The Mount Vernon Nazarene College men's basketball team will make its first appearance at home when the annual Cougar Homecoming Classic Tournament tips off on Friday evening.
The Cougars (1-2), who are ranked 19th in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, have played three straight road games and are coming off a 111-58 victory at Ohio State University-Newark on Tuesday evening as the team picked up its first win of the year.
MVNC is led by senior forward Kenny Chaffin, a two-time NAIA Division II Honorable Mention All-American, who is averaging 17.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game so far this year. Junior guard Phil Argento is scoring at an 11.3 points per game clip and needs just 12 points to become the 24th player in the Cougars' history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. Senior forward Lenny Foyer adds 9.3 points per game, and freshman post Anthony Delimpo and senior guard Andy Gast are averaging 7.7 points and 7.0 points per game respectively. Senior point guard Chad Vorhis has also dished out a team-high 16 assists through the first three games.
MVNC will take on Goshen (Ind.) College in the second game of the tournament at 8:00 p.m. The Maple Leafs are 1-1 after knocking off Purdue University-North Central (Ind.) 82-61 on Tuesday. Goshen currently has four players averaging in double figures in its balanced scoring attack: sophomore guard Josh Turnpaugh, junior guard Mark Wenclewicz, senior forward Pete Gaff, and sophomore forward Jeremy High.
In the first game on Friday night, Cedarville University will take on Tennessee Temple University at 6:00 p.m. Cedarville (0-1) is coming off a 95-84 loss at Huntington (Ind.) College last Saturday, while Tennessee Temple won its season opener with a 108-71 victory over Carver Bible (Ga.) College on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets of Cedarville are led by sophomore guard Josh Gast, who scored 23 points in the team's opener. Senior forward David Dingeman added 20 points, while sophomore forward Barry Chamberlin tossed in 13 points. Senior forward Curt Fleck rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points.
Junior point guard Josh Templeton led the Crusaders of Tennessee Temple with 21 points in its opener, while senior post Rob Moore posted a double-double with career highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Senior guard Aaron Young, junior post Craig Price, and freshman guard Jesse Barker each added 13 points, while freshman post John Maples finished with 12 points.
On Saturday, the consolation game will be played at 1:00 p.m. followed by the championship game at 3:00 p.m. There will be an awards ceremony immediately following the championship game.
