Men's Basketball | 12/2/2015 3:21:00 PM
ABILENE – After a week-long road trip that saw them play four games in three different states and three different time zones, the ACU Wildcats are finally back at home Thursday night to take on the Wildcats of New Hampshire in the program's annual Christmas Slam game.
Tipoff between New Hampshire and ACU is set for 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum, and the game will be broadcast on 98.1 FM The Ticket. Fans can also watch the game via ACU's live Web stream at portal.stretchinternet.com/abilene/.
The game is a homecoming of sorts for New Hampshire, which features seven players from Texas on its roster. After the game against ACU on Thursday, New Hampshire will be in Dallas on Saturday to take on SMU. ACU will fly to Nebraska early Friday morning to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Wildcats of New Hampshire enter Thursday night's game with a 4-2 record after a 75-67 home win over Bryant (R.I.) University. The Wildcats of ACU are 3-3 after an 85-57 loss to Oakland (Mich.) last Saturday in the final game of the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic at the American Bank Center on the Texas Gulf Coast.
ACU finished its four-game run in the Coastal Classic with a 1-3 record that included a 72-62 win over Prairie View A&M last Friday and a 108-100 double-overtime loss at Colorado State last Tuesday (Nov. 24). ACU also lost at Portland (Ore.) and against Oakland in Corpus Christi.
Freshman guard
Jaylen Franklin leads the Wildcats in scoring at 12.3 points per game, while senior guard
Parker Wentz is averaging 10.5 ppg. Freshman forward
Jaren Lewis is averaging 9.3 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game – all off the bench – while senior center
Duran Porter is averaging 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest.
Lewis, Porter and freshmen
Hayden Howell (3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and
Hayden Farquhar (2.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg) have given the Wildcats the inside presence they've lacked in recent seasons. Porter had just 13 blocks in 31 games in last season, but already has nine blocked shots through six games in 2015-16.
New Hampshire most recently defeated Bryant University in a come-from-behind win, 75-67. Junior tri-captain
Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) scored a career-high 23 points (7 of 13) including three 3-pointers. He shot 6 of 7 from the free-throw line, with his first miss from the charity stripe this season after hitting 25 straight. Classmate Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) scored 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Lastly, senior Ronnel Jordan (San Antonio, Texas) tallied 13 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas), who has sat out three consecutive games with an injury, still leads the team in scoring with 18.0 per game. Armstrong ranks second with 15.2 points while grabbing 4.8 rebounds a game. Smith leads the team in assists per game (5.2) and scores 13.0 per contest. Sophomore Iba Camar (Dakar, Senegal) nearly records a double-double per game with 9.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per matchup.
"New Hampshire is a very tough opponent with a lot of experience," ACU head coach
Joe Golding said. "It's a program that has struggled for a few years, but broke through last year and reached the post-season (CIT Tournament). This is a terrific home game for us. To be able to get quality opponents to come to Abilene is tough, so we're really excited about having them here. Obviously one reason they wanted to come down here is because of the large number of guys from Texas on their roster. I'm sure those guys are excited about playing down and we'll get their best shot."
