MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[RFB]

Redlands basketball is actually decent. Hey, it happens once every 20 years or so. The shadow of Gary Smith mediocrity still looms large.

The Bulldogs have won 7 straight and 8 of 9. They have a ton of talent and can go 10 deep.

Please don't remind me about The System. You'll give me nightmares about Amir Mazarei.

Who will be the tournament champ and get the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs? Pomona, Redlands, Claremont or Oxy? Impossible to predict.

OxyBob

Amir Mazarei is probably dropping 50 a night in some adult rec league.

[OxyBob]

Schedule for Saturday, February 22
Claremont (17-6, 9-5) @ La Verne (2-21, 2-12) 2:00 PM
Chapman (15-8, 7-7) @ Caltech (9-14, 7-7) 2:00 PM
Redlands (17-6, 10-4) @ Whittier (10-13, 5-9) 5:00 PM
Oxy (18-5, 10-4) @ Pomona (19-5, 12-3) 5:00 PM

Saturday's scores
Claremont 66 La Verne 56 -- CMS: Jeremey Horn 18
Caltech 71 Chapman 62 -- Down 10 at haltime, CIT puts up 47 in the second half to defeat CU.
Redlands 105 Whittier 90 -- UR: Griffin Baker 36 and 11 rebounds, David Menary 26 and 12 rebounds.
Pomona 80 Occidental 67 -- Interesting stat: Oxy did not shoot a free throw, while Pomona was 9 of 10.

Schedule for Tuesday, February 25, all games 7:00 PM
Caltech (10-14, 8-7 SCIAC) @ Oxy (18-6, 10-5)
Claremont (18-6, 10-5) @ Chapman (15-9, 7-8)
La Verne (2-22, 2-13) @ Redlands (18-6, 11-4)
Whittier (10-14, 5-10) @ Cal Lutheran (4-20, 2-13)

Pomona (20-5, 13-3) has completed its conference season.

Congratulations to Pomona and Coach Kat. The Sagehens were tops in the conference and will be the No. 1 seed in the 4-team conference tournament. Coach Kat's last 20-win season was in 97-98 when the Sagehens were 21-5. Redlands has won 8 straight, and unless the Bulldogs have a major malfunction against La Verne, the Bulldogs will finish second and be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Oxy and Claremont will decide who's the No. 3 and 4 seeds on Tuesday, depending on how they do against Caltech and Chapman.

SCIAC standings: Pomona 13-3, Redlands 11-4, Oxy 10-5, Claremont 10-5, Caltech 8-7, Chapman 7-8, Whittier 5-10, La Verne 2-13, Cal Lutheran 2-13.

OxyBob

[stag44]

Coach Kat's last 20-win season was in 97-98 when the Sagehens were 21-5.

OxyBob

I believe they went 26-3 last year as well. Good run back to back years for Pomona.


With the 4 teams set for the tournament, it's actually one of the more even tournaments the SCIAC has had since going to this format in 2008.

As it stands, Pomona and Redlands were 4-2 vs the other 3 tournament teams while CMS and Oxy were 2-4.

Redlands has come on strong with the introduction of Griffin Baker who is a big time freshman. They have gone on their run since inserting him into the starting lineup and he adds another dimension to an already dynamic team. Between him, Roggin, and Menary they are very dangerous offensively and extremely physical.

I think Pomona has the best player in the west coast in Micah Elan - he's dynamic and a big-time scorer. Combined with Preston in the middle and Kelbert who is a physical 3/4, surrounded with knock down shooters, they are a very complete team.

Oxy plays their style well. They play 6-7 guys and each player knows their role extremely well. Adler is their scorer with Shipp and Yellen-Flaherty being strong contributors. They have gotten some great play from their role players as well.

CMS has been interesting. They have some great pieces and have the ability to compete with any team, but have also struggled to play consistently. As with any other team, I do believe that they can beat any of the other teams and I would never bet against Scali in a game because of his preparation and experience. CMS is the only team that has made the conference tourney each year. 

[OxyBob]

Coach Kat's last 20-win season was in 97-98 when the Sagehens were 21-5.

I believe they went 26-3 last year as well. Good run back to back years for Pomona.

You're right. When I looked at past records on d3hoops and NCAA both only showed records through 2017-2018, not last season, and I didn't pick up on it.

I agree with your analysis of the 4 tournament teams.

