Year-to-Year Win-Loss RecordsOverallHCACSeason Won Lost W.Pct. Won Lost W.Pct. Coach1998-1999 13 12 .520 5 9 .357 Larry Cox1999-2000 18 8 .692 12 2 .857 Cox2000-2001 13 12 .520 5 7 .417 Cox2001-2002 9 17 .346 5 9 .357 Cox2002-2003 12 15 .444 5 9 .357 Cox2003-2004 10 16 .385 4 10 .400 Cox2004-2005 12 14 .462 5 9 .357 Cox2005-2006 16 11 .593 8 6 .571 Cox2006-2007 13 12 .520 9 7 .563 Cox2007-2008 9 16 .360 3 13 .188 Cox2008-2009 6 19 .240 2 14 .125 Cox2009-2010 10 14 .417 5 11 .312 CoxTotals 141 166 .459 68 106 .391The Mount in the HCACThis will be the 13 th season for the Mount’s men’s basketball team in theHeartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). Other institutions thatare also members of this conference include: Anderson University, BlufftonUniversity, Defiance College, Earlham College, Franklin College, HanoverCollege, Manchester College, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, andTransylvania University.In 1998, the first year for the Mount’s basketball program as well as thefirst year of the HCAC play, the lions went 5-9 in the conference, which putthem in sixth place out of eight teams. Jarrett Young was named Freshmanof the Year and gained Honorable Mention All-Conference award. Joe Toneyalso received an All-Conference Honorable Mention award for his effortsduring the season.The Mount greatly improved in the 1999-2000 season. The <strong>Lions</strong> were 6-6in conference play and won their way into the final four of the tournamentwhere they lost in overtime to the champion, Franklin College. JarrettYoung was All-Tournament team for his contribution during the postseason.Other <strong>Lions</strong> received acknowledgement for outstanding play. JaredFranz and Joe Toney were named All-Conference while Young was namedAll-Conference Honorable Mention. Joe Toney also was named Player of theWeek twice during the season.The <strong>Lions</strong> tied for fifth place in the HCAC with five wins and seven losesin the 2000-01 season. The Mount was actually in first place with abouttwo weeks to play but slipped in the standings and finished as the seventhand last seed in the post-season conference tournament. The <strong>Lions</strong>’ seasoncame to an end in the first round with a loss to Hanover, 73-69. Juniorforward Jared Franz was selected All-Conference while junior forward SteveBain was chosen Honorable Mention All-Conference.The 2001-2002 campaign was a season marked by milestoneachievements for two players. Seniors Joe Toney and Jarrett Young bothscored their 1,000 th career point. Steve Bain was named First Team All-Conference and was also a Player of the Week. Young received an All-Conference Honorable Mention award. The Mount lost in the first roundof the tournament but placed fifth in the regular season team standings,recording a 5-9 mark.The <strong>Lions</strong> began the 2002-2003 season winning three of their first fourconference games and were 5-3 before suffering six straight HCAC losses.The Mount defeated second-place Anderson University and fourth-placeDefiance College during the regular season, the Mount bounced back todefeat the Spartans on the road in the first round of the tournament. TomLuther, who finished second in the conference in rebounding, was a twotime HCAC Player of the Week winner and also made All-Conference. ChrisWashington was also selected to the All-Conference team.In 2003-2004, the Mount played competitively throughout most ofthe HCAC campaign, despite posting a 4-10 conference mark. Their winsincluded triumphs over Manchester and Anderson, as well as Defiance andBluffton (back-to-back). The Mount also lost two games in overtime toAnderson and Transylvania. They did, however, win three of their last fiveregular season HCAC games and suffered a one-point loss to Defiance inthe HCAC tournament. Seniors Tom Luther and E.J. Engelkamp collectedconference post-season awards. Luther was sixth in the conference inscoring, while teammate Matt Volkerding was first in rebounding and thirdin blocked shots.The Mount began the 2004-2005 season conference slate with twostraight wins and played well at home, finishing 4-3 in conference play.The <strong>Lions</strong>, however, recorded a 1-6 road record in the conference, winningonly at Defiance College. After that win, the Mount dropped four straightHCAC match-ups to slip to 5-9 in the conference. They dropped a six-pointdecision in the first round of the HCAC Tournament to eventual winnerFranklin College. The <strong>Lions</strong> finished third as a team in blocked shots andtied for first in steals. Kevin Darthard, who was named First Team All-Conference, was fifth in HCAC in scoring average and field goal percentage.Derrick Jones was selected Honorable Mention All-HCAC.In 2005-2006, the <strong>Lions</strong> had one of the most successful seasons inthe program’s history. Winning six of their first seven games to start theseason, the Mount