MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[DPU3619]

Or perhaps the team that needed a desperation 3 at the buzzer to win at Kenyon?

Hitting a three at the buzzer from the proper side of the half court line is not desperation, friend. 

DePauw knows a thing or two about those, and that wasn't one.   

[pbrooks3]

Yea, Centre nearly had back-to-back halftime 55' shots in the tournament.  T. C. Thomasen threw one in during the semis against Millsaps, but it was fraction of a second late.  Of course, Nestheide made his the next afternoon in the finals against Trinity.

[scottiedoug]

At least one GSAC fan also hopes Centre gets two wins in Ohio.  I always want teams Maryville has beaten to do well in the tournament!  Maryville's coach Lambert said after that game a long time ago that Centre would win at least 20 games, so they were good then and seem to have gotten better. 

[ScotsFan]

Or perhaps the team that needed a desperation 3 at the buzzer to win at Kenyon?

Hitting a three at the buzzer from the proper side of the half court line is not desperation, friend. 

DePauw knows a thing or two about those, and that wasn't one.   

OK, I'll give you that it wasn't desperation in comparison to that shot that made Sportscenter. 8)  I was just making the point that you could probably include that Kenyon game in with some of DePauw's lesser efforts on the season even though it was a win.  Needing a trey at the buzzer to beat Kenyon isn't exactly the stuff of legends.

[diehardfan]

We're collecting previews for each team in the tourney on one of the multiregional boards. If I get them by friday I may even be able to stick them in one document for people to peruse. A fun little tourney resource of sorts. Would someone here be willing to do one for Centre and DePauw there? Thanks!

http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=5147.0

[David Collinge]

Centre played one good half of basketball tonight, but it was more than enough to beat a lackluster Capital University 69-55 tonight.  Both teams looked pretty bad in the first half, which may be due in part to Matt Nestheide leaving with a facial injury at about the 7:00 minute mark.  At first I thought it was a broken nose, but he came back and played the second half without a mask, scoring 12 second-half points as Centre ran away from Capital.  I assume Nestheide is good to go tomorrow. 

Here's a link to Centre's recap and box score.

Here's a link to Wooster's recap, which also includes a recap of Wooster's 92-66 thrashing of Transylvania.

Centre brought a pretty decent crowd tonight, which was good to see.  It should be a good game tomorrow; good luck to the Colonels. 

[pbrooks3]

Yea, Centre got through a physical game tonight that they played without their star, Nestheide, for most of the first half.  Several key guards stepped up big tonight, particularly Thomas Britt, who knocked down five 3's and a game high 19 points.  The Colonels will definitely have a tough matchup Saturday night with the host team.  Wooster demonstrated in their thrashing of Transy just how good they are.  This next round is clearly matching the best offense and against the best defense.

[Stripes]

Yea, Centre got through a physical game tonight that they played without their star, Nestheide, for most of the first half. 

Actually, their best resource in a physical game is Scot Bottoms.

Good luck to a great Centre team....

[WooMix]

Final from Timken Gymnasium:

Wooster 73 - 56 Centre

For a team highly touted as a defense stalwart, I expected better.  This game was essentially over by halftime.

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to Centre on a great season, and on having a great group of fans who traveled all the way to rural north central Ohio to support their team.  Unfortunately, you ran into a pretty good team playing about as well as they have all season at both ends of the court, but that shouldn't diminish your team's great accomplishments this year.  Your team played well and represented Centre College very admirably.  Congratulations! 

[wooscotsfan]

Congratulations to the Centre Colonels on a terrific season!

Centre played great defense tonight against a potent Wooster offense and held the Scots below their usual scoring average.  Wooster's defense was also excellent and that factor resulted in the Scots getting the win.

Centre was led tonight by Matt Jacobson with 20 points, Matt Nestheide with 12 points and John Patterson with 10 points (couple of dunks).

Congratulations also to Centre seniors John Patterson, Matt Jacobson, Kyle Christopher and Stuart Rutledge on fine collegiate careers.

[pbrooks3]

Centre fans appreciate the kind words about the team and its performance tonight.  We hope to be back next year competing hard again in the NCAA Tournament.  Tonight, the Colonels simply ran up against a superior team in the College of Wooster.  Congratulations to Wooster!  I was very impressed with the Wooster squad all the way through the lineup.  When Centre shut down the primary scoring options, the Scots didn't miss a beat with their secondary guys.  Very impressive on the offensive end.  What most impressed me however was the Wooster D.  The Scots earned their stripes on the defensive side of the ball as far as I am concerned.  This is also what makes them a great team that gives them a chance to get to the final four.  Good luck!

[SCACAltFan]

To WooMix, show some respect. Wooster is a very,very good D3 team which could win it all. It was both a honor and privilege to play such a talented and well-coached team as Wooster's. It's fans like you which give schools a bad name.

[kiltedbryan]

As a Wooster fan, let me join in the congratulations on a fine season for your Colonels!  I was appreciative of your fans and your team- it looks like you have a fine program at Centre, and you put forth two pretty good efforts in Wooster.  I sat in the midst of your fanbase during your win over Capital, and felt that you all conducted yourself with class.  Nice to have you up to Wooster- and take heart, with any luck, you'll be able to say you lost the eventual national champions this year!  <Prays he didn't jinx it.>   

[ScotsFan]

Centre fans appreciate the kind words about the team and its performance tonight.  We hope to be back next year competing hard again in the NCAA Tournament.  Tonight, the Colonels simply ran up against a superior team in the College of Wooster.  Congratulations to Wooster!  I was very impressed with the Wooster squad all the way through the lineup.  When Centre shut down the primary scoring options, the Scots didn't miss a beat with their secondary guys.  Very impressive on the offensive end.  What most impressed me however was the Wooster D.  The Scots earned their stripes on the defensive side of the ball as far as I am concerned.  This is also what makes them a great team that gives them a chance to get to the final four.  Good luck!

pbrooks3,

You are entirely correct in the portion of your post I highlighted.  Wooster's play on the defensive end has been nothing like what we saw this weekend, and in reality, it really started last weekend at the NCAC Tournament.  Just 2 weeks ago they faced Ohio Wesleyan in the final regular season game and they allowed the Bishops to put up 89 points on them in a 95-89 win.  Wooster also allowed OWU to shoot 53% from the floor and an alarming 58% from 3 point range as the Bishops cashed in on 11 treys in that game.  Fast forward to last weekend and their rematch in the NCAC Championship game and Wooster wins 86-51.  In that game Wooster's D held OWU to just 31% from the floor and a stellar 14% from 3-point range!

Centre played hard and they never quit last night and that's what impressed me most about them.  Basically, it came down to that rough stretch to end the half for Centre where Wooster went on their big run.  Once Wooster established that big lead, it made it a tall task for the Colonels to pull off the comeback.  And then when Wooster came out and scored the 1st 9 points of the 2nd half to push the lead to 24, I figured it was all but over.  But to Centre's credit, they kept battling and made a little run of their own eventually cutting the lead to 15, but the mountain was just too big to overcome as that was as close as they would get. 

All in all, Centre has nothing to hang their heads about.  They came to Wooster and beat Capital pretty soundly and they were the champs of the OAC which is arguably the 2nd or 3rd toughest conference in DIII.  They just ran into a team on a mission last night.  I highly doubt too many teams in the country could beat Wooster at the level they were playing at last night and couple that with the energy they were getting from the home crowd and it was a pretty lethal combination for Centre.