Men's Basketball | 1/26/2021 2:44:00 PM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Golden Eagles are set to open the reduced 13-game WHAC slate with a trio of conference games over the next week. CU will travel to Siena Heights on Wednesday before they host Madonna on Saturday and Lawrence Tech on Monday as the full swing of basketball gets back underway. All three games can be streamed live online at cugoldeneagles.com with video, stats, and audio links available. 

Offensive Shootout
The Golden Eagles returned to action for their first game in 70 days at No. 19 Bethel, and fell in an offensive shootout 112-94. 94 points is the most the Golden Eagles have scored since February 16 of 2019 in a win against Siena Heights. However, 112 points is the most the Golden Eagles have given up in regulation since Head Coach Kim Elders first season in 1993-94 when they gave up 114 to Tri-State University. 

WHAC Openers
Cornerstone begins a reduced 13 game WHAC slate this week with games against Siena Heights, Madonna and Lawrence Tech. Head Coach Kim Elders is an outstanding 21-6 in WHAC Opening games in his career with his last loss coming in the 2007-08 season against Aquinas. 

Rodriguez Strong Return to Play
Senior point guard Christian Rodriguez recorded a strong return to play at Bethel becoming the first Golden Eagle this season to record 20 points in a game with a season high 22. Rodriguez also tied a season high with seven assists and became the first Golden Eagle this season to hit five or more three's going 5-11 behind the arc. On the year, Rodriguez ranks sixth in the country averaging 6.0 assists per game. 

Block Party
Cornerstone recorded four blocks on Saturday as they currently rank 11th in the nation with 4.8 blocks per game. 

Scouting Siena Heights
A young SHU squad enters the 2021 season under ninth year head Coach Joe Pechota at 0-1 after an 81-70 loss to Grace College (Ind.) all the way back in November before being shut down due to COVID-19. The Saints lost their two top leading scorers from last season in Demarco Dickerson and Keith Jordan Jr. The now graduated duo also held the statistical lead for minutes played, assists, rebounds, and steals. One of two seniors on the 2020-21 roster for Siena Heights, Kevin Rice looks to be the new leader of the team, recording a double-double in their first game with 19 points and 10 rebounds. 

Scouting Madonna 
Madonna is coming off a phenomenal 25-9, 14-6 WHAC season where they finished second overall and won the WHAC Tournament against Cornerstone. So far this season, they are 1-1 with both games being played in November, as they were blown out by now NAIA number one Indiana Wesleyan before rebounding with a 76-67 win against Judson. Similar to Siena Heights, Madonna lost two of their three leading scorers from last season, including WHAC Player of the Year Dwight Burton. Henry Speight is the leading returner for MU, after averaging 13.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 2019-20.

Scouting Lawrence Tech
LTU has gotten three games in this season, going 2-1 with their lone loss to Huntington (Ind.). The Blue Devils are much improved winning double-digit games for the first time in program history each of the last two years. LTU returns all five starters from last year and had four players average 10+ PPG.