finished 16-11 overall and 8-6 in the tough HCAC.Finishing fourth in the HCAC regular season, the <strong>Lions</strong> were the numberfour seed and hosted their conference tournament opener, beatingnumber five seed Manchester 67-55. However, their season would end inthe conference semifinals, when they lost to the seventh-ranked teamin the country, Transylvania, 83-79. Leading the way for the Mount wereseniors Kevin Darthard and Derrick Jones, who were voted First team All-Conference. Other notable HCAC accomplishments included juniors RobbieNoschang and Tony Blomer being named Honorable Mention All-HCAC.The <strong>Lions</strong> started out slowly in the conference in 2006-2007, going1-2 but then ran off a five-game win streak to up their record to 6-2. TheMount was in the thick of the conference race for first place the rest of theseason, but was hurt by two close losses down the stretch – an overtimeloss to Defiance and a one point defeat to Bluffton.24<strong>COLLEGE</strong> <strong>OF</strong> MOUNT <strong>ST</strong>. <strong>JOSEPH</strong>
Their 9-7 record was tied for the third-best record in the conference, butthe Mount was denied the fourth and final HCAC tournament spot on thetie-breaker system. Michael Romes was selected first Freshman of the Yearand First Team All-HCAC while teammate Tony Blomer was also a First TeamAll-Conference selection. Romes led the conference in field goal percentagewhile Blomer paced the HCAC in blocked shots. Teammates Jeff Perry andMichael Eirons both made Honorable Mention All-HCAC.The <strong>Lions</strong> had a rough start to the 2007-2008 conference season, losingtheir first four HCAC games, but bounced back to win two of three afterthat. The win total for HCAC games included a victory over conferencechampion Defiance. The Mount was fifth in points per game and fourth infield goal percentage while several individual <strong>Lions</strong>’ players made their markin HCAC games. Michael Romes was second in points per game, and fifthin rebounds per game and shooting percentage, while teammate MichaelEirons ranked in top 11 in four different statistical categories in conferenceaction. Josh Carter led the conference in assists per game and fourth infree throw accuracy. Romes was selected First Team All-HCAC for the secondstraight season while Mitchell Goldschmidt, Eirons and Carter were chosenHonorable Mention All-Conference. Romes also picked up an HCAC Player ofthe Week award.While the Mount only captured two conference wins during the 2008-2009 season, they did play competitively in a number of HCAC games,losing nine games by 10 points or less, including four games, by four pointsor less. One big win during the HCAC season was the team’s one-pointhome win over Bluffton University, who finished with the third-best recordin HCAC play. The <strong>Lions</strong> were fifth in both the team defense field goalpercentage and team defense three-point field goal percentage categories,and fourth in assists and steals. Michel Romes, was named First Team All-HCAC, was second in the conference in points per game, fourth in reboundsper game, and seventh in steals per game. Chris Cioffi was fourth in fieldgoal percentages. Kyle McCord and Travis Huffman were each awardedHonorable Mention All-HCAC.The Mount began and finished the 2009-2010 season winning twostraight conference games. In addition they lost ten games by ten pointsor less. Michael Romes, who again was selected First Team All-HCAC forhis fourth year in a row and was a HCAC Player of the Week honoree, ledthe conference in scoring and was fourth in rebounding. Two other Mountplayers, Travis Huffman and Kyle McCord, both received Honorable MentionAll-HCAC. The Mount was fifth in rebounding margin and third in assists asa team.2009-2010 HCAC StandingsHCACOverallW L W. Pct. W L W.Pct.Anderson 13 3 .812 23 6 .793Hanover 12 4 .750 15 10 .600Defiance 11 5 .688 23 6 .793Manchester 10 6 .625 17 10 .630Transylvania 10 6 .625 14 12 .538Franklin 6 10 .375 8 18 .308Mount 5 11 .312 10 14 .417Rose-Hulman 3 13 .188 7 18 .280Bluffton 2 14 .125 2 23 .0802009-2010 HCAC TournamentOpening roundFeb. 20 Transylvania 57 Manchester 64Franklin 78 Defiance 92Semifinal roundFeb. 26 Defiance 72 Hanover 59Manchester 63 Anderson 64ChampionshipFeb. 27 Defiance 70 Anderson 652009-2010 HCAC Team Statistics (HCAC Games Only)SCORING <strong>OF</strong>FENSE# Team G W-L Pts Avg/G1.Defiance 16 11-5 1228 76.82.Anderson 16 13-3 1216 76.03.Transylvania 16 10-6 1116 69.84.Hanover 16 12-4 1107 69.25.Manchester 16 10-6 1093 68.36. Mount 16 5-11 1072 67.07.Franklin 16 6-10 1001 62.68.Bluffton 16 2-14 976 61.09.Rose-Hulman 16 3-13 924 57.8SCORING DEFENSE# Team G Pts Avg/G1.Hanover 16 1032 64.52.Rose-Hulman 16 1043 65.23.Transylvania 16 1052 65.84.Bluffton 16 1058 66.15.Manchester 16 1070 66.96.Anderson 16 1093 68.37.Franklin 16 1127 70.4Mount 16 1127 70.49.Defiance 16 1131 70.72010-2011 MEN’S BASKETBALL GUIDE 25