PORTLAND, Ore. – The Multnomah University men's basketball team will find themselves back on a familiar court this weekend, returning home to play College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon after a four game road trip in December.
The Lions enter the weekend with a record of 4-10, going 1-5 in the Cascade Conference. MU earned their first CCC victory at the start of the road trip against Walla Walla but fell against division I Weber State and CCC opponents Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech.
The Lions rank third in the NAIA in 3-pointers made per game with 12.5 and seventh in the NAIA in total three-point field goals made with 175. As a team, the Lions are averaging 81.5 points per game, the seventh most in the Cascade Conference.
MU is led by senior guard
Blake Updike who hold the top scoring average in the conference at 22.5 points per game. His average also ranks him as the 13
th highest scorer in NAIA Division II basketball. Following him are
Jordan Paris and
Thomas Simien each with an average of 12.9 points per game and
Ben Grandle with 10.1 ppg.
Paris is also the top rebounder for the Lions, averaging 10.1 rebounds a game, and ranks third in NAIA Division II in defensive rebounds per game with 8.2.
The Lions will have a tough challenge this weekend as they try to turn around this losing skid against one of the top scorers in the conference.
About College of Idaho:-Chosen as the top team in 2016, C of I earned seven first-place votes in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.
-Enter the weekend with an overall record of 9-6, going 4-2 in the CCC.
-C of I holds the second highest scoring average with 84.5 points per game.
-Yotes' Joey Nebeker is the second highest scorer in the conference with 21.8 points per game.
-C of I allows only 78.8 points per game, the sixth best defense in the CCC
About Eastern Oregon:-EOU was chosen to finish seventh in the CCC after a 15-15 overall record a season ago.
-They enter the weekend with a 7-9 overall record and a 3-3 CCC record.
-The Mountaineers are the fourth highest scorers in the CCC, averaging 83.3 points per game and giving up 79.4 points per game, the eighth worst defense in the conference.
-EOU holds their opponents to the second worst field goal percentage at .408 percent.
