MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[nicevilledave]

Fwiw, OW-COW game is being video streamed from the OW website (link from the Wooster basketball website).

Wooster 39 OW 34 at half.

[wally_wabash]

We've got a back and forth game happening at Chadwick this afternoon.  Marian leads Wabash 22-21 at the break.  Neither team is shooting particularly well.  Wabash is using offensive rebounds to stay right with the Knights. 

Zimmer was held scoreless for Wabash in the first half...needless to say trailing by a single point with the team's offensive leader not on the board is a good thing for Wabash.  Let's hop Zim can get going here as the second half starts. 

[woolax]

Wooster pulls out win 80-77 at OWU

[wally_wabash]

This has not been the prettiest game to listen to....Wabash fell behind by 7 pretty early in the second half and has clawed their way back to a tie at 48-48 on Zimmer's first field goal of the night with 45 seconds to play.  Right now we've got 25 seconds to play, Marian has the ball.  

Marian holds...holds...holds....Marian misses a layup and the rebound goes to Zimmer.  Wabash gets a timeout with 4 seconds to play.  

And my feed cut out...now it's back and it sounds like we're going to OT.  Wabash shot 9-19 from the free throw line in regulation.  That stat stands out in a tie game.  

Back and forth in the overtime here as well....Haltom just nailed a HUGE three pointer to give Wabash a 59-57 lead with 28 seconds to play.  Marian's attempt to answer is no good and Wabash has the rebound.  Brian Maloney has free throw shots here for Wabash with 4 seconds to play.  The first shot is no good.  Marian calls timeout.  The second shot is good.  Marian is unable to get a shot off.  Wabash wins 60-57. 

Whaddya know...that's a winning streak for the LGs.   

[wally_wabash]

NCAC scores that I can dredge up...

Wabash 60, Marian 57 (OT)
Allegheny 72, Denison 50
Oberlin 68, Earlham 59 
Witt 77, Hiram 57
Mt. Vernon Nazarene 80, Kenyon 68
Wooster 80, OWU 77

[David Collinge]

It's been a long day, and it's not yet over.  I'm too tired to post much on the games I saw today, so I'll let the SIDs speak for me:

Scots Hold Off OWU's Rally, Retaking Lead Twice During Final 1:03 for 80-77 Win, by Hugh Howard (Wooster)
My comments:  Both teams played poorly for most or all of the first half, perhaps feeling the pressure of the big game.  Wooster took control late in the first half and stayed in control until, presumably to deal with their foul troubles, they went into a slow-down offense, nearly a four-corners.  That's not Wooster's game, and it gave OWU a chance to get back into the game.  The last two minutes, which were back and forth, were reminiscent of many Woo/Witt games.  OWU was a miserable 7/28 (25%) from the arc; if they had been any hotter, or conversely any less eager to pull the trigger on the trey, the result might have been different.  Any worries about James Cooper's early season funk can be laid to rest with a big "32" stamped on them.

Cougars Sprint Past Kenyon, by Marty Fuller (Kenyon)
My comments: Like last night, Kenyon was woeful in the first half, and very sharp in the second.  The difference was the opponent: Ohio Christian was easy pickins, but MVNU (9-0 and #8 in NAIA-2) is the real deal.  The fact that Kenyon "won" the second half by 12 is very encouraging, since, despite building a 24-point halftime lead, it did not appear that MVNU let up much if at all.  MVNU took over the gym, making it a virtual home court (with much, much better lighting), but the two schools disagree on how many Cougar Crazies were there.  Kenyon reports the attendance as 725, while MVNU says it was 1325.  Hmmm.

[David Collinge]

Oberlin 68, Earlham 59 

Okay, let's work this out:
Oberlin beat Earlham by 9
Earlham beat Lake Erie by 3
Lake Erie beat Wooster by 2
Wooster beat St. Thomas by 6
St. Thomas beat Winona St. by 1
...somebody more knowledgeable with D2/D1 hoops can take it up from here, but already we "know" that Oberlin is three touchdowns better than the best D2 team in the country, right?

[WooMix]

Regardless of level, 34 assists in a game of basketball is pretty incredible!

Division III Grinnell's Arseneault shatters NCAA assists record (ESPN)

[wally_wabash]

Regardless of level, 34 assists in a game of basketball is pretty incredible!

Division III Grinnell's Arseneault shatters NCAA assists record (ESPN)

I disagree.  Grinnell doesn't play to win, they play to break records.  This is meaningless as far as I'm concerned. 

You'll note the quote in there about wanting to play the best two offensive players for longer stretches...not because it helps the team win but because the coach wanted to see how many points those two kids could score.  That doesn't sit quite right with me. 

[sac]

Regardless of level, 34 assists in a game of basketball is pretty incredible!

Division III Grinnell's Arseneault shatters NCAA assists record (ESPN)

It doesn't sound like a record broken within the spirit of the game.  But then what is these days.

[Li'l Giant]

Regardless of level, 34 assists in a game of basketball is pretty incredible!

Division III Grinnell's Arseneault shatters NCAA assists record (ESPN)

It doesn't sound like a record broken within the spirit of the game.  But then what is these days.

It could be worse. It could be a record Mercury Morris wants to rap about. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

sac, I mostly agree, as long as Ben Strong's playoff scoring record is exempted (Guilford needed every point he got)!

[kiltedbryan]

Posted this over on the Top 25 board, but thought it should get mention here. I wish we had a regular OWU poster.

Calvin's the best 4-3 team in the country, I wouldn't poo poo them so quickly.

Speaking of that, after watching Ohio Wesleyan suffer another tough loss to a ranked opponent this weekend, I think OWU might be the best 3-4 team in the country. OWU's last two games have seen them lose to #15 Capital and #25 Wooster by a combined 5 pts. in games that could easily have gone the other way.

OWU also led (soon-to-be?) #1 Rochester for the wrong 3/4 of the game in a seven point loss on the road at Rochester.

Its other loss? To 6-0 Trinity (TX) in the season-opening lid-lifter on a neutral floor.

Combined record of the teams that defeated them: 24-3.

I mentioned on the Top 25 posting that I didn't think that OWU will get much national poll voting support. But this team is Wooster's primary competition for the NCAC crown, and, like Wooster, should be able to amass numerous victories against a very lackluster conference.

[ScotsFan]

I disagree.  Grinnell doesn't play to win, they play to break records.  This is meaningless as far as I'm concerned. 

I agree.  After reading how this seemed to be premeditated and also finding out that Grinnell seems to circle a couple of the easier games per year on their schedule as games to go after certain records, I'm beginning to feel that most of the records Grinnell has are of the meaningless varitety.  Or maybe disingenous is a better way to describe my feelings towards their record breaking performances.

[woosterbooster]

I disagree.  Grinnell doesn't play to win, they play to break records.  This is meaningless as far as I'm concerned. 

I agree.  After reading how this seemed to be premeditated and also finding out that Grinnell seems to circle a couple of the easier games per year on their schedule as games to go after certain records, I'm beginning to feel that most of the records Grinnell has are of the meaningless varitety.  Or maybe disingenous is a better way to describe my feelings towards their record breaking performances.

"Coming into the game we had a game plan looking to get John Grotberg '09 a lot of points, and maybe me getting the assists record in the process while also getting Keith Chamberlain '08 some points," Arseneault explained. "Everything went well. At halftime we looked at the situation and said we'll give it a further shot, and everything turned out."

When you combine the facts that they purposefully went after the record, and that the record-setter is the coach's son, well, that really sticks in my craw.