March 8, 2021
Welcome back, Yellow Jacket fans!
This past week was the conference tournament, so let me catch you up to speed!
We entered the tournament as the #6 seed after finishing the regular season with a record of 10-8. On Tuesday (March 2), we faced off against the #3 seed, Kentucky Wesleyan. We were in control for the majority of the game, but never led by more than 11 points. Wesleyan played hard and hung around, but we ultimately prevailed by a score of 64-55. Quinton Green paced us with 20 points and 7 rebounds.
With this win in the quarterfinals, we moved onto the semifinals with a highly anticipated third match up against the University of Findlay on March 5. We had split our regular season series with Findlay, so we knew that this game was going to be a battle. Since the highest seed remaining in the tournament hosts the semifinals and finals, we traveled to Hillsdale, Michigan to play Findlay. The first half was back and forth and we finished the half down by two points. We started the second half really strong, pushing the lead to 12 points at the 11 minute mark, but Findlay refused to go away. They fought their way back and even took the lead by one point with two minutes left to play. We made some clutch free throws down the stretch and gutted it out on defense and were able to eventually win the game by a score of 76-73. All five of our starters ended in double figures. Quinton Green once again led the way for us with 17 points. Isaiah Speelman had 15 points, while Conner TenHove and Kollin Van Horn had 14 points a piece. Branden Maughmer scored 13 points, while also leading us in rebounds (7) and assists (4). This was such an exciting game to be a part of and an exciting win for our program.
The semifinal win over Findlay took us to the finals against Malone the very next day (March 6). We lost both of our regular season matchups against Malone and they were coming off an upset victory over Hillsdale, who was the #1 seed in the tournament and ranked ninth in the country. After losing their first five games of the season, Malone had won 16 of their last 18 games. Malone’s hot streak did not come to a halt in the championship game. After falling down by 15 points with just under 5:25 left in the first half, we went on a 15-0 run to end the half and tie the game up at 34. We simply ran out of gas and failed to knock down shots and get defensive stops at vital points in the second half. The game finished with a final score of 77-59, leaving us with a second place finish in the G-MAC Tournament.
This season has been one to remember. At many points, we didn’t know how many games we would be able to play or if we would even have a season at all. Each and every one of us learned lessons about overcoming adversity and persevering when nothing seems to be going your way. I am so thankful for my teammates and coaches that I got to spend this year with. Special shout out to Branden Maughmer for being named All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team. Shout out to Quinton Green and Kollin Van Horn for being named All-Conference Second Team. There are exciting things coming for the future of Cedarville Men’s Basketball and I am blessed to have gotten a chance to be a part of this program. Thanks for taking the ride with me through this season and thank you for all of your support and prayers.
Go Jackets!
- Andrew
March 1, 2021
Welcome back, Yellow Jacket fans!
And just like that, the regular season has come to a close. We played two games last week, against the top two teams in the conference (Findlay and Hillsdale), and unfortunately, lost both games. There were some bright moments in each of the games for us, but we failed to put together complete games. We finished the regular season with a record of 10-8.
With our regular season performance, we earned the #6 seed in the G-MAC Tournament. We will play at Kentucky Wesleyan in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (March 2) at 8:45pm EST. Wesleyan is the one team in the conference that we did not play against this year, as COVID precautionary measures cancelled both of our scheduled matchups. The Panthers finished their season with a 10-5 record and earned the #3 seed in the conference. We are excited for the opportunity to compete in an elimination game tomorrow and hope to be playing the rest of this week, with the semifinals and finals occurring on Friday and Saturday.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
February 22, 2021
Welcome back, Yellow Jacket fans!
The regular season is very quickly coming to a close! We had three games in four days this past week. On February 17, we traveled to North Canton, Ohio to take on Walsh University. The game was close throughout, with neither team ever going up by more than 10 points. We ended up making the necessary plays down the stretch to come away with a big win, by a score of 74-70. Conner TenHove played one of his most complete games of the season, pacing us with 17 points and five rebounds. Jacob Drees also made some big shots and played a really good game with 15 points and eight rebounds. Branden Maughmer added 16 points and Isaiah Speelman had 13.
