No. 14 Richard Bland Hosts No. 18 Northern Virginia Tuesday Night

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Richard Bland College will open its much-anticipated 2016-17 men's basketball campaign against nationally-ranked Northern Virginia Community College on Tuesday night, November 1, at 7 p.m. in Statesman Hall. The Statesmen open their season at home and ranked No. 14 in the NJCAA Division II Preseason Poll, while the visiting Nighthawks were ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll. All home games can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM, WHAP in Hopewell.

Richard Bland is offering Free Admission to all home games this year in an effort to make Statesmen Basketball easily accessible for everyone and for all games to be a fan/family friendly environment. However, the Athletics Department is sponsoring "RBC for Haiti" during the month of November and will be accepting food, clothing and/or monetary donations at the doors to send to Haiti through the "Helping Haitian Angels" organization.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
No. 14 Richard Bland vs. No. 18 Northern Virginia
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Statesman Hall
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM | Via Phone: 641-552-5316
Stats: rbcathletics.com
Series History: Statesmen lead 1-0

Scouting the Statesmen
Richard Bland returns five lettermen and has added 10 newcomers to the program. The Statesmen, who are an impressive 74-25 (.747) over the past three seasons, are coached by head coach Chuck Moore, who is in his fourth season, and assisted by fourth-year assistant coach Brian Henderson, second-year assistant coach Preston Beverly and first-year graduate assistant coach Mike Wynn. Among its returning players, Richard Bland was led in scoring last year by local sophomore Gevon Arrington/Petersburg, a 6-3 guard who started 27 of 32 games and averaged 24.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Sophomore Deandre Clark/Orange, a 6-4 guard, started nine of 32 games and averaged 20.2 minutes, 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Sophomore Jaquan Wooten/Kinston, North Carolina, a 6-9 center, started eight of the first 14 games and averaged 21.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists. Richard Bland averaged 78.5 points per game a year ago, while allowing 77.4 points per game to opponents.

Scouting the Nighthawks
Northern Virginia returns three lettermen and has added nine newcomers to the program. The Nighthawks are coached by head coach Michael Abdeljabbar, who is in his second season, and assisted by second-year assistant coach Demetrius Felder and first-year assistant coach Darnell Barbour. Among its returning players, Northern Virginia was led in scoring last year by sophomore Addison Burgess, a 6-6 forward who started 18 of 25 games and averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Sophomore Trevaun Hyatt, a 6-5 forward, started 13 of 25 games and averaged 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds. The high-scoring Nighthawks averaged 88.9 points per game a year ago, while allowing 71.9 points per game to opponents.

Series History
Richard Bland leads the all-time series between the two schools in the sport of men's basketball, 1-0. The Statesmen won the only previous meeting against the Nighthawks by a score of 101-80 in a game played on January 12, 2014 in Statesman Hall.

Home Sweet Home
Richard Bland has compiled an outstanding home-court record of 37-7 (.841) in Statesman Hall over the past three seasons since the sport was reinstated prior to 2013-14.

2015 NJCAA Division II National Champions
Richard Bland won the 2015 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship, defeating John Wood (Ill.) Community College 64-53 on March 21, 2015 at the Mary Miller Gymnasium on the campus of Danville Community College in Danville, Illinois. The Statesmen finished with a school-record of 32-4, winning the national title in only their second year back in action following a 20-year hiatus from competitive sports at Richard Bland.

Up Next
Richard Bland will travel to Frederick, Maryland to participate in the Frederick Classic hosted by Frederick Community College on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5. The Statesmen will play Valley Forge (Pa.) Military College on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m., before facing Delaware Technical Community College on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.