Scott Kretzmann
ASC Sports
Information Director
The Adams State College basketball teams will hope to send their seniors out with wins as the Grizzly men and women play their final regular season games of the year this weekend in Plachy Hall.
The Grizzlies will face Colorado Mesa in a 6 & 8 p.m., women’s and men’s doubleheader on Friday night and then square off against arch-rival Western State at the same times Saturday.
In addition to the games, which are critical for playoff position, there will be a wide variety of other activities going on.
Friday night’s doubleheader, which is sponsored by Valley Wide Health Systems, will also double as Black History Night. The Grizzly teams will wear t-shirts in honor of the celebration during pre-game warm-ups courtesy of the ASC Black Student Alliance. Additionally, music from well-known Black Artists will be played throughout the night and a Black History information table will be in the Plachy Hall lobby.
During halftime, Valley Wide Health Systems will be holding a shooting contest for ASC students to win a gift certificate to the San Luis Valley Brewery. All fans who buy a program will also have a chance to win a gift certificate to Chili’s, courtesy of VWHS.
Saturday’s women’s contest against Western State is sponsored by Davis Partnership Architects, who is supplying a $100 gift card to the winner of the Grizzlies’ Hawaiian Night “Best Dressed” Costume Contest at halftime of the women’s game. The fan judged to have with the best Hawaiian or Beach outfit will win the prize. Consolation prizes will also be given to other “top” outfitted fans.
At halftime of the men’s game, the Grizzlies will recognize all of their $2,500 and $1,250 level corporate partners during Corporate Partner Appreciation Night, open to all corporate partners throughout the evening in the Dr. Joe I. Vigil Hall of Fame room.
The Grizzly seniors will also be honored Saturday.
Following the women’s game, Grizzly senior post player Chloe Cable (Glendale, Ariz.) and student administrative assistant Jackie Eberhard (Snowmass, Colo.) will be recognized for their contributions to the program.
Cable is the Grizzlies’ top scorer and rebounder this year, averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season. She has played in 95 career games and has made 78 starts and ranks in the top 10 for the Grizzlies’ NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present) for both career points (793) and rebounds (559) heading into the weekend. She has been a 4-year starter for the Grizzlies and helped lead them to back-to-back 20-plus win seasons and NCAA Tournament trips over the past two years.
Eberhard, a valuable member of the Grizzly program who aids tremendously in practice and game-night bench operations hails from Snowmass, Colo. and transferred to ASC from Lamar Community College prior to the 2010-11 season.
The Grizzly men will also honor their five seniors before the men’s game. The Grizzlies’ five seniors are Jamiko Verner (Denver, Colo.), Shayar Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.), Marqus Richards (Los Angeles, Calif.) Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.) and Deray Wilson (Anchorage, Alaska). All five helped lead the Grizzlies to a NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and era record 20-win season last year.
The Grizzlies have followed that up with another 18-win season thus far and can get to 20 victories with a pair of wins this weekend.
The Grizzlies (18-6, 14-6 RMAC) will also be fighting to clinch a RMAC Shootout home game for the second straight year and need just one win to clinch the right to host a Tuesday quarterfinal home game, which would begin at 7 p.m.
The ASC men currently sit a solid third in the RMAC standings. Colorado Mesa (14-10) currently is fifth in the RMAC standings with a 12-8 mark and could earn a home game of their own with a successful weekend at Adams State and Fort Lewis, where they go Saturday.
Meanwhile, Western State, 12-12 overall, currently holds down the eighth and final RMAC Shootout spot with a 10-10 record. They are at Fort Lewis (13-11, 11-9 RMAC) on Friday night before heading over Wolf Creek pass to play for their playoff lives.
Colorado Mesa and Western State are also fighting for playoff positioning on the women’s side. The Mavericks are 12-12 overall and 10-10 in the RMAC and are part of a 3-way sixth place in the RMAC standings. Western State is 13-13 overall and holds a 12-8 record in the RMAC, good for fourth place and a 1-game advantage over Colorado Christian for the fourth and final “home game” spot.
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