Wheaton, Raymond @ IWU (1/23/08)

For my money, Wheaton's Kent Raymond is the best player in NCAA Division III. The junior from New Palestine, Indiana comes in averaging 22.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. In terms of his court savvy, his hustle and intensity, and Raymond's overall "basketball I.Q.", it's just hard not to enjoy watching him play.

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Last year, Raymond lit the Titans up to the tune of 44 points, including 20-20 from the FT line and 6-9 from 3. Obviously, the Titans have to find a way to somewhat contain the Thunder superstar this evening. The tough part about that is the fact that Wheaton has two other All-CCIW-caliber players in 6-8/230 junior Andy Wiele (15.3 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and 6-3 G/F Ben Panner (14.7 ppg). If you pay too much attention to Raymond, the Thunder can certainly make you pay.

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As good as Raymond and #22-ranked Wheaton is, I think this game is all about the guys in green. The Titans can, and should, win this game if they play well. A few keys:

1) Make Raymond work hard for everything he gets. He's going to get this points, but he's got to expend a ton of energy in doing so.

2) Rebound. The Titans will have to win the rebounding battle this evening to compete.

3) Inside/out. 6-8 Andy Wiele can guard one of IWU's post players in the game (between Gant, Chamernik, and Sexauer), but Wheaton's next biggest player - the guy who plays the 4 - is 6-3/195 Steve Young. The Titans have to exploit the mismatch inside and pound it down there. (Last year Darius had 27 points at home vs Wheaton.) This will open up the perimeter for Rosenkranz, Johnson, Morris, Dwyer, and Schick.

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Every home game in the CCIW is a "must win" if you want to compete for a championship. Right now at 2-2, the Titans are just a game out of first and have a great opportunity tonight to stay in the middle of what looks to be a crazy 2008 race.

Gameday notes and links here

The Titans will need a charged up Shirk tonight. Should be a fun one. (The JV's kick off the night at 5:15pm.)