MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Here are today's match-ups. No time for a preview. Busy day, busy day!

DePauw (6-4) vs. FDU - Florham (4-5) @ Tampa
Hiram (7-3) vs. Theil (7-3) @ Wooster
Heidelberg (3-7) @ Wooster (8-2)
Marian (IN) (9-4) @ Wittenberg (6-3)
Anderson (6-4) @ Oberlin (4-5) - You know the NCAC is having a blessed year if the Yeomen knock off the Ravens!

[smedindy]

One for tomorrow:

Denison (4-6) @ Washington & Jefferson (4-7) - Another chance for Denison to learn how to close games, and for the NCAC to win against the PrAC.

[David Collinge]

One for tomorrow:

Denison (4-6) @ Washington & Jefferson (4-7) - Another chance for Denison to learn how to close games, and for the NCAC to win against the PrAC.

...and for Denison to live up to their "anything Kenyon can do, we can do better" raison d'etre.

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 39  Heidelberg 27

Wooster is being led by Justin Hallowell with 10 points and Jalen Goodwin with 7.

[smedindy]

Now, let's not forget game one!

Hiram goes to 8-3 on the year (and now could be considered a contender to host an NCAC game) with an 89-75 win over Thiel. That's six wins in a row for the Terriers.

Alan Sheppard led Hiram with 25, with Jamaal Watkins adding 21 and Aaron Stefanov netting 17. Matt Roman was a perfect 5-5 from the floor off the bench.

The Wooster scorekeeper left one of the refs as "TBA", either that or it's a very much unusual name for a ref - more like a hip-hop artist.

Right now, the NCAC is 49-26 against the others in the basketball world.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 73  Heidelberg 61 

Scots were led tonight by Josh Claytor with 18 points, Justin Hallowell with 17 points and Jalen Goodwin with 11.

Heidelberg's top scorers were Darion Capers with 19 points and Nate Davis with 16.

Wooster shot 46% from the floor compared to only 38% for the Student Princes.

Wooster is now 9-2.  Next game is Geneva College at home on 1/4.

GO SCOTS!

[wooscotsfan]

With Today's Results, here are the Overall Records for the Top 6 NCAC Teams:

Ohio Wesleyan 10-1
Wabash 10-1
Wooster 9-2
Hiram  8-3
Witt  7-3
DePauw 7-4

The NCAC is becoming a deeper Conference this year and the title race will be interesting!

[smedindy]

The rest of today:

DPU 69, FDU - Florham 65 - Balanced scoring for the New Tigers, with Sean Haseley leading the way with 14, Michael Wilkison added 13, Kevin Sullivan netted 11, and Barry Flynn added 10 points and 11 boards. The Devils fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit and took a four-point lead with 7:04 to go, but DePauw regained their composure and came away with the win.

Wittenberg 70, Marian (IN) 50 - Clayton Black scored 24 points to lead the Old Tigers. Witt was in control most of the game and coasted to the win. No Witt player played more than 28 minutes.

Anderson 89, Oberlin 87 (2 OT) - Ooooh, soooo close! Oberlin had a six-point lead with 1:05 in regulation by the Ravens tied it up. Josh Merritt led the Yeomen with 21, while Andrew Fox added 18 and Geoff Simpson contributed 17.

NCAC 52-27 in non conference.

[David Collinge]

I don't want to throw cold water on anyone's enthusiasm, but Hiram's two victories this weekend were pretty unimpressive. They looked undisciplined, almost uncoached, both nights, and were the beneficiaries of a lousy game by a lousy team (Heidelberg) and a lousy game by a fairly good team (Thiel.) The Tomcats basically conceded tonight's game, walking through their game at half speed. Hiram played with a lot more verve tonight than last night, but I wouldn't want to put too much stock in these two wins.

Of course, Wooster's two wins were also unimpressive, but that's another story. They at least got a good effort from their two opponents. Wooster did play tonight without their most dynamic, if not their best, player, and as a consequence had some new and different combinations on the floor all night. Nonetheless, they should have put away a pretty marginal group of Student Princes with much more ease.

[smedindy]

Maybe that's their sneaky plan, David! To make people look unfocused. Perhaps they hyno-tized them!

[wooscotsfan]

I don't want to throw cold water on anyone's enthusiasm, but Hiram's two victories this weekend were pretty unimpressive. They looked undisciplined, almost uncoached, both nights, and were the beneficiaries of a lousy game by a lousy team (Heidelberg) and a lousy game by a fairly good team (Thiel.) The Tomcats basically conceded tonight's game, walking through their game at half speed. Hiram played with a lot more verve tonight than last night, but I wouldn't want to put too much stock in these two wins.

Hiram plays Wabash, DePauw and Wooster in their next 3 games so that should reveal their true character. 

[Wabash2011]

Hiram is a tricky game for Wabash.  No doubt that Wabash is the better team.  But with the long bus ride, a girls game before their contest ( no shoot-around on actual court), questionable health of Wabash Seniors (no details to give other than Curosh could be used in a pinch) makes it a catch game. 

[wooscotsfan]

A little more on the strong Non-Conference Record to date for NCAC Teams:

7 NCAC teams have a winning Non-Conference Record so far and even Oberlin is 4-4 in Non-Conference games

The NCAC's impressive record to date vs. other conferences: 

10-5 vs. the OAC
12-7 vs. the HCAC
6-5 vs. the PRAC (2 of those losses by Gheny)
3-2 vs. the MIAA
2-7 vs. the UAA (no losses by the top 5 NCAC teams, 3 losses by Gheny, OWU beat WashU)
2-0 vs. the CCIW (Wabash over Elmhurst, Millikin)

[WAlum]

Washington and Jefferson beats Denison by 2 today.

[woosterbooster]

Even were Earlham (0-7) still in the conference instead of Depauw, the NCAC would still be a nice 46-31.