The Battlers will open play on Friday, November 11 at 5PM against Tiffin University. The Battlers fell to Tiffin last season 88-84 in overtime in a game held in Detroit, MI. In that game, ABU led by seven points at halftime and held 60-41 advantage with 11 minutes to play before squandering the lead late. Most of Tiffin's squad from last season returns for this matchup while all five of the players for ABU that started in this game are no longer with the team.
The Dragons return Khaleal McCormick who was named a preseason 1st-team All-GLIAC selection. McCormick is a versatile 6'6" swing player who averaged 21 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game last season. He had 23 points against ABU and hit the game-tying three-pointer that sent the game to overtime. He was Tiffin's leading scorer and rebounder for the 2014-15 season as well. The preseason honor given by GLIAC coaches is quite impressive considering McCormick only played in two games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Tiffin went 11-18 last year with McCormick only playing two games. That record could have been turned around had the Dragons had him all season.
Tiffin's talent goes beyond McCormick. The Dragons return Tony Kynard (6'1" junior guard) who averaged 16 ppg last year. Kynard had 20 points against ABU last year. Tiffin return the services of Alex Brown (6'1" junior) who averaged 12 ppg/6.4 rpg last year. They also return (6'1" senior) Juwan Johnson who averaged 11 ppg last season. This amount of production and experience could be very pivotal in this game especially when you have that many quality players that have played together.
The Dragons bolstered their lineup of talented players during the recruiting period. Tiffin added Travon Howard from Alpena CC where he averaged 17.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg. Tiffin also strengthened their inside play by the addition of two transfers. Brandon Wilkins is a 6'6" forward brought in from Mercyhurst Northeast CC where he averaged 12.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg. The Dragons added D-I transfer Ellis Williams who is a 6'8" post player that arrives from Bryant University. On paper, this Tiffin team is better than the squad from last year.
Alderson Broaddus will also play Wayne State University on Saturday, November 12 at 1PM at the Owensboro Sportscenter. The Battlers defeated Wayne State last year on Wayne State's home floor by the score of 82-75. Wayne State is coming off an impressive exhibition win over Division I Detroit Mercy. The Warriors defeated Detroit by a score of 85-79 over the Division I squad that went 16-15 last season. ABU will again be facing a well-oiled machine as the Warriors return their top 7 scorers from last season. Their top five leading scorers from last season are comprised of 3 seniors and 2 juniors.
The experienced Wayne State lineup will be comprised of: Ronald Booth who averaged 15.5 ppg last season and contributed 14 points last week against Detroit Mercy. Michael Lewis averaged 11.7 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season. Marcus Moore averaged 7.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg last season and had a monster game against Detroit with 22 points and 12 boards. Clark Bishop averaged 7.8 ppg last year and had 16 points against Detroit. If that was not enough talent to deal with, Wayne State went out and signed junior college transfer Jalen Adams who average 17 ppg and 6 rpg at the JUCO level last season.
ABU's young and inexperienced squad will have a lot of tough work to do this weekend to carve out victories. Fans that follow the program know that this team will take time to develop. This crossover event will give us a good look at two experienced and talented squads. That experience that we gain will help this young Battler team as the season continues. What ABU gains from this weekend should far outweigh any numbers that develops on the win-loss record.
