Historic Journey Continues on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 20

Riverside, Calif.

7:30 PM

California Baptist University

Loyola Marymount

Photo by: Chris Mora

Historic Journey Continues on Wednesday

3/19/2019 10:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball

2019 CBI Bracket Watch/Live Stats CBU Game Notes (PDF)LMU Game Notes (PDF)

By: Mike Minyard, Assoc. AD for External Relations

The journey continues for CBU men's basketball on Wednesday night. The Lancers have had a historic run as a first-year NCAA Division I program and will tip-off postseason play against Loyola Marymount at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

On March 7, the Lancers secured their 16th win of the season as a program in its first-year of a four-year transition process to D-I status. It is the most wins by a first-year team that is an RPI counter. Grand Canyon previously held the mark with 15 wins during its 2013-14 season. CBU currently sits with a 16-14 overall record with 12 wins over D-I opponents. CBU and GCU are the only two first-year transition programs to post double-digit wins against D-I teams in the last 10 seasons.

The Lancers and Lopes are also the only two first-year D-I men's basketball programs to advance to the postseason. GCU fell at home to Pacific, 69-67, in the opening round of the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).

With a CBU victory on Wednesday, the Lancers would face the winner between Brown-UAB on Monday, March 25, at a location to be determined (possibly at home).

ABOUT THE CBI
The CBI is a single-elimination tournament up until the best-of-three Finals, with all games played at campus sites. After the First Round games, the Quarterfinal Round will take place on Monday, March 25, followed by the Semifinal Round on Wednesday, March 27 or Thursday, March 28. Prior to the semifinals, the remaining teams will be re-bracketed. The Finals series is a best-of-three in which one team will host two of the three games. Those games will be played on April 1, April 3, and April 5. Past CBI champions include Tulsa, Oregon State, VCU, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Santa Clara, Siena, Loyola Chicago, Nevada, Wyoming and North Texas. Teams from nearly every conference have participated in the event. Twenty-seven teams have used the CBI to springboard to the NCAA Tournament the following year, while another 19 have gone on to the NIT. ESPN is again the official television home of the CBI. ESPNU will televise each game of the best-of-three Championship Series.

ABOUT THE GAZELLE GROUP
The College Basketball Invitational is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper, the Sunshine Slam and the Gotham Classic. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.

"BEST STORY IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL THIS SEASON"
CBU was recently featured in the "Mid-Major Minute" by Kevaney Martin. CollegeInsider.com's Angela Lento said, "California Baptist is the best story in college basketball this season." Lento also added, "Milan Acquaah will not be the best-kept secret in college basketball for much longer."

Austin Montgomery of Mid-Major Madness in a recent story said, "CBU has done a great job in its first year developing a great environment and excitement... They have the blueprint, the resources, the facilities, and the coach to be successful in the WAC."

ESPN commentator Mychal Clanton during a recent broadcast said, "California Baptist might be the best story right now in college basketball making that transition from Division II to Division I and they have the leading scorer in the WAC."

Jeff Goodman, Basketball Analyst for Stadium, tweeted on Feb. 9: "Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy has done a terrific job in transition into D-1 ranks ... Croy led the program to the Division II tourney each of his five seasons as CBU."

Sean Farnham, an ESPN commentator, tweeted on March 8: "How about @CBUmbb? They secured their 16th win of the season it is the most wins by a 1st-year team with 4 or less non-Division I opponents on its schedule. @GCU_MBB previously held the mark with 15 wins during its 2013-14 season. Great Job by H.C. Rick Croy!"

LET'S PLAY TWO! DOUBLEHEADER WEDNESDAY
California Baptist will host a pair of postseason tournament games on Wednesday at the CBU Events Center. The women's basketball program will host Pepperdine in the first round of the WNIT. CBU is just one of eight NCAA Division I institutions to host a postseason first round tournament game it is playing in for both men's and women's basketball this year. Coastal Carolina (CBI/WBI), Davidson (NIT/WBI), Georgetown (NIT/WNIT), NC State (NIT/NCAA), Providence (NIT/WNIT), South Florida (CBI/WNIT), TCU (NIT/WNIT) and West Virginia (CBI/WNIT) are the other seven schools.

