SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College men's basketball team continues their spectacular season on Saturday, March 1 when they will host Brescia (Ky.) at 1 pm (ET) inside the Knoerle Center.
The Pomeroys are 24-5 on the season and are the River States Conference Regular Season Champions. They have already earned the league's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament and will be returning to the event for the second consecutive season. Brescia is 9-16 on the season and earned a 99-90 victory on Wednesday night over IU-East to advance to the semifinals. Brescia is led in scoring by Damian Garcia who is averaging 24.6 points per game.
Before the quarterfinal win over Alice Lloyd (Ky.) by the score of 102-62 on Wednesday (Feb. 26), the Pomeroys placed three student-athletes on the All-River States Conference teams.
Greg Jenkins &
Shon Tupuola each earned first team plaudits while
Taeron Hogg was a third team selection.
In the win over Alice Lloyd, the Pomeroys were led by Jenkins, who had a standout performance with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Jenkins also added eight rebounds, five assists, and a block. Joining Jenkins in the scoring frenzy was
DaMeriz Merriweather, who contributed 22 points, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, and
Shon Tupuola, who grabbed 18 rebounds to go along with 17 points.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods dominated every aspect of the game, shooting an impressive 57.4% from the field, including 42.9% from beyond the arc. The Pomeroys also out-rebounded the Eagles 48-25 and controlled the paint with 52 points scored inside. The team's depth was on full display as their bench contributed 16 points, and they finished the game with 22 second-chance points.
The Pomeroys were strong from the free-throw line as well, finishing 15-of-18 (83.3%), compared to Alice Lloyd's 76.5%. SMWC's high-powered offense put together a 45-point first half and an even more impressive 57-point second half, securing the 40-point victory.
Jenkins has scored 549 points (18.9 ppg), shooting 47.9% from the field, and contributing 173 total rebounds (6.0 rpg). He also led the team with 132 assists and added 57 steals and 23 blocks. Jenkins' ability to impact both sides of the ball has been a key component of the Pomeroys' success. His 914 points scored at SMWC is a new school record and he has over 1,000 career points scored in college.
Shon Tupuola, a force inside, was also named to the First Team after another impressive campaign. Tupuola has appeared in 25 games, averaging 29.7 minutes per game. He owns 361 points (14.4 ppg), shooting 71.5% from the field and 70.7% from the free-throw line. Tupuola's rebounding was also a crucial aspect of his game, totaling 309 rebounds (12.4 rpg), including 103 offensive boards. His 685 career rebounds is a SMWC school record as are his 116 blocked shots.
Taeron Hogg, a key contributor in the Pomeroys' backcourt, earned Third Team honors. Hogg has played in 29 games, averaging 21.4 minutes per game. He has scored 308 points (10.6 ppg), shooting 40.8% from the field and 32.0% from beyond the arc. Hogg has also added 127 rebounds (4.4 rpg) and contributed 29 assists, 21 steals, and 14 blocks to his stat line. Hogg has amassed over 1,000 points in his collegiate career.
The River States Western Division went a perfect 4-0 in the quarterfinals. In the other semifinal on Saturday, IU-Kokomo will host IU-Southeast and the winners of the two games will meet on Tuesday, March 4 for the league's championship. The other semifinal contest is set for 3:00 p.m. (ET).