OxyBob

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Week 3 men's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-third

[OxyBob]

Schedule for Tuesday, February 25, all games 7:00 PM
Caltech (10-14, 8-7 SCIAC) @ Oxy (18-6, 10-5)
Claremont (18-6, 10-5) @ Chapman (15-9, 7-8)
La Verne (2-22, 2-13) @ Redlands (18-6, 11-4)
Whittier (10-14, 5-10) @ Cal Lutheran (4-20, 2-13)

Tuesday's scores
Caltech 58 Oxy 55 -- Marcus Gee's 3-pointer at the buzzer wins it for CIT.
Claremont 73 Chapman 63 -- Stags win and finish 3rd in SCIAC.    
Redlands 103 La Verne 73 -- Bulldogs rout ULV for 9th straight win.    
Whittier 82 Cal Lutheran 65 -- Poets led from start to finish.

Final regular season standings: Pomona (20-5, 13-3 SCIAC), Redlands (19-6, 12-4), Claremont (19-6, 11-5), Oxy (18-7, 10-6), Caltech (11-14, 9-7), Chapman (15-10, 7-9), Whittier (11-14, 6-10), Cal Lutheran (4-21, 2-14), La Verne (2-23, 2-14).

The SCIAC conference tournament will be this Friday and Saturday. Pomona is the No. 1 seed, followed by Redlands, Claremont and Oxy. Friday night Oxy will be at Pomona, and Claremont will be at Redlands. The winners play Saturday night at the highest remaining seed. The tournament winner gets the SCIAC's automatic bid to the D-III NCAA tournament.

OxyBob

[stag44]

Conference tourney matchups are set

(4) Oxy @ (1) Pomona
(3) CMS @ (2) Redlands

In both matchups during conference play, the teams split. I'll put out a preview later this week

[OxyBob]

In both matchups during conference play, the teams split. I'll put out a preview later this week

I'll put in my two cents. I've seen all four teams play.

Oxy @ Pomona
Oxy is the No. 4 tournament seed because they could not beat Caltech. The Tigers lost both conference games to CIT, and lost a nonconference game to the Beavers. I never thought I'd see a season in which Oxy went 0-3 against Caltech. As for the game at hand, Oxy and Pomona split their two games. Both won at home. In the game at Oxy, the Tigers won 87-73. Alex Preston did not play for the Sagehens. In the game at Pomona, the Sagehens won 80-67. Preston did play and scored 17 plus 9 rebounds. Oxy has lost 9 straight in the Rains Center.

Pomona is the better team with better players. To win Oxy will have to play its best game of the year and keep the game in the 60s.

Pick: Pomona.

Claremont @ Redlands
Redlands has won 9 straight and 10 of 11. The Bulldogs play up-tempo and score a lot. David Menary, Jack Roggin and Griffin Barker are about half of UR's offense. As for Claremont, the Stags are a constant in a changing world. Year after year they play their deliberate, crisp style on offense, and smother the other team on defense. Win or lose, it's always fun to watch Claremont play.

The teams split their two games, each winning on the road. This game is a toss-up, but Redlands is on a roll. Currier Gym is a tough place for visitors.

Pick: Redlands.

OxyBob

[OxyBob]

Last night's SCIAC tournament semifinal scores:

Pomona 60 Oxy 50 Final

Pick: Pomona.

In the first half, Oxy shot 26% and 0-for-8 on 3-pointers and trailed 29-16 at halftime. 16 points won't get it done. Pomoma led comfortably in the second half. Oxy did get close at 43-39 at 6:30, but the teams went 3-1/2 minutes without scoring until James Kelbert made a 3-ball at 3:00, followed by a layup by Adam Rees at 2:00 to make it 48-39 and that was that.

Oxy and Pomona split their two games. Both won at home. In the game at Oxy, the Tigers won 87-73. Alex Preston did not play for the Sagehens. In the game at Pomona, the Sagehens won 80-67. Preston did play and scored 17 plus 9 rebounds.

Last night Preston scored 17 and had 13 rebounds. Micah Elan scored 17 and Adam Rees had 12. For Oxy: Caleb Yellin-Flaherty 16, Jacob Adler 12, Ryan Kaneshiro 10, Anthony Hollerich 10.

Oxy finishes the season 18-8. Pomona has won 5 straight and 8 of 9.

Redlands 68 Claremont 66 Final

Pick: Redlands.

This game is a toss-up

Great game. Close throughout. UR's largest lead was 4, and Claremont's largest lead was 6.

