Former TCS Tigers Standout Already Making Impact for D3 Defenders
CLARKS SUMMIT, PA–In just a few games into his sophomore year at Baptist Bible College, former Timothy Christian standout, Dan Decker is already making a significant impact on the men’s basketball team there. After a stellar freshman campaign, Decker has continued to play well at the start of the 2013-14 season. Through the first five games of this season, Decker is averaging 18.0 points per game, which is third on the team in scoring, but not too far behind the Defenders’ leading scorer.
The Old Bridge native already had a game high 34 points in a recent win over Keuka College in the semifinals of the RIT Tournament last week. He has played in and started in all five of Baptist Bible College’s games. In those five games, Decker is averaging 37 minutes, 18 points, and 1.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 28 of 61 overall, which is just under 46 percent including a 19 of 41 showing from beyond the arc for 46.3 percent. Decker is near perfect at the foul line shooting 15 of 16 for 94 percent. Baptist Bible College is 3-2 overall on the season including a 77-74 win over Wilkes University, which has two former GMC standouts in Cardinal McCarrick’s Craig Thomas and Monroe’s Steve Blish. The Defenders were only 7-18 overall last season.
Last year, Decker made a big splash as a freshman for BBC. He played in all 25 games including 24 starts, and he averaged 32.4 minutes per contest. He was fourth on the team in scoring with a 10.8 points per game average while shooting 93 of 201 for 46.3 percent including a 61 of 126 showing from three point range for 48.4 percent. He also averaged 1.6 assists per game, and 1.1 rebounds per game. Decker attempted the most threes on the team in 2012-13, and was second in three point field goal percentage. He was also third on the team in overall field goal attempts, and in free throw percentage. Decker also had team highs in three games including Misericordia (16 points), Keystone College (19 points), and Neumann University (19 points).
Decker is not the only player from Timothy Christian to go on to have success at Baptist Bible College. TCS 2008 graduate, Tommy Waszaj also played at the school, and scored 903 points in 65 games for an average of 13.9 points per game. Baptist Bible College is a member of the Colonial States Athletic Conference, which includes many colleges from Pennsylvania such as Cabrini, Marywood University, and Neumann University along with Centenary College of New Jersey, and Notre Dame of Maryland. Four former players from the GMC are playing at Centenary including Tim Brix (Monroe), Tyler Harris (South River), Justen Davis (Wardlaw), and Ryan Stolte (Monroe).