Lex Shaffer

GSU Men’s Basketball Travels to Old WVIAC foe Salem University

12/16/2022 4:49:00 PM

By: Lex Shaffer

Glenville, W.Va. - Glenville State Men's Basketball team returns to action after a week off. The Pioneers are set to face old WVIAC foe Salem University kicking off back-to-back road games. GSU opened the season against the Tigers at the Joe Retton Classic where they were defeated 92-85. Since the meeting back in November the Pioneers have gone (6-3) while Salem has gone (3-7).

A Look at Salem University

Salem enters Saturday afternoon's game with a (4-7) overall record and (2-3) at home. The Tigers are coming off a close loss in overtime to Alderson Broaddus 84-82. Rodney Smith led Salem in scoring with 21 points but fouled out. Coach Rector's squad climbed back from an eight-point second-half deficit but would only shoot 20% from the field in over time.

So far this season Salem has faced three Mountain East Conference opponents going (1-2) in those contests. As a team, the Tigers average 75.0 points per game while allowing 72.3 per game. Coach Rector's squad does rank first across all Division II Independents for opponents shooting percentage. Through 11 games opponents are shooting 42.3% from the field and 30.5% from three. The Tigers are also one the best rebounding teams in the nation. Currently, Salem produced 41.7 per contest with 29.6 coming from the defensive end which is 12th across Division II.

Junior Stan Smith leads the Tigers in scoring this season with 18.2 points. Rodney Smith rounds out Salem's double-figure scorers. Twice this season Smith has produced 20 or more points. The Tigers have two players averaging five or more rebounds a contest. Justin Tene has a team-high 6.8 and Ashraf Tchadouwa is close behind with 6.7. Shadow currently sits 28th in the nation for offensive rebounds per game with 3.36.

A Look at Your Pioneers

GSU is coming off its historic win over Fairmont State University. In the winning effort, five Pioneers were in double figures. Jordan Turbo Smith led Glenville in scoring with 23 points while going 5-7 from three. Word almost had a double-double for producing 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Pioneers are (4-1) in the last five games.

As a team, Glenville's offensive production has increased throughout the season. Coach Caldwell's squad continues to climb up the ranking for scoring offense. The Pioneers now sit tenth in the nation averaging 88.2 points per game. GSU continues to be a top offensive rebounding in the league and across Division II. Glenville produces 14.9 offensive rebounds a contest which is first in the MEC and seventh in the nation. With GSU maintaining success on the offensive glass, they moved up the conference standings for rebounds. Through ten games the Pioneers are averaging 40 rebounds a game.

Glenville has three players producing 15 or more points a contest. Jordan Turbo Smith leads the Pioneers in scoring averaging 17.8 points per game. Smith's 17.8 points per contest ranks fourth in the league. Turbo has been a great addition on the defensive side of the ball or GSU. Smith sits second in the country for steals with 29 this season. While Freddie Word sits second in scoring for Glenville, he is the teams leading rebounder and distributor. Word so far this season has produced 7.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Since the month of December, Harrison Eghan has been solid for the Pioneers. Egan a native of Bronx, N.Y. has averaged a double-double scoring 12.5 points per game and accounting for 10 rebounds a contest.

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