David Menary, Jack Roggin and Griffin Barker are about half of UR's offense.

Menary 19, Roggin 4, Barker 21 = 44

To sum up the game: Redlands led 68-66 with a minute left. Roggin was fouled with 22 seconds to go, but missed both FTs and Mitchell Kirsch got the rebound for CMS. The Stags did not call timeout and went for the last shot. Miles President tried a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go but missed.

Redlands is on a roll

Redlands won its 10th straight. Claremont finishes its season 19-7.

It'll be Redlands @ Pomona tonight at 7:00 p.m. for the SCIAC tournament championship and the SCIAC's automatic bid to the D-III NCAA tournament.

Pick: Redlands.

OxyBob

[OxyBob]

It'll be Redlands @ Pomona tonight at 7:00 p.m. for the SCIAC tournament championship and the SCIAC's automatic bid to the D-III NCAA tournament.

Pick: Redlands.

Pomona 87 Redlands 66 Final

Congratulations to Pomona! The Sagehens routed Redlands to win the SCIAC tournament.

This one was not close. Pomona led all the way. They got off to a 15-2 lead, and led 46-25 at halftime. Redlands only shot 28% and 1-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half. Pomona quickly started the second half 10-4 for a 56-29 lead, and the game was over.

Pomona: Micah Elan 22, Adam Rees 18, Alex Preston 13, Jack Boyle 10. UR: Griffin Barker 12, Kameron Wright 11, Aiden Williams 10.

The Sagehens are 22-5 and will find out where they'll be playing when the NCAA tournament bracket is announced on Monday. Redlands finished 20-7. I do not see a Pool C bid and a NCAA bracket spot in their future. I am not certain how the NCAA tournament committee decides pairings, but from past experience I am certain that whatever their decision, the SCIAC will get screwed.

OxyBob

[stag44]

Pomona heading out to Atlanta and playing Centre College in the first round - looking forward to seeing the Sagehens represent the SCIAC well.

It's a tough pod, but it's not crazy to see them coming out into the sweet 16 if they play well

[Teddy_Ballgame]

Pomona heading out to Atlanta and playing Centre College in the first round - looking forward to seeing the Sagehens represent the SCIAC well.

It's a tough pod, but it's not crazy to see them coming out into the sweet 16 if they play well

An expected and welcome respite from the SCIAC being sent up to to Washington, with Whitman and Whitworth a notch below where they've been the last few years. An unfortunate consequence being that all three teams in the pacific time zone will be playing at least 2 time zones ahead, with Pomona three time zones away. Seems unusual for a first round pod, but such are the realities of putting together a tournament with the D3 map the way it is.

Pomona will play Friday at 2:00pm EST/11:00am PST. On one hand, it avoids having to play at 7:30pm EST/10:30pm PST and end well past midnight on the west coast. But what is, essentially, an 11:00 am start time would still have to be odd for a team whose game day preparation all season has been in expectation of an evening game. Curious how early they'll land in Georgia to start practicing and adjusting.

Either way, this team is the first Pomona team in recent memory with a core group who've experienced an NCAA tournament win. I expect them to be ready, and their first round matchup with Centre should be a good one. Centre is 24-4 and receiving the most votes of any team outside the top 25 in D3hoops.com rankings. They'll be busing about 350 miles down from Kentcuky, so their journey to Atlanta may take nearly as long as Pomona's.

Side note: a belated congratulations to the Hens' Micah Elan who, with his 1752nd career point in PP's semifinal game against Oxy, set the program record for points scored in a career (he now sits at 1782). Daniel Rosenbaum finished his career last year just 7 points shy of the record. Pretty incredible that they spent three years on the court together and were still able to amass such totals. 

Not surprisingly, Elan was named the SCIAC Player of the Year last month.

[Greek Tragedy]

Pomona heading out to Atlanta and playing Centre College in the first round - looking forward to seeing the Sagehens represent the SCIAC well.

It's a tough pod, but it's not crazy to see them coming out into the sweet 16 if they play well

An expected and welcome respite from the SCIAC being sent up to to Washington, with Whitman and Whitworth a notch below where they've been the last few years. An unfortunate consequence being that all three teams in the pacific time zone will be playing at least 2 time zones ahead, with Pomona three time zones away. Seems unusual for a first round pod, but such are the realities of putting together a tournament with the D3 map the way it is.

