MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

Just as I was going to reason why the COW should never again invite the thugs of Cabrini to Ohio, Wooster's video goes out.  Why am I not surprised?  The least technically adept crew on the face of the earth, topped off by the poorest announcer.  Same old, same old.  As is my complaining, but I'm just so sick of this incompetence.

Yea, Oberlin!

[woolax]

Looks like Wooster gets the victory over Cabrini 97-81. But as Wooster Booster mentioned audio and video goes out around 5 minute mark of 2nd half. Very disappointing production, but at least Scots got the victory.

[wooscotsfan]

Back from Wooster where I watched the #10 Scots dismantle #20 Cabrini!     Great win!

Wooster won this game in convincing fashion 97 to 80 by playing excellent team basketball.  When you shoot 51% from the floor with 18 assists, your team is going to win virtually all of those games.

If you had told me before the game that Dan Fanelly would only play 14 minutes due to foul trouble and that Xavier Brown would only score 4 points, I would have predicted a Wooster loss.    The most pleasant surprise tonight for Wooster was the excellent team depth that they displayed.  Josh Kipfer stepped up big with Fanelly in foul trouble and dominated the paint with 26 points, 15 boards.  Evan Pannell nailed 4 of 4 three point shots and finished with 23 points.  Fanelly did manage to notch 14 points in only 14 minutes of playing time.  Freshman Spencer Williams was extremely quick, an excellent ball handler and scored 12 points in his first collegiate game!  Freshman Ari Stern also played significant guard minutes with good ball handling and very solid defense.  So, Wooster was 9 players strong in their rotation which should factor well for the rest of the season.  Scots played well as a team passing the ball and they played defense which is a word that is absent from Cabrini's vocabulary despite all the excessive trash talking done by Aaron Walton-Moss. 

Wooster is now 1-0.    Next game is at home vs. Mount Union on 11/21 in the Al Van Wie tourney.

GO SCOTS!

[ScotsFan]

What's surprising?

Oberlin outside of the cellar.  Coach Cavaco has definitely changed the atmosphere surrounding the program in recent years, even if his records haven't always indicated that intangible shift.  I didn't catch too many Oberlin games last year, so I don't have much else to offer regarding this season's outlooks.  Perhaps the other coaches recognized that a 6'9" junior averaging 9 and 7 may spell success for the Yeomen in the future. 

Maybe after last night's win over Witt, Oberlin outside of the cellar isn't so surprising after all...   

[ScotsFan]

Nice re-cap wsf!  Watched the re-play (muted btw  ) on MCTV and I must say, Wooster looked good!  Cabrini really has some issues inside as not only did Kipfer have far and away a career night with 26 points, but Fanelly added 14 in just 14 minutes of work. 

As wsf noted, a couple of Wooster's newcomers looked good as well in Spencer Williams and Ari Stern.  Williams is super quick and it was nice to see a Wooster guard slashing to the basket time after time with success and Stern was solid in his time playing the point.

I was also impressed with how the Scots played defensively.  They held 1st Team AA Aaron Walton-Moss to just 16 points and seemed to get in his head as he was fairly ineffective all game long shooting just 5-15 and fouling out with over 6 minutes left in the game!

Good win for the Scots and now its on to UMU Friday night which should be another good test vs. an OAC opponent...

[woosterbooster]

Wooster did look good in the blurry MCTV webcast, which eventually chose total darkness as per their norm.  I'm glad to hear from on-the-spot accounts that the Scots won the actual game also.

The team moved the ball well and nearly everything seemed to work at the offensive end.  To be sure, Cabrini had a hand in that, but there was a nice mixture of outside shooting, slashing to the hoop, posting up, and transition.  Very, very few bad shots were taken.

I'd say that Wooster's defense was also very good, given how difficult it is to defend against the Philadelphia bull-rush style of play when the officials are bending over backwards to help them.  Not nearly enough charging fouls were called, so often the Wooster players were forced to just back off to avoid whistles on themselves.  For a stretch in the second half, when Wooster had a big lead, it got ridiculous, the Scots being called for four or five non-fouls in a row.  But that's what happens in Timken Gym when you're Wooster and up 15 or more.

The only negatives: Fanelly picking up so many fouls, although some were surely very iffy calls.  The point guards not getting any assists; they're distributors of the ball, but rarely for scores.  LaLonde's shot looks way too much like it did last year; hopefully that won't be an ongoing concern.

[Schwami]

Oberlin hanging on against D-I Youngstown State, down 29-22 at the Half, and close to within one (32-31) early in the second.

The Penguins pull away down the stretch and win 71-53.  Still, a game effort by the Yeomen.

[woosterbooster]

In 2015-16, Oberlin will enter the transition process to make the jump to D-II.  Basketball competence seeming to no longer be an issue, the only remaining problem will be to downgrade the academics.

[Urban For Prez]

Capital 63 Wittenberg 43

I made my way over to Bexley last night to watch the Tigers live after watching them on that strange sideline-cam feed at Oberlin over the weekend. I wish I had stayed at home to watch the Buckeyes instead.  Other than a brief lead to open the game, Wittenberg was never in this one. Capital outplayed and out-hustled Witt on both ends of the floor for most of the night. I am particularly troubled by the Tigers' offensive woes to start the year. As a team, they are shooting 36 percent from the field and an eye-opening 18 percent from the 3.  Even behind a good defense, which Witt had occasionally last night, it's tough to win with those numbers offensively.  Right now, they simply don't have any playmakers.  I think freshmen Chad Roy and sophomore Brock Kiesler have the chance to develop into decent, if not really good, D3 players, but both struggled last night.  Sam Collins, presumably the leader of this team, has been a non-factor so far.  There's talent on this roster, but it's young.  I think they'll get it figured out eventually, but they are going to take their lumps along the way.

[David Collinge]

OWU 95, Kenyon 86

Season-opening win for the Bishops; Lords drop to 0-3.
http://www.battlingbishops.com/news/2014/11/18/MBB_11182014.aspx?path=mbball

[NCACfan22]

Oberlin handled Muskingum tonight on the road 71-55...looked really solid defensively and had some guys knocking down shots from the outside all game long. Could we be seeing the Oberlin program turning the corner!?

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 33  Mount Union 28

Josh Kipfer with 9 points, Xavier Brown with 8 points and freshman Spencer Williams also with 8 points are leading the Scots.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 80  Mount Union 73 

Wooster gets a nice win over a Mount Union team that has been picked to win the OAC conference this year.  Scots were led tonight by Josh Kipfer with 16 points, freshman Spencer Williams with 14, Dan Fanelly with 13 and Evan Pannell with 11.  In addition, freshman Ari Stern nailed 3 three pointers in the second half to help Wooster take control of this game.

Scots shot 49% from the floor and held the Purple Raiders to only 41%

Wooster is now 2-0.    Next game is St. Vincent at home tomorrow night.

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Scots had something like a 23-6 run in the middle of the second half to erase a 5 point Raider lead, then held on despite missing a ton of free throws down the stretch. UMU, by comparison, barely saw the free throw line at all.

[Dr. Acula]

Considering Mount isn't even ranked I'm pretty happy with their effort.  They were competitive with a top 10 squad on the road.  Wooster is obviously better, but I think Mount is making progress.