MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[GoRed]

Congrats to the Big Red on a big road win!!!!!
Coach G has the Big Red peaking at the right time.

I am not sure you want to face the Big Red in round one of the tournament!!!!!!
They may just surprise ya!!

Way too go BIG RED!!!

BRF - please have your doctor send me the same prescription he wrote for you.  I could use the inspiration. 

The Denison offense still is far from peaking because the Ghiloni system is still very unproductive.  Without the hot hand of Tiberi from the outside this afternoon, the offense was still very anemic and mostly Dimonde Hale.  Thankfully, Ghiloni saved himself from the boneheaded move of the century by putting Tiberi back in the game after pulling him with 8 minutes left and watching the lead evaporate immediately.     

The difference maker in this game, other than the red-hot shooting of Tiberi, was the performance of the Big Red defense.  They contained the Wabash big men extremely well and kept Shelbourne from penetrating.  Kurosh did little damage inside against the smaller Big Red defenders and Bailey seemed to be a non-factor the entire game.  He didn't seem to be laboring, but I wonder if the injury kept him from going full speed. 

I will be interested to hear Wabash fans' take on the game.

[David Collinge]

New poll:
Wooster up to #14
Wittenberg just barely off the bottom, 3 points behind #25
Wabash drops out but retains 5 points
OWU garners 9 points
DePauw loses what meagre support it had, but it's women's team sits solidly at #6.

[Wabash2011]

Congrats to the Big Red on a big road win!!!!!
Coach G has the Big Red peaking at the right time.

I am not sure you want to face the Big Red in round one of the tournament!!!!!!
They may just surprise ya!!

Way too go BIG RED!!!

BRF - please have your doctor send me the same prescription he wrote for you.  I could use the inspiration. 

The Denison offense still is far from peaking because the Ghiloni system is still very unproductive.  Without the hot hand of Tiberi from the outside this afternoon, the offense was still very anemic and mostly Dimonde Hale.  Thankfully, Ghiloni saved himself from the boneheaded move of the century by putting Tiberi back in the game after pulling him with 8 minutes left and watching the lead evaporate immediately.     

The difference maker in this game, other than the red-hot shooting of Tiberi, was the performance of the Big Red defense.  They contained the Wabash big men extremely well and kept Shelbourne from penetrating.  Kurosh did little damage inside against the smaller Big Red defenders and Bailey seemed to be a non-factor the entire game.  He didn't seem to be laboring, but I wonder if the injury kept him from going full speed. 

I will be interested to hear Wabash fans' take on the game.

Wabash fan take on the game.....Tiberi was the key , Wabash continued to lose him off the ball and he was deadly.   Bailey is in an old fashioned shooting slump, growing up with Jordan Hulls and having a similar work ethic, I can guarantee his time in the gym has increased since Saturday, expect DePauw to bare the brunt of his work.  Could the knee injury have something to do with it, possibly altered his jump? Maybe but more likely a slump.   Too good to stay down long.  It wasn't that he was being defended too close, he was getting good shots.  And it is clear that Wabash needs Bailey to score to win.

  Curosh hand finally seems well.

  Also Wabash has tried to work to penetrate to the bucket more since the last DePauw game and that's good, but....abandoning / not looking for the 3 pointer in their offense as much..has left them with teams packing it in....the 3 pointer is what had them undefeated until Transylvania .... Lost that game not shooting well from 3 and immediately changed the style.  Not sure how that is going to play out....lots of good shooters on the team....might need to open the scope a little and free up the inside. 

Denison played about as well as I have seen them, outplayed us and deserved the win.

[smedindy]

There are some important games afoot on Wednesday:

Oberlin (1-9, 6-13) @ Allegheny (2-8, 4-15) - Important? Well, not as important as other games on the slate. However, the winner still has a good chance to get the final slot in the NCAC tourney if Kenyon falters. The loser becomes a spoiler for anyone. The Gators have played pretty well in their past three games, while the Yeomen may not have Josh Merritt.

Kenyon (3-7, 9-10) @ Hiram (4-6, 11-8) - Hiram has lost three of four, and a promising season has hit the skids but a Terriers win can help with seeding. The Lords squeaked by Allegheny Saturday and look to distance themselves from #9 in the NCAC and can get to .500 with a road victory. This is a game that could have ripple effects throughout the league come tourney time.

Wooster (7-3, 16-3) @ Denison (5-5, 8-11) - The Big Red sprung a big upset Saturday, and frankly there is no reason to think they couldn't spring another shocker. However, they face a revitalized Scots squad that has taken care of their affairs after losing to DePauw. This has huge implications for both teams.

Ohio Wesleyan (7-3, 15-4) @ Wittenberg (9-1, 15-4) - The Bishops have recovered after a January swoon, winning huge games against the Indiana squads. They can do themselves (and others) a favor by stopping the Old Tigers on the road. Wittenberg beat OWU by two earlier in the season and with a win (and some help from Denison) can almost clinch the NCAC regular title.

