By Mike Tupa
mtupa@examiner-enterprise.com
Fresh off climbing to the No. 20 spot in the most recent national basketball poll, the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles soar into action tonight to try to grab win No. 20.
Tip-off for tonight’s showdown against the Bethany (Kan.) Swedes is set for 8 p.m. at the OKWU Mueller Sports Center.
The Eagles (19-7, 12-6) are attempting to achieve the program’s first 20-victory season since the 2013-14 campaign and lock down homecourt advantage for the first round of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
Following a three-game losing streak in early December, the Eagles — which are coached by Donnie Bostwick — fell out of the NAIA-II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Two weeks ago, they inched back in at the No. 21 spot.
In this week’s rankings — released Tuesday afternoon — OKWU climbed to No. 20.
Helping propel their upward mobility was an upset last week of No. 6 Southwestern (Kan.), which plummeted all the way to No. 12.
OKWU and Southwestern are the lone KCAC teams to make this week’s Top 25.
Heading into tonight’s test, OKWU is on a three-game winning stampede. Since Dec. 11, OKWU has carved out a 10-2 record.
It’s no coincidence that OKWU’s turnaround began with the addition of 6-foot-8 Joshua Wilchombe to the active roster.
Wilchombe — who began playing on Dec. 9 — is averaging 12.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 13 starts.
He is banging home more than 50 percent of his field goals (65-of-123) and also has blocked 38 shots — an average of nearly three per game.
Breiman Alexander and K.J. Malveau top the Eagles in scoring with 13.5 and 13.2 ppg, respectively.
Malveau and Elbert Lawrence (9.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 39 assists, 36 steals, 36-of-92 three-pointers) are the only players to have started all 26 games.
Bostwick is nearing his 140th career win (in less than five seasons, 2007-2011, 2017-18) as the Eagles’ head coach.
The Eagles are trying to get back to the national tourney for the first time since the early 2010’s.
Lady Eagles
OKWU also is in contention for a top two or three finish in the women’s conference standings.
For the second-straight poll, the Lady Eagles (18-8, 12-6) appeared in the “Others Receiving Votes” category in the poll. They pulled down 16 votes, which unofficially ranks them at No. 31 in the country.
That’s a huge step up for OKWU — coached by Mark Molder — following last year’s 14-17 mark. The Lady Eagles posted a cumulative 31-31 record for the past two previous seasons.
Molder is one victory shy of his 80th career win — in less than four seasons (2011-14, 2017-18) with the Lady Eagles.
A two-game winning streak gives the Lady Bruins momentum heading into the key showdown — at 6 p.m. tonight — against Bethany (15-10, 11-7). With a win, OKWU can take a major step toward locking down second place in the KCAC standings and guaranteeing a home game to open the KCAC tourney.
Tiffany Rieger and Danae Goodwin are averaging 15.5 and 10.7 ppg, respectively, for OKWU.
They also are the only two Lady Eagles to have started all 26 games.
Rieger has ripped the nets from three-point territory (69-of-168, .411).
Cheyenne Been is contributing 9.5 ppg and 3.4 rpg while coming off the bench in 24 of the 26 games.