Inside Athletics

The following is inscribed on the Men's Basketball Hall of Fame Plaque:

The 1980-81 Siena Heights College Men’s Basketball Team was a team of firsts in the storied history of the Saints’ men’s basketball program.  The Saints, which finished the season with an overall record of 22-11, was the first Siena Heights team to advance to the championship game of the NAIA District #23 Tournament.  Coach Ben Braun’s club was one game away from a trip to Kansas City and the NAIA National Tournament.  The ’81 Saints were beaten by Hillsdale College in the District #23 final and the Chargers went all the way to the National Championship semi-finals as the #16 seed in the 32-team tournament.  Senior forward Rod Everage, averaged 19.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Saints and was named to All-District #23 1^st Team.  Everage was also named to the NAIA Honorable Mention All-American team, becoming the first Saint ever to earn All-America honors.  His 280 field goals in 1981 still ranks #1 all-time in the Saint’s record books.  Jerome Jones averaged 18.8 points a game and joined Everage on the All-District #23 1^st Team.  His 38-point performance against Grand Valley State University is still a single-game scoring record in the program’s history.  Point guard Rick Girodot dished out sixteen assists in a game against Orchard Lake-St. Mary’s, and that’s also a single-game record that hasn’t been broken in 35 seasons.  Bruce Swart averaged 12.1 points per game and earned his first of two NAIA All-American Scholar-Athlete awards in 1981.  Swart (induction class of 2004) is one of four individuals from this team that are currently in the Saints’ Hall of Fame.  Reggie Moore averaged 8.3 points as a junior guard on the ’81 team. Moore was inducted into the Siena Heights University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.  Lawrence Miller also averaged 8.3 points per game in ’81 and joined Coach Ben Braun as members of the first Hall of Fame class in 1999.  The ’81 Saints captured their second straight Maple City Classic Tournament title with an 85-70 win over Tri-State (Ind.) University. They also retained the Milk Can Trophy for the third straight year with a 94-70 win over cross-town rival Adrian College.  Coach Braun’s club also had significant wins over NCAA Division II-ranked University of District Columbia and perennial powers, Kentucky Wesleyan College and Kentucky State University.  The final “first” for this Hall of Fame team was a 90-79 win over Ferris State University at the Siena Heights Fieldhouse in the semi-finals of the NAIA District #23 Tournament.  That semi-final win was the first in program history and advanced them to the championship game for the first time in the program’s history.