Crossing all my fingers

GO BEARS!

Quote from: old ends on March 17, 2008, 05:35:27 PM

Which is nicer than the local Philadelphia paper about Ursinus.
Click Here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20080316_Ursinus_reaches_Division_III_Final_Four.html

This does bring up a good point.  I understand the Philadelphia Inquirer is a big paper that has to cover a lot and they have many Division 1 teams to report on but how about a little love for a local team that is on the verge of a possible National Championship in a  major sport.

Quote from: diplomaniac1 on March 15, 2008, 01:59:11 PM

Bearsfan1 -

Not to argue. But I seem to remember a packed house at Ursinus the last time F&M and Ursinus played for the Conference Championship (circa 2004). There had to be 2,000 at that game as well as there were fans standing in the corners near the player benches.

I think it was Luciano's senior year. The Bears also had another big man whose name I don't remember. It may have even been an overtime game. It was a tense, loud, hot, humid (and great atmosphere) even though your Bears beat my Dips that day!

Eric

That was a year before I got to UC and with it being the first year of UC hosting a championship, I can imagine it was packed and loud.  I think the other big man you were talking about was Steve Erfle.

Last night was another incredible atmosphere.  Stands (student section at least) was pretty full a full half hour before the game. Great support.  Whoever said it before the game, Coast Guard was definitely not intimidated by a loud crowd and their fans made their presence known.  Players from Ursinus stepped when needed. Shema and Noonan in the first half.  Shattuck in the beginning of the second half and Cousart with the big FT's at the end.  So awesome.  I am so proud of the players and Coach Small.

I will not be making the trip to Salem because I just started a new job and there is no way I could ever get to the Friday game. 6+ hours is just too far for me for Saturday. I would like to be there but I'll be cheering from home.  Are any of the games on TV?

My Picks
Washington U  vs  Hope - Blind pick for the #1 team in the country
Ursinus             vs Amherst - Going with my heart

Ursinus  vs  Coast Guard - Home crowd is factor

I looked at the box score from the UC-GC game and it said the attendence was 2000.  Boy it seemed like more.  For the five years I have been going to games, nothing has ever come close to the amount of people that were there tonight.  The stands were completely full and every wing of the gym had people crammed into it. Absolutely great atmosphere.  It was truly amazing. Also, for the second straight game, one of the biggest reasons for a Bears win was the inside play of Shema. Go Bears!

Ursinus's Spring break started last weekend and I thought both games had a decent attendence.  From talk I am hearing, there seems to be a bunch of students going back to school early and alumni coming for the game.  There was also a rumor floating around that Gettysburg would be busing fans in but I am not sure if that will be the case if they are on break too

My picks

Gettysburg          vs      Ursinus - Hope court advantage wins but 4 wins against any team is a tough challenge

Rochester            vs      Coast Guard - Cinderella stops here

I am just wondering if the crowd coming alive in the last 10 minutes could be felt on the broadcast because I think it really did contribute to the comeback.

The Ursinus game was incredible.  VWC showed why they have been one the best teams in the country over the last years during the first half.  They shut down Shattuck as he got into early foul trouble. The Marlins simply outplayed the Bears in every facet. I know I am a "little" biased but I thought the referees made some horrible calls and no calls against the Bears. I mean I have never seen a player (Shattuck) get tripped twice and be called for a walk on both occasions. In the second half, the roles totally reversed and it all started with Shema. He got the game reasonably close with some excellent post play on the offensive and the team defense completely came alive.  The crowd got into it and the outcome became familiar (Bears win).  The atmosphere was great even without a student body on campus. Some other observations. Shattuck had trouble tonight because of his ankle, he was not getting the elevation he usually does when he was in the post and came up short on many shots. So it looks like a Centennial Conference Sweet 16 game.  Can't wait!  Does UMass-Dartmouth host the next round?

Va Wesleyan       vs     Ursinus - As long as they play like they did in the first half and Shattuck's ankle isn't hurt too bad

Elms    vs      Gettysburg  - Just going with gut.


The UC game was a tale of two halves.

First Half
They came out firing, starting off on a 12-0 run (I think). BBC had no answer for Shattuck, 4 dunks and quick penetrations for easy baskets. UC also played well defensively but I think BBC's first time in the tournament jitters might have contributed to it.

Second Half
UC got burned by back door passes and got caught up on screens through the post leading to easy baskets. It didn't help that Shattuck got fouled hard going for another dunk and hurt his ankle. This was right around the time BBC went on a big run to cut the lead to around 11. He came back into the game and played well but who knows what he will be like tomorrow.

Congrats to Nick on becoming the all time leading scorer in school and conference history.

So it looks like the pick from the website is UC getting to the elite eight.  I hope that does happen. As a loyalty pick, I have them winning it all in my bracket.  Also the Bears most likely won't have a ton a student support on Friday and Saturday (hopefully) because their Spring Break starts on Friday.  I am hoping a bunch of people stay around for Friday's game at the very least to at least make it a little harder on Baptist Bible.

I am going to do the picks for the NCAA tourney

Ursinus            vs     Baptist Bible - I really think UC gets its done for its first NCAA tournament win under Kevin Small. 

Va. Wesleyan  vs     WPI - The marlins know how to get it done when it really counts (2 straight years in the National Championship

Gettysburg       vs     Salem St. - This one is going to be close based on the numbers, could go either way

Scranton          vs     Elms - flipping a coin

Here's a stat breakdown for GC's game:

                    Gettysburg               Salem St.
PPG                      73.0                     87.4
Opp PPG                67.3                     72.9
RPG                      34.2                    46.5
Opp RPG                36.8                    39.2
FG %                    0.481                  0.466
Opp FG %             0.391                  0.407
3P %                    0.344                  0.381
Opp 3P %             0.348                  0.305
FT %                    0.764                  0.671
Assists per game     16.04                   14.1
TO's Per Game         15.8                    17.2
T/O Margin            -1.92                    +2.1
Blocks Per Game      6.0                        5.4

Here is a stat Breakdown for UC's game
                   Ursinus                Baptist Bible
PPG                    78.7                     72.1
Opp PPG              66.0                     66.0
RPG                    37.5                     38.3
Opp RPG              32.8                     33.1
FG %                   0.505                   0.463
Opp FG %             0.390                   0.406
3P %                   0.427                   0.358
Opp 3P %             0.301                   0.317
FT %                   0.737                   0.714
Assists per game   15.7                     15.89
TO's Per Game      16.7                      19.0
T/O Margin        - 2.19                      -2.3
Blocks Per Game    3.63                     2.52

Does anyone know when the all conference team will be posted?

Let me tell you, I have rarely gone through so many emotions in such a short period of time during the final seconds of regulation between Ursinus and Haverford.  But I have to agree, the game was too sloppy. Turnovers have been bothering me all year with this team.  The biggest problem for the Bears was the zone D that Haverford was using (which caused a bunch of turnovers) and their inability to connect on their 3's last night.