MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Kenyon (4-3) @ Albion (3-4) - Definitely this is a winnable game for the Lords. It's also one that they could lose quite handily. Kenyon's getting some good play but at times their vets have been inconsistent. Albion doesn't really have a good win in its ledger thus far. It'd be great if the Lords could whap the Britons and restore some of the shine for the NCAC.

I'm not familiar with whap, is this a technical term?

HAH.

You could own some WHAP: http://www.okharris.com/current/press68p.htm

[sac]

Kenyon (4-3) @ Albion (3-4) - Definitely this is a winnable game for the Lords. It's also one that they could lose quite handily. Kenyon's getting some good play but at times their vets have been inconsistent. Albion doesn't really have a good win in its ledger thus far. It'd be great if the Lords could whap the Britons and restore some of the shine for the NCAC.

I'm not familiar with whap, is this a technical term?

HAH.

You could own some WHAP: http://www.okharris.com/current/press68p.htm

I'm sorry I don't have any stats on Albion's artistic abilities.

[woosterbooster]

And who knows, the youngsters may not have any fear and loathing of Wooster...

Well, that's understandable.  Wooster: Fear and Loathing 101 being the most popular course on the Wabash campus, it certainly fills up early in the fall.  Lots of the new guys won't have it under their belts until their sophomore years.  Does Wally still teach this?

[woosterbooster]

I'm not familiar with whap, is this a technical term?

I thought that everyone knew the technical term was pip. 

Pip Wabash!

[smedindy]

Life would be boring if we all used the same modifiers...

[kiltedbryan]

Just getting a chance to tune into Woo-Bash, and *my goodness* it's all Wooster in this one. 79-40 (!) with 9 minutes left.

Xavier Brown with an incredible game - 35 pts, 13-17 fg, 5-5 3pts, 4-4 fts plus 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Wow.

Anyone have any clue the last time that Wooster beat both Witt and Wabash by 15+?

[kiltedbryan]

And it's Wabash 56, Wooster 97, final.

Great game for Xavier Brown, but I basically only saw the part of this one where the starters were sitting comfortably on the pine, so I'll let others provide insight and commentary.

Two stats stick out: Wabash only shot 29% (second straight opponent Wooster's kept under 30%) and Wooster only committed 5 turnovers against Wabash's 17. That's definitely a season-low for the Scots.

[seinfeld]

Two quick thoughts:

1) I'm still in a little bit of disbelief that people were wondering if Wooster would come around this season. It's as if the previous 20+ of coach Moore at Wooster never happened.

2) I said this a couple of times last year, but Xavier Brown is the most TALENTED player (note there is a difference between most talented and most effective) I've ever seen play at Wooster, and that dates back to the early 1990s. It remains to be seen how is whole career pans out, and what he can do in the postseason, but I don't there is much of argument right now based on where he stands in just his 37th career game. I also think he is the most talented player the NCAC has seen in a long, long time. I'd say since at least Estelle played the one year in the NCAC with Wabash. Now, I'm sure some are going to scoff a little bit at this, but if you watch him consistently like I have, I don't think there is even a hesitation. And the one thing that doesn't get acknowledged is how hard he plays, including the defensive end. He also logs an incredible amount of minutes and never gets tired. His only problem so far has been turnovers, but hopefully today is the beginning of the end of those issues.

And by the way, today was maybe the best individual performance I have seen a Wooster player put on. I'm not saying most important, obviously, but just a pure performance, it was incredible. Not one of his 13 field goals came on a layup. He also would have had two or three more assists except guys either missed easy shots or got fouled in transition and therefore didn't score a field goal. And he did all of this in just 25 minutes.

[kiltedbryan]

Two close ones in the other league matchups:

Allegheny 63
Wittenberg 67

DePauw 59
Ohio Wesleyan 61

[smedindy]

Alma bested Oberlin 71-57. Now 27-21 vs. Non Conference.

[smedindy]

Kenyon beat Albion, 70-65.

As expected Hiram got blitzed by Youngstown State 71-44.

28-22 vs. Non-Conference.

