MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

Unlike Trinity, no drama at Rhodes today as Oglethorpe took care of business without any fanfare 86-72. The Stormy Petrels pretty much led start to finish. Their 4 & 1 offense drilled Rhodes with quick and crisp passing to an easy victory. Rhodes was a step slow defensively & never looked like they were up for the challenge. OU got balanced scoring across about 10 deep on the bench. Rhodes was led by Kory Kilpatrick and Reid Hamilton (Hamilton scored a double-double in Pts/Rb). Today witnessed Hamilton competing against his younger brother, Price, a freshman @ Oglethorpe.

[phillipst]

Rhodes dropped a home game against Oglethorpe today.  Rhodes couldn't overcome a shaky first half.  They pulled to within 11 with about 2 left to play, but OU closed out the game making their FT's.

RECAP: http://rhodeslynx.com/news/2010/2/7/MBBALL_Oglethorpe_0207102538.aspx?path=mbball
BOXSCORE: http://rhodeslynx.com/documents/2010/2/7/Rhodes_vs_Oglethorpe_02_07_10.pdf?id=1383

[etg]

(El Tea Gray---re: Trinity 60---Millsaps 59)


Frank, Ron:
Don't sell that Tiger "D" too short. Trinity held Millsaps to only 21 points in the second half (no field goals over a 9 minute span). All those "zillions" of hours of practicing "D" is really paying off; didn't we know it would?

                                                                     

[pbrooks3]

The 4th seed in the West is still very much up for grabs. Trinity enjoys a nice 2 game lead over Millsaps and 1/2 game over Colorado College. What's interesting as we move into the final 2 weeks of the regular season is the way the schedule plays out, particularly for both Trinity & Millsaps. Trinity has 3 road games, including Austin, CC and Southwestern.  Millsaps, on the hand plays its 3 remaining opponents in the friendly confines of the Hangar Dome. Their competition is Hendrix, CC and Austin. Colorado College splits 4 games at home and on the road. Here's a possible scenario:  CC wins 2 @ home & loses 2 on the road to finish 8-8 or a #3 seed. Trinity drops 3 games on their Western swing to finish 7-9. Millsaps wins 2 of 3 at home to wrap up @ 7-9. We then get to do our SCAC tiebreaker analysis to get our #4. Well, does anyone remember the formula?  Something tells me Frank has already done this analysis!   

[phillipst]

If I recall correctly, and very well could be mistaken.  But it goes like this.

Tiebreaker 1: Head to Head Competition
Tiebreaker 2: Divisional Record
Tiebreaker 3: Divisional Record against the #1, #2, #3
Tiebreaker 4: Record vs other Division
Tiebreaker 5: Record vs. Other division #1, #2, #3
Tiebreaker 6: Divisional Home Record
Tiebreaker 7: Coin Toss

[jekelish]

Man, the coin toss is really something to witness.  I was there when it came down to a coin toss between AC and Southwestern a couple years ago, and it was a total mixture of excitement and tension in that room.

[OLD STUDENT/ATHLETE]

Concerning the league tournament, does the host team for the tournament, Millsaps this year, hire the refs, or does the league office pick the refs based on a consensus of the coaches in the league like the higher divisions? Does anybody know?

[pbrooks3]

Concerning the league tournament, does the host team for the tournament, Millsaps this year, hire the refs, or does the league office pick the refs based on a consensus of the coaches in the league like the higher divisions? Does anybody know?

The league office has oversight on picking tournament officials.  This is in the policy section for winter sports on the SCAC website.

[pbrooks3]

#1 team in the country - Guilford - goes down tonight by 27 points at home against Eastern Mennonite.   

[pbrooks3]

If I recall correctly, and very well could be mistaken.  But it goes like this.

Tiebreaker 1: Head to Head Competition
Tiebreaker 2: Divisional Record
Tiebreaker 3: Divisional Record against the #1, #2, #3
Tiebreaker 4: Record vs other Division
Tiebreaker 5: Record vs. Other division #1, #2, #3
Tiebreaker 6: Divisional Home Record
Tiebreaker 7: Coin Toss

Good post; everyone will know where to go if we should have a tiebreaker situation arise. It's also in the Policy section of the SCAC website.

[phillipst]

Thanks PB... Any of your great predictions for who will make it from the West?  What about the tournament?  What are your thoughts from a semi outsider considering you have seen most if not all the teams play?

[pbrooks3]

Thanks PB... Any of your great predictions for who will make it from the West?  What about the tournament?  What are your thoughts from a semi outsider considering you have seen most if not all the teams play?

It's true Phillipst that I have seen most every team play with the exception being Austin (actually peeked at CC by video).  Not a lot of guess work in the East with Birmingham-Southern having to sit it out this year and Sewanee too far out of it to advance.  I actually see BSC and DePauw finishing 11-5.  DPU wins 3 of 4 only dropping Sunday's game at Oglethorpe to draw the East's #1.  Centre and Oglethorpe each finish 10-6 as the Stormy Petrels win out as Centre drops its game tomorrow night.  Centre gets the #2 seed based on the second tiebreaker – better record in division (8-2 versus 7-3).  Rhodes finishes 4-12 to clinch #4.

Clearly the West is still wide open and will produce a wild finish.  Here's the way I see it.  Austin finishes strong winning 3 of 4, but drops its home game against Southwestern to finish #1 at 12-4.  Southwestern gets #2 (11-5) as they beat Austin & Trinity, but fall at Colorado College.  Here's where it gets interesting – I am predicting Trinity wraps up an 8-8 league record and claims the #3 seed (Trinity wins at CC and loses its other 2).  The 4th seed is a tiebreaker as Colorado College and Millsaps each finish 7-9.  CC finishes 1-3 only winning over Southwestern; Millsaps wins 2 of its final 3 with a loss to Austin.  Colorado wins the tiebreaker with a better record in division (5-5) versus Millsaps (4-6).

Tournament-wise, the team I like if they're shooting it well is Southwestern.  The sleeper I believe is Trinity - they must continue playing good defense and improve enough offensively over the regular season to have a chance to dance.  While these are my observations, this tournament is honestly a wide-open affair –virtually any one of the teams can win it all.

[pbrooks3]

 Pleasant surprise in the opening 20 minutes for Centre partisans as they hold a 19-point lead over Oglethorpe 38-19. Fortunate for the Colonels, OU is tossing gutter balls in this one as they're barely shooting 20%. Centre is partially responsible with good defense being exhibited. Danny Noll has enjoyed one of his best halves of the season with 16; Mullaney has 3 triples and Lloyd has pitched in 8 points & 6 boards. Centre is shooting better than 50% so far. The 2nd half promises to be a war as Oglethorpe will come out of the locker room stomping mad I predict. Hang tough Centre & play D!

[pbrooks3]

Centre earns its 2nd consecutive Eastern Division road win by defeating Oglethorpe 70-62. Danny Noll led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Todd Ward had 20 and 9 for OU. Both this win and last Saturday's victory @ DePauw are quality league wins.  DePauw Men beat Sewanee tonight so Sunday's game between DePauw & Oglethorpe shapes up to be an important one to see who comes out of the weekend with momentum to push for the #1 seed.

[frank_ezelle]

It looks like the SCAC Tournament starts today at 3:00.  At least that's the way it looks for Millsaps who are at 5-8 with 3 games to play.  My gut feeling says that Millsaps needs to win these last 3 home games to get in the tournament. 

While it's possible that Trinity (7-7) and Colorado (7-6) could finish 7-9 and therefore Millsaps could get in a tiebreaker with a 7-9 record, I think it is just as likely that it will take 8-8 to get in a tiebreaker.