No. 6 RICHARD BLAND SQUARES OFF WITH CATAWBA VALLEY SATURDAY

PETERSBURG, Va. – The No. 6 Richard Bland men's basketball team returns to the hardwood, looking to continue to its winning mentality when they hit the road for the second time this week versus Catawba Valley in a Region X matchup on Jan. 17, at 3 p.m.

The Statesmen won the first contest, 90-70 on Dec. 6.

RBC, 15-1 on the season and 7-1 in Region X play after taking down top-ranked Louisburg, 87-81 on Wed. Jan. 14. This season marks the second time in two years since the program has been reinstated that the Statesmen has been 15-1 through 16 games (15-1 in 2013-14).

The Statesmen are led by sophomore forward Tavon Mealy (Armstrong) 19.0 points a game. Mealy ranks No. 8 in Division II for field goal percentage at 66.5 percent. Sophomore forward Avery Ugba follows with 12.2 points and 8.9 rebounds an outing. Freshman guard Reginald Moses (Henrico) adds 12.0 points a game to become the third leading scorer.

Catawba Valley enters the contest coming off a 78-62 win over Guilford Tech on Wed., Jan. 14. Kenny Lemon finished with 18 points and eight rebounds following Dalton Nelson with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Trevin Miller added 13 points to go along with eight rebounds.

Led by head coach Bryan Garmroth, the Red Hawks are 9-9 on the season and 4-4 in the league after Wednesday's victory.

RBC leads the series 3-0. The two teams played twice last season, the Statesmen posted a 83-74 win in Statesman Hall (Dec. 7, 2014) and 85-65 victory on (Feb. 15, 2014).

For more information on RBC men's basketball, please visit www.rbcathletics.com.

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