The Rockhurst Hawks open the 2015-16 regular season Saturday night under first-year head coach
Drew Diener against the Calvary Bible Warriors, who are members of the Midwest Christian College Conference.
Diener previously enjoyed a successful six-year stint at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. His teams captured six Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season titles, three CCAC tournament titles and one national championship. He posted an overall record of 168-43, including 95-7 in conference play and 73-8 at home. He was named NABC/NAIA UPS National Coach of the Year and Rawlings NAIA Division II Coach of the Year. Diener was named the CCAC Coach of the Year five times.
"We had two challenging scrimmages in the past couple weeks that helped prepare us for the non-conference portion of our schedule," Diener said. "Right now, it is important that we start building great habits each possession and each game. We need to guard on every possession and play smart when we have the ball. We have six games prior to the start of GLVC games that we can build our identity as a team."
The Hawks return nine lettermen and four starters from last season's 7-19 team. Senior center Dominique Washington forward is the Hawks' leading returnee. Washington averaged 11.7 points and ranked 15th in the GLVC in rebounding (5.7) last season. Junior forward Adam Fatkin averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds, in addition to ranking sixth in the GLVC in blocked shots (1.16). Senior guards Josh Roberts and John Burke both averaged 6.3 points per game in 2014-15. Senior forward Joshua Brannon, senior forward David Wingerson and sophomore guard Sam Briscoe also saw considerable minutes last year.Calvary Bible opened its season with a 101-77 victory over Kansas City Christian College. Senior guard Miles Valentino led the Warriors with 25 points and nine steals. Junior forward Aaron Wright contributed 19 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Sam White added 19 points. Calvary Bible hosted Central Christian Friday night.
?The Hawks defeated the Warriors, 115-58, last season. Adam Fatkin and Dominique Washington scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the Hawks.