[woosterbooster]

From this morning's Wooster Daily Record:

"The Fighting Scots could get even stronger for the second half of the season if 2011 Wooster High graduate Alex LaLonde joins the team as expected.  Word is that LaLonde, a 6-foot-5 small forward, plans to leave the Air Force Academy, where he played on their prep school team, and enroll at The COW.  Under NCAA Div. III rules, LaLonde would be immediately eligible to play for the Scots as soon as his application is accepted. Scots coach Steve Moore said he can't comment on any transfer until he's been accepted to enroll at the school."

[smedindy]

Many schools have finals this week, so it's slim pickings. There are two conference games and two non-conference games in the next three days:

Today (December 10):

Denison (1-1, 3-4) @ Oberlin (1-1, 2-6) - Both teams are coming off of tough non-conference losses. The Big Red was run out of the gym by Marietta while the Yeomen never got untracked against Alma. Denison, I think, has more to lose here because if they want to stay in the running for a mid-pack finish and a first-round home game they need to win games like this. Oberlin's kept a lot of their recent games close, and it wouldn't surprise me if they kept hanging around until the end.

December 11:

Kenyon (1-1, 5-3) @ Denison (1-1, 3-4) - What is this the NBA? When's the last time there was a non-tournament back-to-back, or conference teams playing back-to-back conference games? At any rate, another big early season matchup between teams in the muddled middle of the conference. The fight for the #4 seed is going to be fierce. Kenyon has won three of four so they have a little bit of momentum, but anything's possible. If this was a swim meet there'd be blood in the water, alas, just an early season hoops game.

December 12:

Thiel (6-1) @ Allegheny (4-4) - With one more win the Gators equal their 2011-12 total. Will it come against the Tomcats? Well, why not? Thiel has a gaudy record but the only really good team that they played (Bethany) whapped them a good one. The Tomcats could come into this game angry, but Allegheny's played pretty good ball over the first part of the year so it wouldn't be a total shock if they stunned Thiel.

Grove City (1-6) @ Oberlin (2-6) - This is a good chance of a win for the league. The Yeomen are struggling, yes, but so are the Wolverines with their only win against a dismal Waynesburg squad. The PrAC isn't know for good hoops, so for the NCAC to keep up their good non-conference record they need to take games like this.

[ScotsFan]

Two quick thoughts:

1) I'm still in a little bit of disbelief that people were wondering if Wooster would come around this season. It's as if the previous 20+ of coach Moore at Wooster never happened.

I don't think it was a matter of people questioning 'if' Wooster would come around this year as much as when.  And I think it is because of Coach Moore and his ability to coach his teams up is why most people were not questioning if but rather how long it would take for Moore to be able to coach this team up.

I totally agree with you on Brown.  What an amazing performance he put on Saturday afternoon!  I swear, that basket must have seemed like the size of the ocean for Brown on Saturday!  Kid couldn't miss and he was just filling it every shot he took!

Interesing news on Wooster High Alum Alex LaLonde returning home to joing the Scots on the hardwood.  Although, looking at the Scots already deep, athletic and talented rotation, I'm wondering how much playing time he will actually see?  He'll definitely have to earn his spot in this deep and talented rotation.

And that brings me to a scary thought for the rest of the league.  I read where 13 of the 18 players on Wabash's roster are either freshmen or sophomores and their youth may have factored into the lopsided Wooster win.  Well, what about Wooster's youth?  Yes, the Scots have 2 senior starters, but outside of that, Doug Thorpe is the only major contributor on this team that isn't a freshmen or sophomore!  Woo's other 3 starters (Brown, Goodwin and Pannell) are all sophomores.  Of the other bench players, Kenny DeBoer is a sophomore and Geoff FuQuay and Josh Kipfer are both frosh.  So, 6 of Wooster's top 9 in their rotation are freshmen or sophomores!  Scary thought for the rest of the NCAC at just how young this team is and how much better they will become as they gain more experience and coaching! 

Oh, and I can't tell you how enjoyable it was watching Wooster run away and hide from Wabash!  After losing both of their early encounters with Witt and Wabash last season which put Wooster in a hole they couldn't climb out of in their bid for an 8th straight NCAC title, do you think Wooster just might have had these 2 games circled on their calendars?  I don't think it was any coincidence that these last two games were by far the most complete performances of the season from the Scots!

[GoRed]

Awesome video from Oberlin tonight!  High def and perfect clarity.  Will enjoy watching this game regardless of outcome (and I am concerned).

Congratulations to Oberlin for figuring out how to do it!