ETTRICK, VA – Coach
Lonnie Blow, Jr. has a bizarre chip on his shoulder heading into the 2022-2023 regular season after coming off his first losing season in 2021-2022. The VSU Men's Basketball team will begin their revenge tour this weekend hosting the Trojan Tip-Off Classic. VSU prepares to face Millersville on Friday, November 11 at 8:00 p.m. then Shippensburg on Saturday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Series History
The Trojans are 2-2 against Millersville in matchups dating back to 1990 as MU won the last match up in the 2009-2010 season 63-59.
The Trojans are 2-1 against Shippensburg in matchups dating back to 2018 as VSU won the last two meetings.
Last Time Out
The Trojans finished 10-16 overall and 6-10 in conference play and unfortunately ended the regular season losing six of their last eight games. After beating Claflin in the opening round, they lost to the eventual champions in Fayetteville State in the Quarterfinals. Offensively, the Trojans shot 43% from the field and 33% from three-point land which led to them scoring a solid 69 points per game. The squad will also look to improve their free throw line presence shooting 66% from the foul line. Defensively, teams scored 73 points against the Trojans in 2021. The dangerous back court of
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald and
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield are prepared to run it back one last time as they attempt to go out on top in their senior years.
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald represents Virginia State in the All-CIAA Men's Basketball Preseason Backcourt heading into this season. Fitzgerald ended up being the CIAA's third best scorer accounting for 17 points per contest while his 46% field goal percentage landed him at number five. Fitzgerald shot 31% from beyond the three -point arc, brought down six rebounds per contest and dished two assists per game last season. He also led the team with 21 blocks a season ago. His best game came early in the season against Mount Olive where he scored a career-high 31 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. He brought down five rebounds in the contest and shot 93% (13-14) from the foul line. He had nine 20-point games last season as well.
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield also represents Virginia State in the All-CIAA Men's Basketball Preseason Backcourt. Hunter-Whitfield ended up being the CIAA's ninth best scorer accounting for 17 points per contest while maintaining a 42% field goal percentage. He had four double-double games in the 2021-2022 season. Defensively, he lead the team with 7.2 rebounds per game which landed him fifth in the conference. Hunter - Whitfield also led the team with 30 steals in the season. His best game was against Winston - Salem State where he scored a career-high 31 points on 9-15 shooting from the field. He completed his double-double after he brought down 11 rebounds in the contest and shot 80% (8-10) from the foul line.
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield was named BOXTOROW National Player of the Week averaging 29.5 points and 10 rebounds per game in two games in a week. The team is led by second-year players this season featuring five seniors, three juniors and nine sophomores. Coach Blow and his staff saw plenty of late nights and early mornings after signing 10 transfer student-athletes to add depth to the roster.
Scouting the Marauders
Millersville finished the season 25-7 and 17-5 in the PSAC which allowed them to earn the first seed in the PSAC Tournament. They ended up losing to IUP 63-52 in the PSAC Championship game. They shot 47% from the field which ranked them third in the conference and 35% from three-point range while hitting just 68% of their free throws. They ranked fourth in rebounds grabbing 40 per game. They were ninth in their respective conference in points per game averaging 76.7. The Marauders made it extremely tough for opponents to score on them as they ranked second in opponents field goal percentage with 39.8 and first in opponents three-point percentage with 28.6. Leading Millersville is Redshirt-Senior Jaden Faulkner. Faulkner led the team in points per game with 13.7 and assists with 146 which also ranked him fourth in the conference.
Scouting the Raiders
Shippensburg finished the season 21-9 and 16-6 in the PSAC which allowed them to earn the third seed in the PSAC Tournament. They ended up losing to IUP 52-44 in the PSAC Semifinals game. They shot 42% from the field and 33% from three-point range while hitting just 67.7% of their free throws. They ranked fifth in rebounds grabbing 1,139 on the season. They ranked 16
th in the PSAC in points per contest with 72. The Raiders allowed opponents to score just 65.6 points per game which ranked them third in their conference. They also ranked third in the turnover margin as they were 2.80. The Raiders leading returning scorer, Rashon Johnson, is back for his Redshirt-Senior season after averaging 15.8 points per game which ranked him 14
th in the PSAC. He shot 47% from the field, 33 percent from three and averaged 7.4 rebounds per game which ranked him 13
th.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, November 11
Virginia Union vs. Shippensburg @ 6:00 p.m.
Virginia State vs. MIllersville @ 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 12
Virginia Union vs. Millersville @ 5:00 p.m.
Virginia State vs. Shippensburg @ 7:00 p.m.
*ALL GAMES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED AND WILL PROVIDE LIVE STATS
