DSC WEST REGIONAL GAME/MEDIA NOTES (PDF)
UP NEXT: Dixie State College of Utah, the #5 seed, makes its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division-II Tournament on Friday, March 12 against #4 Cal Poly Pomona in Bellingham, WA. The first round game tips off at 5:30pm Pacific (6:30pm Mountain).
THE RECORDS: DSC enters the game with a 20-5 record after a thrilling 106-99 win over Hawaii Pacific to end the regular season on March 6. The Red Storm capped off an undefeated season at home with a 12-0 mark in the Burns Arena. The Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona are 22-6, coming off a loss in the CCAA Tournament Final to CSU San Bernardino. CPP is the defending West Region champion and NCAA Tournament runner-up after falling to Findlay 56-53 in overtime last year.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The first-round playoff meeting marks the inaugural time Dixie State and Cal Poly Pomona will play in men’s basketball.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: RADIO – Classical 91.3FM and Network1Sports.com will have live coverage of every postseason contest with John Potter.
VIDEO – The host school, Western Washington, will provide free online streaming video via the tournament website (http://wwuvikings.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/WestRegional.html).
RED STORM WATCH: Dixie State set a D-II school records scoring 106 points against Hawaii Pacific. Tom Whitehead leads the team in scoring average at a 16.7 point per game clip. Donovan Plunkett (13.9) and Andy Palmer (10.6) also average double figures. Freshman Zach Robbins paces the club pulling down 7.6 rebounds a game with Palmer (5.4) and Whitehead (5.3) following. DSC averages 77.4 points a game shooting 47.7% FG while allowing 69.8 points to opponents.
STORM FAST BREAK TIDBITS:
· CAREER SCORING RANKS - #3 Tom Whitehead (616; 147 points behind #2 Ben Hartman), #5 Andy Palmer (503; 43 points behind #4 Troy Randall), , #8 Donovan Plunkett (347; 49 points behind # 7 Dan Stock), #9 Nick Howard (325, 22 points behind Plunkett), #10 Kevin Lindquist (291; 34 points behind Howard)
· MILESTONE – Tom Whitehead and Andy Palmer each reached significant career scoring milestones against HPU. Whitehead eclipsed 600 career points near the end of his junior season while Palmer passed 500 points with a 13-point outing against the Sea Warriors. Palmer also breached the 100 free-throw made barrier going 9-for-11 on Saturday afternoon.
· MILESTONE – With 7 assists vs. HPU, Adam Ross sits at 150 career dimes. Ross sits third on the career assists list behind Dan Stock and Ryan Sanchez
· WITHIN REACH – Andy Palmer needs 47 points for 600 career, 10 field goals for 200 career, 3 rebounds for 250 career, 6 steals for 50 career; Tom Whitehead needs 84 points for 700 career, 30 assists for 100 career, 16 three-pointers for 100 career; Adam Ross needs 4 steals for 50 career; Donovan Plunkett needs 7 three-pointers for 50 career; Kevin Lindquist needs 9 points for 300 career; Zach Robbins needs 11 rebounds for 200 career
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA: The Broncos are 22-6 and will make their second trip to Bellingham in as many years. The Broncos won both of their games in the 2009 West Sub-Regional at WWU before going on to win the regional at BYU Hawaii. Senior guard Austin Swift leads the way scoring 12.4 points a game. Donnelle Booker rips down 5.7 rebounds per contest with Swift following a close second (5.1). Head coach Greg Kamansky is in his 10th year and has reached the 20-win plateau in six of those campaigns. Cal Poly Pomona is one of two schools to have reach the NCAA Elite Eight three times in the last seven years.