BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Wednesday's men's basketball showdown in Greenville, Ill., between Webster University and Greenville University has been tabbed as this week's St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Week. Tip-off for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at H.L. Long Gymnasium on the Greenville campus.
The game will feature a match-up between the top two teams in the SLIAC standings as Greenville comes into the contest having won eight consecutive games and is the lone undefeated team in league play with a 7-0 mark, while Webster comes into the game having won six of its first seven league games as they suffered their first loss in SLIAC play last Wednesday in double overtime at Blackburn (96-92).
Wednesday's winner is in the driver's seat to host the conference tournament at the end of the February as the teams head into the second half of its league schedule.
Neither team has played since last Wednesday improved to 10-4 overall and 7-0 in the league with its 150-109 home win over Iowa Wesleyan, while Webster fell to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the league with its double overtime setback at Blackburn. Both teams had their games this past Saturday postponed due to the winter storm that hit the St. Louis area as Greenville was scheduled to play at Westminster (Mo.) and the Gorloks were set to host Principia College.
At a Glance
Early season control is up for grabs in this week's SLIAC Game of the Week when Webster University visits Greenville University. The pair of squads are the only men's basketball teams in the conference with double-digit overall wins and are in first and second place in the SLIAC standings.
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Greenville University 'PANTHERS'
Greenville is on a conference-best eight-game winning streak and is a perfect 7-0 in the SLIAC. The Panthers are averaging 130.1 points per game this season, hitting 17 three-pointers every game. The high tempo team has an array of scorers with five players averaging in double figures.
Leading the way is junior guard Eric Williams. Williams, in his first year in the system, is averaging 23.3 points per game, second best in the league. Senior Johari Dix runs the attack and is averaging 17.8 points per game while dishing out 4.9 assists and recording 3.1 steals per game. Sophomore Marvin Bateman is one of the league's top outside threats and has knocked down 43 three-pointers this year.
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Webster University 'GORLOKS'
Webster carries a 10-4 overall record into the game and is coming off their first conference loss this season, a loss that snapped a four-game winning streak. The Gorloks are averaging 73.2 points per game, fifth in the SLIAC and have a conference-best +2.6 rebound margin.
Junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) is averaging a career-high 18.2 points per game this year, while shooting 44-percent from three-point range. The versatile junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) is averaging 14.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) is the inside force for the Gorloks as he is averaging 10.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while leading the conference in blocked shots with 35.
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Last Time They Met
Greenville swept the season series last year, winning 129-105 on the road and 134-113 at home in the regular season finale, which kept the Gorloks out of the tournament. Bateman led the Panthers in the first game of the series with 28 points while Wilcox tallied 33 points and 20 rebounds for Webster. Wilcox followed with 22 points in the second outing while Sonti Gray finished with 26 points for Greenville.
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Game Notes
- Webster leads the all-time series against Greenville, 33-15. The Panthers season sweep last year marked their first wins in the series since the 2009-10 season, a streak of 16 games.
- Greenville once again leads the NCAA in scoring average, putting up 130.1 points per game this year.
- Webster sophomore Nigel Wilcox is the premier shot blocker in the league. He has a SLIAC leading 35 blocks this season, one year after leading the league with 58 blocked shots.
- In Webster's game last Wednesday at Blackburn, Wilcox pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds, which is tied for second most in Webster history and is tied for the sixth most in a game in SLIAC history. The conference record for rebounds in a game is 23, which is held by MacMurray's Brent Long and Spalding's Nick Trisko. Both of those players had 23 rebounds in a game against Greenville in 2017-18 and 2016-17 respectively.