Pomona will play Friday at 2:00pm EST/11:00am PST. On one hand, it avoids having to play at 7:30pm EST/10:30pm PST and end well past midnight on the west coast. But what is, essentially, an 11:00 am start time would still have to be odd for a team whose game day preparation all season has been in expectation of an evening game. Curious how early they'll land in Georgia to start practicing and adjusting.

Either way, this team is the first Pomona team in recent memory with a core group who've experienced an NCAA tournament win. I expect them to be ready, and their first round matchup with Centre should be a good one. Centre is 24-4 and receiving the most votes of any team outside the top 25 in D3hoops.com rankings. They'll be busing about 350 miles down from Kentcuky, so their journey to Atlanta may take nearly as long as Pomona's.

Side note: a belated congratulations to the Hens' Micah Elan who, with his 1752nd career point in PP's semifinal game against Oxy, set the program record for points scored in a career (he now sits at 1782). Daniel Rosenbaum finished his career last year just 7 points shy of the record. Pretty incredible that they spent three years on the court together and were still able to amass such totals. 

Not surprisingly, Elan was named the SCIAC Player of the Year last month.

It's actually a nice change, rather the realities of the D3 map. As you said, a welcome respite not being shipped to the Pacific Northwest.

[OxyBob]

Pomona will play Friday at 2:00pm EST/11:00am PST. On one hand, it avoids having to play at 7:30pm EST/10:30pm PST and end well past midnight on the west coast. But what is, essentially, an 11:00 am start time would still have to be odd for a team whose game day preparation all season has been in expectation of an evening game. Curious how early they'll land in Georgia to start practicing and adjusting.

Centre is 24-4 and receiving the most votes of any team outside the top 25 in D3hoops.com rankings. They'll be busing about 350 miles down from Kentcuky, so their journey to Atlanta may take nearly as long as Pomona's.

Please, let's not get into possible excuses for losing a game because of jet and bus travel and time zone changes. Best to leave those kind of excuses for Illinois Wesleyan.

Side note: a belated congratulations to the Hens' Micah Elan who, with his 1752nd career point in PP's semifinal game against Oxy, set the program record for points scored in a career (he now sits at 1782).   

Not surprisingly, Elan was named the SCIAC Player of the Year last month.

Elan is an awesome player. Easily POY and well-deserved. Here are all of the selections:

SCIAC Men's Basketball All-Conference Honors Announced
https://sciacawards.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/20200227m1qnb0

Good luck to Pomona!

OxyBob

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Pomona heading out to Atlanta and playing Centre College in the first round - looking forward to seeing the Sagehens represent the SCIAC well.

It's a tough pod, but it's not crazy to see them coming out into the sweet 16 if they play well

An expected and welcome respite from the SCIAC being sent up to to Washington, with Whitman and Whitworth a notch below where they've been the last few years. An unfortunate consequence being that all three teams in the pacific time zone will be playing at least 2 time zones ahead, with Pomona three time zones away. Seems unusual for a first round pod, but such are the realities of putting together a tournament with the D3 map the way it is.

Pomona will play Friday at 2:00pm EST/11:00am PST. On one hand, it avoids having to play at 7:30pm EST/10:30pm PST and end well past midnight on the west coast. But what is, essentially, an 11:00 am start time would still have to be odd for a team whose game day preparation all season has been in expectation of an evening game. Curious how early they'll land in Georgia to start practicing and adjusting.

Either way, this team is the first Pomona team in recent memory with a core group who've experienced an NCAA tournament win. I expect them to be ready, and their first round matchup with Centre should be a good one. Centre is 24-4 and receiving the most votes of any team outside the top 25 in D3hoops.com rankings. They'll be busing about 350 miles down from Kentcuky, so their journey to Atlanta may take nearly as long as Pomona's.

Side note: a belated congratulations to the Hens' Micah Elan who, with his 1752nd career point in PP's semifinal game against Oxy, set the program record for points scored in a career (he now sits at 1782). Daniel Rosenbaum finished his career last year just 7 points shy of the record. Pretty incredible that they spent three years on the court together and were still able to amass such totals. 

Not surprisingly, Elan was named the SCIAC Player of the Year last month.

I think the times you read were PST ... Pomona plays at 5:00 PM ET - 2:00 PM PT. The only game "early" on Friday is Yeshiva-WPI which will be at 1:00 PM ET due to the religious restrictions for Yeshiva (they must be to their hotel/rooms by sundown Friday night). The next game on the bracket will start at 3:30 PM ET.

Anyway ... 5:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM PT start for Pomona-Pitzer.