Heinbaugh tabbed RMAC Defensive Player of the Week

Grizzlies to play at Mesa State Friday with much on the line

Seth Heinbaugh has been named as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— For the second time this season, Adams State College senior forward Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) has been named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/Baden Defensive Player of the Week.   He earned the honor after recording 18 rebounds, including 16 on the defensive end, four steals and a blocked shot in helping the Grizzlies to a pair of RMAC wins over the weekend.

In Friday’s win over Colorado Christian, he tallied a game-high 10 rebounds, all of which were on the defensive end, and three steals.  He then finished with eight rebounds, six of which were defensive, a steal and a blocked shot as the Grizzlies defeated nationally-ranked and RMAC-leading Colorado Mines.

He also fared well offensively throughout the weekend, shooting 62.5 percent (5-8) from the field and 100 percent (2-2) from 3-point land while averaging 8.0 points and 3.0 assists per game.

Heinbaugh had gone over the 1,000 career point mark in the weekend prior, becoming just the seventh ASC player in the program’s NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present).  Heinbaugh now has 1,021 points, sixth most on the Grizzlies’ Division II era scoring charts.  He also has recorded 643 career rebounds to rank third on those charts.

This season, Heinbaugh is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 57.7 percent from the field.  He ranks fourth in the RMAC for rebounding and fifth in the conference for field goal percentage.  He also ranks 15th in the RMAC for free throw percentage (.757) and is second in defensive rebounding, averaging 5.3 defensive caroms per game.

He had also been honored as the conference’s defensive player of the week on Nov. 22 and is one of three different Grizzlies to receive the honor this season (Shayar Lee, Marqus Richards).  He had also been named as the RMAC/Baden West Division Player of the Week as a redshirt freshman on Feb. 11, 2008 when the 14-team conference was split into two 7-team divisions, a format that is now longer used.

As a team, the Grizzlies have now matched their NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present) school record for wins (18) with still two regular season games left on the slate.  They also sport a 14-6 RMAC record and have claimed more conference wins than any other ASC team since at least 1972. 

The Grizzlies are currently tied with Fort Lewis for fourth place in what are very tight RMAC standings heading into the last weekend of conference tournament play.  Although they are assured of a RMAC Shootout spot, the Grizzlies can mathematically finish anywhere from the No. 1 to No. 7 seed depending on results from this final weekend.

They are also in the midst of a dog-fight for a spot in the NCAA Division II National Tournament and were ranked ninth in last week’s Central Regional Rankings that will eventually determine the at-large selections and seeding for the 8-team regional portion of the tournament.  New rankings will be released Wednesday and could see the Grizzlies move up thanks to their 2-0 weekend and Saturday’s win over Colorado Mines, which was ranked second in the region and 20th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Association’s Top 25 Poll, which will be updated and announced Tuesday.

The Grizzlies next play at Mesa State in a game that will have major implications for both the conference and regional tournaments.  Mesa State is the RMAC’s hottest team and has won five straight games while improving to 17-7 overall and to 13-7 in RMAC play.  The Mavericks, who defeated the Grizzlies 89-77 on Dec. 20 in Alamosa, are just one game behind the Grizzlies in the RMAC standings but would move into a tie, and effectively pass them with them with a Friday night win as a victory would give the Mavericks a season-sweep of the Grizzlies and thus the higher seed in any RMAC Shootout tie-breaking procedures.

However, a Grizzly win would put the Grizzlies two games ahead of the Mavericks and would keep them very much alive to host a RMAC Shootout quarterfinal on Tuesday, Mar. 1, a right that goes to the top four seeds.

Mesa State also occupied the No. 8 spot in last week’s Central Regional rankings.

The Grizzlies, who have won four straight heading into Friday, then play at Western State (7-18, 6-14 RMAC) to close out the regular season on Saturday.  The Mountaineers have been eliminated from post-season contention but will be looking to close out their regular season on a strong note while avenging the Grizzlies’ 90-74 win over them on Dec. 19.

Fort Lewis, which would win any head-to-head tiebreakers over the Grizzlies, by virtue of their season sweep of ASC, plays the same two teams on opposite nights.  That victory was one of the Grizzlies’ 12 this season in Plachy Hall, where they are 16-2 over the last 18 games.

Both of this weekend’s games are slated for 8 p.m. starts following 6 p.m. women’s clashes of equal importance and can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com.

They can also be seen online with a single-game or season pass subscription to AmericaOne (formerly B2 Networks).  Live statistics for both games will also be available and can be accessed by clicking here for the Mesa State game or here for the Western State game.

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Related Item: RMAC Statistics