We faced Walsh again the very next day, this time at home. It is difficult to beat a team twice, especially when it is on back-to-back nights. We started the game out really slow, going down 16-2. We responded well after the first media timeout and began to chip away at the lead. We got up by 10 points at the end of the first half and kept the lead in double digits the majority of the second half. We won the game by a score of 74-54. Quinton Green led us in scoring with 20 points. Conner TenHove had 15 points and Kollin Van Horn had 14 points. Branden Maughmer had a well rounded night, with seven points, nine assists, and six rebounds.
We got one day of rest and preparation before we faced Malone at home on February 20. It was a tough game from the start, as Malone was red-hot shooting the ball, while we struggled to make shots and have things go our way. We lost the game by a score of 96-73.
The final week of the regular season is upon us and we have two really tough games coming up against the current top two teams in the G-MAC. On Wednesday (Feb. 24), we play #23 Findlay at home at 6:30 p.m. We beat Findlay in overtime earlier in the season, so Wednesday should prove to be a good game. On Saturday (Feb. 27), we travel to Michigan to take on #11 Hillsdale at 3:00 p.m. Hillsdale beat us in double OT earlier in the season, so we will be looking to get some revenge for that loss. It is crazy that our season is quickly winding down, but we are striving to make the most of each and every day that we have left together as a team.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
- Andrew
February 16, 2021
Welcome Back, Yellow Jacket fans!
We have only played one game since the last blog, so let me bring you up to speed. We played Trevecca Nazarene University in a G-MAC match up on February 11. We won the game by a score of 73-59. Trevecca is a team that plays really hard and has some players that are really difficult to guard, so we were very happy to find a way to win that game. Branden Maughmer led the way for us once again, with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Conner TenHove added 14 points while Isaiah Speelman added 11.
Based off of his performances in the Trevecca game and in the Findlay game earlier that same week, Branden Maughmer was named the Cedarville Male Athlete of the Week, the G-MAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, and the NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week. Well done, B!
We were scheduled to play at Walsh today (Feb. 16), but the game was moved to tomorrow (Feb.17). We will then turn around and play Walsh at home on Thursday (Feb. 18) as well. Then on Saturday, we face off against Malone at home. These are 3 big games, as we are fighting for the highest playoff seed we can possibly get. We hope to see you at the home games this week!
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
- Andrew
February 9, 2021
Hey, Yellow Jacket fans!
The past week has been nothing short of crazy. We played four games in seven days, including three away games and three overtime periods. The games came with some highs, some lows, and plenty of lessons to be learned. Let’s break it down.
On February 2, we faced off against the 15th ranked Hillsdale College Chargers. We started the game slow, but fought our way back into the game at the start of the second half. The game was close the rest of the way, before Hillsdale eventually won in the second overtime period. This was a gut wrenching loss, especially after fighting all the way back against such a disciplined team. The game included 16 lead changes. Branden Maughmer led the way for us with 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Quinton Green added 17 points while Isaiah Speelman had 13 and Kollin Van Horn had 12. We were really happy with the way that we competed in the second half and the overtime periods, however we knew that we could not afford to start games as slowly as we did against Hillsdale.
Two days later (Feb. 4), we traveled to Canton, Ohio to face Malone University. We had a really tough time defending the entire game and could not seem to put the pieces together. Malone shot the ball really well and we ran out of steam before we were able to make a run. We ended up losing 99-87. Then, we traveled to Tiffin, Ohio on February 6 to face Tiffin University. We had another slow start and never got things going on the offensive end. Again, we suffered a loss, this time 77-62.
Basketball is hard sometimes. Life is hard sometimes. It is so important to never let a bad day or a bad week pre-determine how you are going to live and act today. God is still good and in control, no matter the circumstance. Coach Estepp challenged us after our three-game losing streak to not allow the difficulties and mistakes of the previous few games affect our approach and confidence heading into a heavyweight match up against the 6th ranked team in the country: the University of Findlay Oilers. We knew that we had to put the last three games behind us, come together, and work as hard as we possibly could to get a win on the road against Findlay. We started the game hot and pushed our lead to 22 points in the first half, before Findlay cut it to 14 by halftime. We controlled the beginning of the second half, but Findlay, like all good teams do, began to make a run, eventually tying the game up at 78 with 22 second to go. We missed the potential game winning shot at the end of regulation and the game headed to overtime. We outscored Findlay 12-6 in the overtime period and won the game by a final score of 90-84. Branden Maughmer once again led the way for us with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Quinton Green had 17 points. Kollin Van Horn had 16 points. Jayvon Maughmer scored 11 points and Grant Whisman scored 9. It was a tremendous team effort.
