Cincinnati McNicholas will be at Cincinnati Roger Bacon on Friday for a Great Catholic League- Central meeting for a share of first place. Here are five things to get you ready for Friday's marquee match up.
1) Roger Bacon comes into the game at (9-5) riding a six-game winning streak following a 3-5 start. The Spartans are 4-1 in conference play with its lone setback coming to Dayton Carroll. In Bacon's five losses, all were by eight points or less. McNicholas is (7-5) also riding a six-game winning streak despite its 1-5 start to the season. The Rockets have two conference losses to Carroll and a 42-40 defeat in round one versus Roger Bacon.
2) In round one, the Spartans outlasted the Rockets despite 32 percent shooting from the field and a 4-of-15 showing from distance. McNicholas was 0-of-9 in the initial meeting from three-point range. Erik Edwards led Roger Bacon with 11 points, Carlas Jackson added nine on just 4-of-15 shooting, and Austin Frentos was good for seven. Drew Hall paced the Rockets in defeat with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Ryan Coldiron and Austin Ernst evenly split 14 counters.
3) Jackson (6'2/So.) leads Roger Bacon in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Edwards (6'3/Jr.) adds 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds an outing. Frentos (6'2/So.) is next at 10.9 points. 6-1 junior Tyler Oldfield (6.2 ppg.), 6-2 freshman Dahmere Epperson (4.7 ppg.), and 6-3 junior Jake Westerfeld (3.9 ppg.) are other solid scoring options. In all, the Spartans have four juniors, five sophomores, and a freshman in their main rotation.
4) Hall (6'5/Sr.) paces McNicholas with 18.8 points and 6.5 boards a night. Hall is signed to play at Marysville College. Coldiron (6'9/Sr.) adds 12 points and 5.2 rebounds and Ernst (6'1/Jr.) tallies 7.9 points and 6.7 boards per encounter. 5-10 junior Mark Hoke and 6-1 senior Richie Day score 5.9 and 4.6 points respectively.
5) Roger Bacon has won eight-straight games in this series including a tournament victory in 2008. The Spartans have won 12-of-17 games dating back to 2004-2005. McNicholas got a series sweep in 2006 including a tournament win and regular season sweep in 2008.
