MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Big Game tonight: #4 Amherst at OXY. [...] It is not a regional game [...]

Wait a minute, let me check Streets & Trips to see if it's within the 200 mile limit...
Let's see...
Nope. 

But if the "regional while they're on semester break" proposal is enacted by the NCAA, holiday tournament games like this one will begin to "count," even if the schools are 2,922.5 miles apart, as these two are.

[OxyFan21]

#4 Amherst 60
Oxy 61

2:41 left in the 2nd half.

GO TIGERS

[OxyFan21]

#4 Amherst 62
Oxy 67

1:30 left in 2nd half

[OxyFan21]

#4 Amherst 68
Oxy 73

FINAL.

[David Collinge]

(first posted in Top 25 room)
Great game at the Rock tonight.  Oxy took it to Amherst throughout the first half, as Amherst looked lost on offense the whole time, and at the other end had no answer for Sam Betty, Oxy's 6'7" junior wing with great instincts in the paint.  Oxy's sophomore point Gemayal McBride simply owned Amherst's point (soph. Andrew Olson), which helped keep the Lord Jeffs in an offensive funk for 20 minutes.  But Olson hit a big NBA 3-pointer with 0:01 in the half to reduce the Oxy lead from a disheartening 9 to a manageable 6.

In the second half, Amherst executed much better, and a couple of ticky-tack fouls on McBride forced him to spend a good part of the half on the bench.  Oxy had plenty of chances to put the game away, but kept missing free throws, and Amherst ground their way back to a tie.  That's when Oxy stepped up the defensive pressure, began to out-hustle the Jeffs, and started hitting free throws.  The game was still in doubt right up to the last two possessions, but Oxy's defense kept Amherst at bay and pulled out the victory.

This game might have come out differently on a neutral court, but I'm willing to say that the better team won tonight.  Certainly the best player on the floor, at least at the offensive end, wore Tiger white--that being Sam Betty.  As long as Amherst failed to deny the entry pass, he pretty much did whatever he wanted inside: drive left, drive right, pull up jumper, dish back out. 

As for Amherst, while they are a quality team who showed a lot of poise in their comeback, there is no way that they deserve the #1 vote they are getting.  Of the teams I have seen, IWU and Wooster are clearly better, and UW-Stout, St. Thomas, Puget Sound, and (obviously) Occidental are right in the mix with the Lord Jeffs.

[OXY Oswald]

First time on Posting Up... I've been on the football boards for a short time.

Collinge - Great post, that summed up the game.  Oxy pulled a couple of big wins this week vs. Whitworth and Amherst (a strong squad).  Sam Betty was unstoppable in the first half, but the Tigers went away from him in the second and questionable foul calls let Amherst back in the game.  Good perseverence from the team and a great win.

Tigers move to 9-1 and are looking strong.

Oxy opens conference play at La Verne on the 11th.

This game might have come out differently on a neutral court, but I'm willing to say that the better team won tonight.

I thought there was a great showing at the game for the Tigers, especially since the students are still enjoying there semester break.  Can't wait till the first home game once the rest of the Tigers are back at school!

Loving the D3 Hoops season already
Go Tigers!

[digs]

Great win for Oxy...

Redlands with a win over the CCIW too.  I guess they have more tallent than OFS led us to believe.  What's up?  Diehard?  Anyone?

[Hoosier Titan]

Digs,
Wheaton, traditionally a CCIW power, is down this year due to graduation and a key player or two deciding not to play.  They haven't been picked to finish in the top half of the CCIW.  They will undoubtedly be back in the future.

Most expect this year's CCIW race to be between IWU, Augustana, Elmhurst, and North Central.

[Old Fighting Scot]

Great win for Oxy...

Redlands with a win over the CCIW too.  I guess they have more tallent than OFS led us to believe.  What's up?  Diehard?  Anyone?

Redlands won a home game vs. a team from chicago over christmas break that is picked to finish 6th in their conference.  Yea, my bad digs, i guess i have totally underrated Redlands.....

[dj_hyphen]

nice win for Oxy...looks like they're the favorite in the league so far

[OXY Oswald]

Is there a season preview/outlook available on d3hoops?  I know there is one for d3football. 

Just wondering, I was interested in reading up on some of the teams around the conference as well as the national picture.

Go Tigers!

[castle]

Congrats to OXY for getting the SCIAC some respect...now who was saying that Newhall can't coach???

[diehardfan]

Digs, Wheaton, traditionally a CCIW power, is down this year due to graduation and a key player or two deciding not to play.

Wheaton has 12 people on our roster right now. Only 11 played last night. That is a pretty short bench to play a team like Redlands. It was almost as much the fact that we didn't have enough bodies, as it was that all the bodies we have are soo young!

Only one guy on our team got significant minutes last year... significant being 19... we returned none of our starters. This is who we lost last year from our playoff team, in terms of minutes played... 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9 (one of the boys tied for ninth is currently injured). Just let that sink in for a moment.... yeah. I still love em though, and they will probably be better by the end of the season.

Jordan Kemper, the guy who scored 38 for Wheaton last night, in only 28 mins (foul trouble) has always been one of my favorite Wheaton players, but only played 5mins per game last year. Another of favorite current Wheaton players, is Johnnie Standard (whom I've been hearalding since his time in JV games!) and he was our second leading scorer till he got injured in the Benedictine game this year.

With two of our relatively experienced players either out or with significantly fewer minutes than normal, on top of all out losses last year, and the other playing an INSANE 39mins for this type of basketball (Tony is my hero!)...

I am hesitant to say all that, because I thought Redlands put in a great performace last night.... really hitting some huge treys at huge moments when I was just starting to feel like we had a comfortable lead. Hull and Pelo were insane from behind the arc. I really enjoyed watching the game, even though I am more of a "patient offense" sorta person. I was also glad to see that Redlands had decent fan support despite the fact that the campus was still on break. I'll definitely be back for more games this season.

[samiam]

now who was saying that Newhall can't coach???

Uh . . . that'd be me. However (uh oh, here he goes again), just for clarity's sake, I don't believe I ever said that Newhall couldn't coach. I just said the players would benefit from better coaching. All I meant to say is that Oxy's front court is impressive and, from what I've seen, could have handled even the Aggies, had the coaching been more consistent.

Of course, maybe those players wouldn't even be at Oxy, were it not for Newhall. So, what do I know?

This was a great win for Oxy, and I think Newhall did a fine job this time.

[tigersports]

I question those who thought that Oxy was slowed by bad calls.  Oxy got a nice little hometown boost from this SCIAC crew as Amherst was out of fouls six minutes into the second half.  This means nothing except that it made me laugh, but Amherst coach Hixon turned to me at one point and asked if the ref had a son on the Oxy team.  Hixon does get credit for working the refs for the fourth fould on McBride, though.

That said, what a nice win for Oxy.  They frustrated a very game Amherst team and withstood a big rally.  It had the whiff of 2003 to it.  Pomona, though, looked pretty strong as Lloyd and W-B are back for, what, their 9th years each?