While the beginning of the week definitely did not go how we would have liked it to, our team grew a lot this week. Our goal is always to be playing our best basketball at the end of February, and we are well on our way to achieving that goal. We only have one game this upcoming week, as we take on Trevecca Nazarene University on Thursday (Feb. 11) at home at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there!
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
- Andrew
February 1, 2021
Welcome back, Jacket fans!
On Monday (Jan. 25), we played Lake Erie for the second time in three days and won the second match up much easier than we did the first one with a final score of 70-55. We were really happy with the way we improved from the previous time we had played against Lake Erie, who is a really well coached team that plays hard every single time they step on the court. Several of our guys were still getting used to playing again after returning from quarantine. Branden Maughmer paced the way for us in this game, scoring 26 points. Jacob Drees recorded a double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jayvon Maughmer added 13 points while Conner TenHove added 10 points.
We had two days to prepare for our next game, which was on Thursday (Jan. 28) against Ohio Valley in Vienna, West Virginia. We started the game really well, opening on a 16-3 run. However, Ohio Valley fought hard to get back into the game and kept it close for much of the first half. We were able to break the game open in the second half and ultimately won the game by a score of 81-65. Conner TenHove led the way for us with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Jayvon Maughmer continued to produce for us off the bench, scoring a career-high 18 points and also pulled in 6 rebounds. Quinton Green scored 13 points and Branden Maughmer added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
We had this past weekend off and were able to spend time preparing for the busy road ahead of us. Starting on Tuesday, we will play four games in seven days. On Tuesday (Feb. 2), we play at home against Hillsdale at 5 pm (
Watch Here). Hillsdale is currently ranked #15 in the nation in NCAA DII and is in first place in the G-MAC with an 11-1 record. Thursday (Feb. 4), we travel to Canton, Ohio to take on Malone University. Saturday (Feb. 6), we will head to Tiffin, Ohio for a rematch against Tiffin University. To finish the four games in seven days, we have a match up on Monday (Feb. 8) at the University of Findlay, who is currently the #7 ranked NCAA DII team in the nation and second place in the G-MAC. This is going to be a long stretch of games but we are very excited for the opportunities that lie ahead of us! It was great to have some additional fans in attendance and we hope to see you at our home game on Tuesday this week!
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
- Andrew
January 25, 2021
Hey Jackets fans!
Thank you for all of our prayers for us while we were working through a difficult portion of our season. We were finally able to play basketball this past week!
On Thursday, January 21, we hosted a rematch against Ohio Dominican. After going 0-of-15 from the three-point line in our OT loss to them earlier in the season, we shot 18-of-28 from three and were in control for the majority of the game. The score ended at 99-72 and we moved to 3-2 in G-MAC play. Conner TenHove had a great game, scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and shooting an impressive 6-of-7 from three. Quinton Green also scored 23 points. Isaiah Speelman added 22 points and Branden Maughmer finished with 13 points and eight assists.
We had to shift our focus to our next opponent quickly, as we traveled to Painesville, Ohio early on Saturday, January 23 to face Lake Erie College in another G-MAC competition. We controlled much of the first half, but were never able to break the lead into double digits. At the 12 minute mark of the second half we pushed our lead to 12 points, but Lake Erie fought their way back into the game. They hit two free throws in the closing seconds to force overtime with the game knotted at 66 (side note: four of our last five games against Lake Erie have gone to overtime!). We dominated the overtime period and ended up winning 80-71. Branden Maughmer paced us with 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Conner TenHove had another solid performance, finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds. Quinton Green added 17 points and seven rebounds while freshman Grant Whisman finished with seven points and seven rebounds, several of them being key rebounds down the stretch.
We now stand at 4-2 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. We have another quick turnaround, as we face Lake Erie again tonight, January 25 at 8:00 pm in Callan. This will be our first time in recent memory playing against a team back to back. We are hoping to take care of business and hopefully this time we will not need an overtime period!
Later in the week, we will travel to Vienna, WV to take on Ohio Valley. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 pm tip on Thursday, January 28.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets!
- Andrew
January 18, 2021
Welcome back, Yellow Jacket fans!