THE REAL ACQUAAH-MAN
CBU sophomore Milan Acquaah, a transfer from Washington State, was named the 2019 Western Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year. Acquaah was also named First Team All-WAC and to the All-Newcomer Team. He is currently averaging 19.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Acquaah has scored 20 or more points in 18 games this season and he posted a career-high 36 points in a win over WAC regular season and tournament champion New Mexico State on Jan. 3.

ACQUAAH ON LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST
The 2018-19 Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List included California Baptist sophomore guard Milan Acquaah when it was announced on Jan. 9. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major player in Division I College Basketball. Acquaah was named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week on Dec. 24. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the top Mid-Major player in Division I college basketball. Lou Henson coached 41 years. When he left the game in 2005 he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.

FEARLESS LEADER: JORDAN HEADING
CBU has one senior in Jordan Heading. He will end his career as one of the most decorated in program history. Heading now holds a school record with 228 career three pointers made. On Wednesday against Loyola Marymount, Heading will claim the school record for most games played in a Lancer uniform (128). He is currently seventh in assists (340) and eighth in points (1,474) in program history.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: DE'JON DAVIS
CBU junior De'jon Davis leads the WAC in rebounds with 9.0 per game. Davis has the second most double-doubles in the WAC with eight. Over the last 10 games played, Davis has averaged a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

HEADING NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CBU senior guard Jordan Heading has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 4-10. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor. The Adelaide, Australia, native led the Lancers to a 2-0 record last week as he averaged 19.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He shot 54.2 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and was perfect from the free throw line. On Thursday, Heading finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 20 minutes of action as the Lancers defeated Chicago State 94-44. The 50-point win was the largest margin of victory in a WAC game in the 57-year history of the league. He then tied a season high with 24 points to go with seven boards against Kansas City on Saturday night. The Lancers were trailing 11-6 eight minutes into the game when Heading took charge, scoring all 13 of his first half points in the last 10:25 to help give CBU a 31-30 halftime lead – a lead CBU would not give up the rest of the night. With just two turnovers over the two games, Heading also led the WAC in assist-turnover ratio (4.5) on the week.

ACQUAAH WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN
CBU sophomore guard Milan Acquaah has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6. This is his second WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and of his career. The Bakersfield, Calif. native averaged 28.0 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 91.7 percent shooting from the free throw line to go along with 5.5 rebounds per game as the Lancers went 1-1 on the week to open WAC play. Acquaah opened the week with a career and WAC season-high 36 points as California Baptist knocked off WAC preseason favorite NM State. He was a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line and also grabbed seven rebounds and a steal. Two nights later against UT Rio Grande Valley, Acquaah battled through foul trouble the majority of the game and finished with 20 points, four rebounds and an assist. He is currently tied for 13th nationally at 22.9 points per game.

HOME, SWEET HOME
Over the past five years, CBU has boasted an 87-12 (.879) home record. Last year marked the Lancers' first in the state-of-the-art CBU Events Center, a 5,050 seat arena, where CBU posted a 19-2 home mark. CBU is 27-8 (.771) in games played at the Events Center since the facility opened. Completion of the more than $73 million project occurred during the summer of 2017.

FROM DOWNTOWN! THEY'RE ON FIRE!
CBU has four of the premier 3-point shooters in the WAC: Milan Acquaah (38.5%), Ty Rowell (40.0%) and Jeremy Smith (42.9%). Jordan Heading has significantly improved from three point range as the season has progressed, as he is shooting 42.2-percent (38-90) in 16 league contests. As a team, the Lancers love to shoot the ball from outside, averaging 26 attempts per game this season while converting on 36%. CBU is averaging over nine makes a contest for 28 points per game - about 36% of its offense. CBU has made double-digit treys in 12 games including a school-record 18 twice this season against Mississippi Valley State and Chicago State.