec. 5. It was his seventh career double-double. THE KEY TO VICTORY Marian is 5-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponents and holds a +6.2 margin on the year. In those wins, the Sabres are +67 on the glass combined compared to -18 on the short-end. Last season, the Sabres went 10-3 when out-rebounding their opponents and finished the year with a -0.7 rebound margin. RACE TO 1K Following Cody Veleke’s (1,022) eclipse of the 1,000-point milestone, it’s time to shift focus to Jeff Harris (988) and Sam Koslowski (807), who are also within reach. Harris sits just 12 points shy of the career mark, which matches his career scoring average. He will have two chances to accomplish the feat at home as Marian plays host to Edgewood (Dec. 11) and Concordia Chicago (Dec. 14) this week. LAST OF THE UNBEATENS Sitting 4-0 in the NACC, the Sabres are enjoying their best start in league play since 2007-08 when they went 5-0 to start the year. Should the Sabres get through this week and move to 6-0, it would be the best start since the league’s inception in 2006-07 and best start to a conference season since 1989-90 when Head Coach Mark Boyle - in his second year at Marian - led the Sabres to a 10-0 start in the Lake Michigan Conference on the way to a 13-1 regular season championship. GRAND OPENING 7 Marian snapped a five-game losing streak in conference openers and a three-game skid in conference home openers when it defeated Dominican University, 71-63, Saturday, Nov. 7 30. The previous 1-0 start in league play occurred back on Nov. 28, 2007 when the Sabres went to River Forest and beat Concordia Chicago, 70-66. The most recent win in a conference home opener was back on Dec. 5, 2009 when the Sabres beat Dominican, 81-68, behind 31 points from Logan Rankin (‘10). * Concordia Chi. at Marian 2 * Dominican at MSOE * Rockford at Wis. Lutheran * Aurora at Edgewood * Benedictine at Lakeland Concordia Wis. at Millikin * Denotes NACC Contest FOR THE 41ST TIME Marian University men’s basketball opened its 41st season in program history when it 2 defeated Martin Luther College by a score of 79-70 back on Nov. 16. Men’s basketball played its first season at Marian back in 1972-73. 2 2 2 WHAT IT REALLY “BOYLES” DOWN TO 3 Head Coach Mark Boyle, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the Marian University men’s basketball program, has compiled 329 career victories and captured four conference championships on the Sabre sidelines. The Madison native took over the program for his first season in 1988-89 and led the team to a Lake Michigan Conference tournament championship. He arrived in Fond du Lac by way of UW-Green Bay, where he served as assistant under legendary coach Dick Bennett for three seasons. Boyle graduated from UW-Eau Claire. Boyle is currently the longest-tenured college coach in