Since the last blog, our team has been doing whatever we can to continue improving while also following NCAA and Cedarville University COVID protocols. Isolation and quarantine periods are starting to end for most of our guys and we are excited to all be back on the court together this week. We will have to hit the ground running, as we have a G-MAC game this Thursday at home at 7:00 pm against Ohio Dominican University. ODU beat us in overtime earlier this season, so we are looking forward to getting another chance to play against them. We will then head to Painesville, Ohio for a Saturday match up against Lake Erie at 3:00 pm.
Please be praying that we are able to get both of these games played this week. We have been working hard these past few months and are more than ready to be able to get in a rhythm with the season.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
- Andrew
January 11, 2021
Welcome back, Jacket fans!
The past week has had its ups and downs for our team. Last Tuesday (Jan. 5), we traveled to Columbus to take on Ohio Dominican University. We struggled to score and were unable to make a three-point field goal the whole game, yet found a way to force overtime, where we came up just short, with the final score being 62-57. Kollin Van Horn led the way for us, scoring 21 points and securing 7 rebounds. Branden Maughmer and Quinton Green each added 10 points. While this was a disappointing loss for our team, we learned a lot from that game and identified some weaknesses that needed to be addressed.
We were forced to have short term memory, as the very next day, we were on the road to Nashville, Tennessee in order to prepare for our game against Trevecca Nazarene University on Thursday (Jan. 7). We controlled the game from an early stage and ended up winning 69-56 against a Trevecca team that played really hard and refused to quit. Quinton Green led us in scoring, with 15 points. Branden Maughmer and Conner TenHove both scored 13 in the winning effort. We know that we had some things to improve on and clean up moving forward from the Trevecca game, but we were happy to come out of Nashville with our second conference win of the year.
The day after the Trevecca game, we traveled to Owensboro, Kentucky for our game against Kentucky Wesleyan. We practiced at their gym on Friday (Jan. 8) and felt really confident heading into our game the next day. On the morning of the game, we were made aware of a positive COVID test within our program. We have been following both NCAA and Cedarville University protocols in order to keep everyone as healthy and safe as possible. Over the next week, we will be doing our best to continue working hard and preparing for whenever we get to play next. While the constant stops and starts for our team have been challenging at times, we trust that God has a plan and his timing is perfect. We cannot wait to be back on the court!
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
- Andrew
January 4, 2021
Welcome back, Jacket fans!
It has been a little while since I have been able to write a blog post, so let me get you up to speed. We were scheduled to play against Walsh University on December 19th. We worked hard and prepared really well to play that game, but unfortunately we found out that Walsh had a positive COVID test within their program the morning of the game. Because of this, we were left with only having played two games before Christmas break. The team got to spend about a week at home with our families and that was a refreshing time for all of us.
On December 28th, we traveled back to campus and began preparing for our next game, at home against Tiffin University on January 2nd. We knew going into the game that we would need to slow Tiffin down and play good defense, as they have a very high-powered and quick paced offense. Though we led the entire game, the lead remained in the single digits for about 30 of the 40 minutes. We were able to get into a rhythm and extend the lead to double digits in the final 10 minutes. It was nice to have the majority of our team back for the game and it showed in the stat sheet, as four of the five players in double figures missed our first two games due to COVID protocols. Branden Maughmer led the way with a triple-double, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kollin Van Horn had 20 points and six rebounds, Conner TenHove had 15 points and seven rebounds, Quinton Green had 14 points, and Isaiah Speelman had 12 points. It was so nice to be back on the court, but we know that we still have a lot of room for improvement and growth.
Looking ahead, we have a very busy week as we will play three away G-MAC games in five days. On Tuesday (Jan. 5), we play against Ohio Dominican University at 5:30 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. We will then travel to Nashville, Tennessee to take on Trevecca University on Thursday (Jan. 7) at 8:15 p.m. We will finish out our road trip in Owensboro, Kentucky as we face Kentucky Wesleyan College on Saturday (Jan. 9) at 3:15 p.m. Please pray that the COVID testing for both our team and all of our opponents go well and we are able to play some more basketball!
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon! Go Jackets and Happy New Year!
- Andrew
December 15, 2020
Welcome back to the blog!
