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Season Summary . . . |
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Overall Record: 25 - 9
Final NAIA Rating: #14
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MCC Record: 10 - 4
MCC Standing: #2
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The Foresters ended the 2003-04 Season with a 25-9 record, earning second place in the MCC with a 10-4 record. Had it not been for an overtime loss to St. Francis (that they didn't deserve) and a totally "bad day" loss at Grace (which they did deserve), the Foresters would have won or tied for the MCC Conference Championship. During the MCC season, Huntington beat Marian (the MCC Conference winner) twice and split with Taylor (the MCC Tournament Champion). They had a great year, perhaps better than many people expected.
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Their season performance earned them a trip to the NAIA National Tournament; the fourth one in five years. They were ranked # 14 in the NAIA, and after falling to Taylor in the MCC tourney, had to wait and see if that rating would get them an "at large" berth. It did, and they were in Branson along with Taylor and Marian. While Taylor took a quick exit, Huntington beat nemesis Northwestern (IA) and Marian beat CSU-Hayward to advance to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the 2004 NAIA Tournament. Huntington then lost Derek Yoder and the game to #4 seed William Jewell (MO), while Marian lost to #10 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (KS).
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The Foresters completed the season with very balanced scoring. Derek Yoder led the team with 14.9 points a game (5th in the MCC); Steve Snider had 11.6 points a game (17th in the MCC); Justin Riegsecker was right behind him at 11.5 points a game (18th in the MCC). Three others averaged close to 10 points a game: Chase Verba (10.4), Ryan Thwaits (10.2), and Kyle Ganton (9.8). Justin Riegsecker led in points per minute at 0.583 points per minute played, Derek Yoder was second at 0.504, and Kyle Ganton third at 0.501 points per minute. Huntington averaged 77.6 points per game (4th in the MCC) and held a +9.5 point average scoring margin (4th in the MCC; #12 in the NAIA).
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The rebounding was well distributed. Ryan Thwaits (at 6' 0) led the team and was 1st in the MCC Conference in total rebounds at 8.4 a game (#36 in the NAIA), while two others pulled down over 5 boards a game: Steve Snider at 5.8 a game (6th in the MCC) and Chase Verba at 5.4 a game (11th in the MCC). Steve Snider led the Foresters in offensive rebounds at 2.5 a game (5th in the MCC), and Ryan Thwaits led in defensive rebounds at 6.2 a game (1st in the MCC; #23 in the NAIA). As a team, Huntington out-rebounded their opponents by +2.2 a game (3rd in the MCC), and it wasn't because they were the tallest.
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Besides rebounds, Ryan Thwaits led the team and was 1st in the MCC in assists with an average of 5.3 a game (#20 in the NAIA). Adam Bontreger was second with 2.8 a game (8th in the MCC). Adam Bontreger was also 3rd in the MCC with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.41 (#33 in the NAIA). Overall, the Foresters dished out 535 assists (15.7 a game), compared to 431 by their opponents. As a team, the Foresters were 1st in the MCC and #6 in the NAIA with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.34. Their opponents had a combined ratio of 0.87.
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Derek Yoder was not only the leading scorer, he led the team in ball handling with only 0.78 turnovers per 20-minutes played. Steve Snider was second in that category with 0.80 turnovers per 20-minutes played; Chase Verba was third at 0.86; Kyle Ganton was fourth at 0.96. Here, too, the Foresters bettered their opponents, by averaging 11.8 turnovers a game while forcing their opponents into 14.5 a contest. Huntington was 2nd in the MCC, and ranked #17 in the NAIA with a -2.6 turnover margin per game.
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Ryan Thwaits had 8 double doubles on the season (1st in the MCC, #34 in the NAIA) and became the 31st player to score over 1,000 points as a Forester! Against Hannibal-LaGrange: 11 rebounds, 11 assists; versus Cedarville: 12 points, 12 rebounds; versus St. Francis (IL): 10 points, 11 rebounds; at Trinity International: 11 points, 13 rebounds; at Cornerstone: 13 points, 13 rebounds; at Spring Arbor: 17 points, 10 rebounds; versus Barat: 14 points, 10 assists; versus St. Francis (IN): 16 points, 11 rebounds.
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Steve Snider and Chase Verba had two double doubles (tied for 10th in the MCC). At Trinity International Steve got 15 points and 10 rebounds; against Barat he had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Chase Verba had 13 points and 11 rebounds against Barat College, and a big 12 rebounds and 19 points at Bethel. Justin Riegsecker had one double double (15th in the MCC), getting 21 points and 10 rebounds at St. Francis (IN).
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Ryan Thwaits was named to the NAIA All-American Third Team as well as the All-MCC First Team, averaging 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He led the MCC in rebounding and assists. Derek Yoder received NAIA Honorable Mention and was also named to the All-MCC Second Team. He led the Foresters in scoring with 14.9 points a game (5th in the MCC) and a 47.5% three-point field goal percentage (first in the MCC). Chase Verba, who averaged 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, was named to the All-MCC Third Team. Steve Snider, at 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game received All-MCC Honorable Mention.
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Equally impressive, three Foresters received NAIA National Scholar-Athletes Awards for the 2003-04 season: Adam Bontreger, a junior English Education major; Ryan Thwaits, a senior Entrepreneurial Small Business Management major; and Derek Yoder, a senior Psychology major. All three excelled on the court as well as in the classroom. Bontreger led the Foresters with a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio (third in the MCC) and was second on the team in assists. (Statistics for Ryan Thwaits and Derek Yoder were cited in the previous paragraph.)
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See the Statistical Leaders page for the top five leaders by statistical category. For all 2003-04 player statistics (and MCC rankings), click Player Statistics.
(Photos Courtesy of Huntington University) |
2003-04 Season