SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Pomeroys are set to return to the NAIA National Tournament for the second consecutive season. After a stellar campaign, which included winning both the River States Conference regular season and tournament championships, the Pomeroys have earned the No. 11 seed in the tournament.
The Pomeroys will face the No. 6 seed, Dalton State College (Ga.), in their first-round matchup, scheduled for Friday, March 14. Tip-off is slated for 4 pm (ET). SMWC is currently 26-5 on the season and put together a 13-3 mark in league play. They earned the league's automatic bid to the tournament with their regular season championship.
Under second-year head coach
Jesse McClung, the Pomeroys have amassed 51 victories under his leadership -- a new school record for most wins in the history of the program and the best two-year stretch ever. SMWC has made back-to-back River States Conference Championship appearances and hosted the final game for the first time ever this season. Under McClung, the Pomeroys are 28-2 all-time in home games and have amassed 30 league victories in the last two seasons.
Greg Jenkins leads the way for the Pomeroys who is averaging 19.0 ppg which ranks fifth best in the league. Jenkins was a First Team All-River States Conference selection. His 4.7 assists per game is second best in the RSC. He is second in the River States with 62 steals this season. He is currently the SMWC all-time leading scorer and has recorded over 1,500 points in his career.
Inside the paint,
Shon Tupuola is averaging 12.1 rebounds per game to lead the league. He is shooting 72 percent from the field this season which is also the best in the league. Tupuola was a First Team All-River States Conference selection. Additionally,
Taeron Hogg was named a Third Team All-River States Conference selection.
Last season, the Pomeroys reached the River States Conference Championship Game and dropped a narrow decision on the road to Point Park (Pa.) They made their first-ever NAIA National Tournament and played at Northwestern (Iowa).
Dalton State (Ga.), the No. 6 seed, comes into the tournament with a 24-6 overall record and advanced to the Southern States Conference Championship Game. The finished the regular season with a No. 18 national ranking. Meanwhile, the No. 3 seed Ave Maria University (Fla.) will face No. 14 Xavier University of Louisiana in another first-round game also to be held in Dalton. The winners of the first round games will battle it out at 7 pm (ET) on Saturday, March 15 with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in Kansas City, Mo., on the line.
DSC is led by Matt Compas who leads the way with a 19.0 ppg average.
For more information on the NAIA National Tournament and to follow the Pomeroys' progress, visit SMWCAthletics.com.