We finally got back on the court this past weekend! We hosted Ohio Valley University on December 11 and played again the next day at the University of Akron. Because of positive COVID tests on our team, we were missing several key players for these two games. We suffered losses in both of them, however there are plenty of lessons to take away. Our young players were able to play in key roles and gain valuable experience. Freshmen were our leading scorers in each game, with Grant Whisman scoring 26 points in our game against Ohio Valley and Jayvon Maughmer scoring 13 points against Akron. Jacob Drees filled the stat sheet against Ohio Valley with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.
While we understand that these were our first games of the season and we were missing some key players, we are still not satisfied with our performances and want to work on the areas where we need to improve. We have been working hard in practice to continue learning and developing. On Saturday (12/19), we have a big time conference match up at Walsh University, the former G-MAC tournament champions. We are excited for this opportunity and are excited to have a couple of our players back from quarantine. This will be our last game before we head home for Christmas break. We appreciate your prayers and support as we navigate through this unique season.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
Go Jackets!
- Andrew
December 9, 2020
Hey Yellow Jacket fans!
The last 10 days or so have been challenging for our program as we have been following the University’s quarantine and isolation policies, but we have done the best that we can to continue improving through this difficult time. We have been doing two workouts each day with our roommates in order to avoid being in contact with any other of our teammates. In the morning, we go through a body weight and conditioning workout, allowing us to stay in the best shape that we can without being able to hold normal practices. In the evening, we go through a skill workout with our roommate, doing various shooting and dribbling drills. The team has maintained a positive attitude throughout this tough situation and has worked hard everyday, which will allow for a smooth transition back into regular practice and games.
Despite the difficulty of this time in quarantine, there is plenty to look forward to! This Friday (Dec. 11) we open our season against Ohio Valley University at home at 5:30 p.m. In addition to this game being against a G-MAC opponent, it has also been nearly nine months since we last played a game, so to say that the guys are excited would be an understatement. We play again on Saturday (Dec. 12) against the University of Akron, this time an away game at 2:00 p.m. We are thankful for the opportunity to gain valuable experience against a NCAA DI school.
We are thrilled to be back on the court this week! Thank you for reading and talk to you soon!
Go Jackets!
- Andrew
December 2, 2020
Hello Yellow Jacket fans!
My name is Andrew Stein and I will be writing the men’s basketball blog this year! I am a senior Information Technology Management major from Woodbine, Maryland. You may not know me from my play on the court, but that is because I spend most of my time in the “South Pole” (what me and my fellow walk-ons call the end of the bench).
Since the end of last season, the world has been a crazy place and our team has done its best to navigate through these tough times. Typically, after our season finishes in the spring, we have post-season workouts several days a week. Because we were sent home due to COVID, we had to improvise. We did so in a variety of ways, including weekly fitness challenges where we would compete against each other and see who could do the most reps of various body weight workouts. This provided a way for us to continue improving while also staying connected with our teammates. During this time, we all did what we could to find gyms and baskets to work on our game. When we got back to campus in August, it was clear that everyone had been dedicated to getting better over the extended time off.
We added five newcomers to our program this season and are really excited about the way that they will help our team.
Brandon Redendo is a transfer point guard from New York who brings depth and experience to the back court.
Colby Cross is a freshman point guard from Cedarville High School who is familiar with our program and is a great shooter.
Noe Enoumedi is a 6’8” freshman forward from Cameroon who will provide additional depth at the forward positions.
Grant Whisman is a freshman forward from Middletown, Ohio who has proven to be a tremendous shooter and rebounder.
Jayvon Maughmer is a freshman guard from Chillicothe, Ohio who can impact the game in a variety of ways.
This preseason has been a bit different than the ones I have been a part of in the past. We had additional rules and safety measures in place to ensure we stayed healthy. We knew that at any time we could be shut down due to COVID complications, so we were challenged by the coaching staff from the first day we got back on campus to treat each day we got together as if it was our last. We had a great pre-season and improved every time we got the opportunity to get on the court.
Our first game of the year was scheduled to be an exhibition against the University of Dayton on November 28th. The day before the game, we had a positive COVID test on our team, causing the game to be cancelled and our team to follow the University’s quarantine and isolation policies. While this has been a difficult situation for our team, we trust that God is in control and look forward to being back on the court soon. Thank you for reading and talk to you soon!
Go Jackets!
- Andrew
Andrew Stein is a 6-foot senior guard from Woodbine, Maryland. He is in his third season with the Yellow Jackets and is an information technology management major.