Wabash (6-4, 14-5) @ DePauw (6-4, 12-7) - The Little Giants face another must win game. Not only is it the rubber game of the season series against the hated New Tigers, a loss could definitely mean a road first-round game. DPU has struggled a bit after their big upsets in January and they also need this game. There will be blood in Greencastle.

[pennstghs]

I'll have my thoughts and analysis from the "PAM" tomorrow night as I"ll be in attendance.

[WAlum]

The NCAC race could become VERY crazy tonight with an OWU win.  A Wittenberg win would almost surely give the Tigers a minimum of a share of the regular season championship.  DePauw or Wabash will be eliminated from title contention tonight. 

[wooscotsfan]

Wooster leading 79 to 61 over Denison with ~4 minutes remaining.

[ScotsFan]

OWU led Witt 34-27 at the half but Witt has outscored OWU by 15 in the 2nd half to win 66-58.  Witt is definitely sitting pretty now.

[David Collinge]

Hiram blows out Kenyon 96-79
Allegheny handling Oberlin 53-32 with 9:06 left
Wittenberg upends OWU 66-58 after trailing 28-11 after 16 minutes
Wabash and DPU in a nailbiter, LGs lead by 2 with 0:07 left, DPU ball; DPU missed the shot and Wabash wins 65-63

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 89  Denison 70 

Wooster takes care of business with a convincing road win over the Big Red.  Top scorers for the Scots were Jake Mays with 16 points, Xavier Brown with 15, Josh Claytor with 12, Justin Hallowell with 10 and Doug Thorpe with 10.

Denison was led by Dimonde Hale with 25 points and Larry Farmer with 16 points.

Wooster is now 17-3, 8-3 NCAC.   Next game is Wabash at home on Saturday afternoon.

GO SCOTS!

[ScotsFan]

Wabash and DPU in a nailbiter, LGs lead by 2 with 0:07 left, DPU ball; DPU missed the shot and Wabash wins 65-63

DPU misses a trey for the win at the buzzer so Wabash holds on for the win...

[smedindy]

Gheny wins 64-44. Josh Merritt did not play. Anyone have any word if he's done for the season?


Standings:

Wittenberg  10-1
Wooster      8-3
OWU          7-4
Wabash      7-4
DePauw      6-5
Denison      5-6
Hiram         5-6
Kenyon       3-8
Allegheny    3-8
Oberlin       1-10

[GoRed]

Mays played a great game with Claytor on the bench and Claytor came back strong in the second half.  A well played game on both sides in general, but the turning point was very clearly at 51-49 when the Big Red bench dummies subbed three players when things were going well and it all fell apart.  Game over. 
 

[pennstghs]

Wittenberg 66 Ohio Wesleyan 58

As noted before this was really a game of 2 halves. OWU dominated the first 1/3 of the game and Witt controlled the next 2/3. At one point it was OWU 30-11 but Wittenberg ended the half on a 16-4 run aided by 3 Josh McKee 3's in the last 2 minutes of the first half to pull within 7. Wittenberg finally started locking down on defense and eventually pulled away.

A couple things to take away: Ohio Wesleyan is a hell of a team, but just like everyone if they're not hitting shots they are very beatable. In fact, part of the reason they were up so much early was Wittenberg wasn't rebounding or defending and allowed virtually every point in the first half to be a free throw or shot within 10 feet of the basket. Once Wittenberg tightened up on defense (mainly through zone) you could see the results.

Tim Brady had an off game as he shot 4-19 shooting. Although he finished with 21 points, overall he was very inefficient. Also, OWU as a team shot 2-22 from 3-point range as they could get nothing going at all inside.

Wittenberg had an all around effort game as come expected as of late. They essentially control their own destiny for the conference race and its looking like a win vs Wooster next Saturday would most likely clinch the conference. Of course, Wabash could assist with a win at Wooster Saturday.

Tiger Up!

[ScotsFan]

As I noted last night, the conference is Witt's to lose but I thought I should add a, "Not so fast my friend" as well.  There are 5 games left on the schedule and Witt has 2 tough road games in Indiana remaining against Wabash and DePauw and they also have a home game vs. a Hiram team that handled them at Hiram.  They do have the advantage of hosting Wooster, but Wooster has proven that they can win in Springfield in recent past.

Wooster's remaining 5 games aren't much easier though as they also have 2 tough roadies at OWU and as noted, at Witt.  And they also will be hosting the 2 Indiana schools who also happened to beat the Scots when Wooster made their trek into the Hoosier state.  If Wooster picks up one more loss, the race is essentially over.  However, if the Scots can somehow find a way to win out including winning down in Springfield, I think there is a good chance of Wooster coming back to claim their 8th consecutive regular season title.  Really though, if Witt can just manage a split in Indiana, they will end Wooster's reign atop the conference...