MASON CITY – The No. 3 NIACC men’s basketball team begins a stretch of three games in six days Tuesday night.
NIACC (9-1 overall) plays at Rochester Community Technical College Tuesday. The Trojans open Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play at Kirkwood Friday and host Madison Area Technical College Sunday.
“We’re looking for a productive week,” said NIACC sophomore Chris Davis, who is 21st in the nation in scoring with a 21.9 per game average. “We’re going to focus on one game at a time and not get too pressured on looking ahead.”
NIACC has won eight straight games since dropping a 86-63 decision to Marshalltown (NJCAA Division I) on Nov. 6 in Marshalltown. The Trojans have won their last eight games by an average of 26.1 points per game.
NIACC is averaging 17.9 assists per game, which is tops in the league. Freshman David Humphries (Adelaide, Australia) averages 5.4 assists per game to lead the Trojans.
“We’re not a selfish team,” Davis said. “We know how to work together. That’s really what has made us successful. That’s the main thing that’s helping us play so well.”
On Tuesday, the Trojans face a Rochester team that is 2-2. The Yellow Jackets are led by Joe Beck, who averages 16.0 points per game and Justyn Halloway (14.4 ppg).
On Friday, the Trojans face a Kirkwood team that is 6-4 with three of their four losses coming to No. 10 (NJCAA Division I) Indian Hills (once) and Marshalltown (twice).
Kirkwood hosts Indian Hills Tuesday before hosting the Trojans on Friday.
NIACC has not played since topping the Luther College junior varsity on Nov. 26. Davis (Colorado Springs, Col.) led the way with 27 points. Humphries scored 16 points and had 10 assists.
Davis, who has 648 career points, is averaging 27.3 points over his last four games. He scored a season-high 33 points against Quakerdale Promise Academy on Nov. 16.
Davis said the week off of games has helped the Trojans.
“We were able to prepare on the little things for this week,” Davis said.
While Davis said the Trojans are taking the “one game at a time” approach, he knows the importance of Friday’s league opener at traditional power Kirkwood.
“We’re going to have to come in very confident,” Davis said. “We can’t come in scared. That’s not going to send them the right message.”
Davis said it’s important that the Trojans have a game Tuesday in preparation for the Friday game against Kirkwood.
“Rochester is a very good team,” Davis said. “Rochester could play in our league. Playing them will really help us out.”
Tuesday’s statistical matchup
Tuesday’s statistical matchup
Record 9-1 4-1
Scoring offense 90.
Scoring defense 69.5
FG percentage 45.1 43.1
3-point percentage 32.5 32.6
3-pointer per game 6.8 6.4
FT percentage 71.3 69.8
Assists per game 17.9
Turnovers per game 17.0 20.8
Steals per game 18.9
Other game notes: NIACC’s leading scorers are Chris Davis (21.9 ppg), David Humphries (18.6 ppg), Mike Wagner (11.4 ppg), Sam Skogen (8.7 ppg), Matthew Don (8.2 ppg), Mohamed Mohamed (8.1 ppg) and Josiah Lee (6.4 ppg). Rochester’s leading scorers are Joe Beck (16.0 ppg), Justyn Halloway (14.4 ppg), Brett Hungerhold (10.5 ppg), Chuck Robinson (7.4 ppg), Rice Gunn (6.8 ppg) and DJ Woods (6.5 ppg).
