MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

Chuckin' Justin Hollowell!  After the preliminary acts finally cleared the floor, the real shooter was left, still throwing them in!  Holy Smokes!

[fantastic50]

"Wabash fights" is right ... the Little Giants put up a very impressive battle tonight.  The first half was the best end-to-end action I've seen all year at Timken.  Chase Halton's shooting (including a very long 3 at a key point) kept the LGs in the game.  In the second half, Dominique Thomas and Wes Smith continued to put up the points.  Wabash has a great deal to be proud of in the way they played this week, and my black-and-gold hat is off to their team.

Every time the Scots needed a big bucket tonight, freshman Justin Hallowell knocked down another 3.  With about four minutes left, and Wooster up by just four, Hallowell swished a long jumper, and as time out was called, pounded the black ribbon on his chest and pointed to Mrs. Cline, sitting behind the Wooster bench.  It was one of many emotional moments for Wooster, wrapping up a week full of them.

If I'm at Wooster for the next several decades, I suspect that I'll see the Scots basketball team cut down the nets more than a few times.  However, this first championship I've seen will always be memorable for the circumstances under which it came, and the lift that this run provided to the campus community.

[David Collinge]

Those of you who didn't feel like ponying up the $15 to watch the video can just tune in to those commercials where kids are throwing the ball over roofs and off of trees and swishing them.  That's like a highlight reel of tonight's game.  

H.O.R.S.E. is not really the kind of basketball I like, but when it's played at this high a level, it can make for a great game.  And it was a great game.  And it was very, very emotional at the end, especially when the team sent 7-year-old J.J. Cline out to receive the tournament championship trophy.  What a night.

Congratulations to both teams, and also to the All-Tournament Team:
Henry Heeter (Allegheny)
Dave Jolson (Kenyon)
Chase Haltom (Wabash)
Wes Smith (Wabash)
Ian Franks (Wooster)
Justin Hallowell (Wooster)...Al Van Wie Trophy winner as Tournament MVP

[goscots]

What a game. How did Wabash lose 13 games this season?  This was one of the more intense games I have seen at Timken gymnasium. Wabash deserves much respect for their play. They definitely belonged in the title game.

Congratulations to the Scots for earning the NCAC automatic bid.

Congratulations to Marty Bidwell for winning his 100th game as a Scot - the 7th straight senior class to achieve this milestone.

Coach Steve Moore now has 599 career wins...

[wooscotsfan]

Back from Timken and I will echo the other comments about watching a great game tonight!

Congrats to the Little Giants on a great effort tonight and yes, Wabash always fights!

This game was very close (68-67) until about the 5:30 mark when Bidwell hit a three pointer, Hallowell hit a three pointer and a Bidwell layup made it 76-67 with only 3:30 left.

Is there any doubt left in anyone's mind that Justin Hallowell (33 pts, 6 of 9 three pointers) should be the NCAC Newcomer of the Year!   An incredible shooting performance by a freshman who could not be stopped tonight.

After Wooster began this season with a 5-4 record, who would have guessed that they were going to win the NCAC regular season title, win the NCAC tourney and go to the NCAA's with a 22-6 record?  Major kudos to Coach Steve Moore and Coach Doug Cline on molding this young team into a conference champion!

I think that this tough game tonight may have helped to prepare Wooster for the NCAA tourney.  It would be nice to see the Scots make some noise in the Big Dance but it will be a great experience for this young team no matter the outcome.

GO SCOTS!

[cave2bens]

Congratulations to Wooster on a 5th straight NCAC championship.  Slainte and best of luck in the upcoming tournament! 

It was one heck of an enjoyable game to watch, even for this LG fan.  Hallowell was lights out, and when a team shoots over 50% from the field (and over 55% from three) and is a shot short of perfection from the line...

Wouldn't be surprised to see a three-peat matchup next year, with Wooster graduating Johnson and Bidwell and for Wabash, Maloney and Turpin.   

[Li'l Giant]

Congrats to Wooster. Good luck in the tourney. What a great shooting performance.

How did Wabash lose 13 games this season?

I wish I had an answer for that. Whatever switch the LGs flipped at the end of the season needs to be left in the "ON" position next year.

I would have loved to have been in Timken for this one. I hope next year we can do this again. Without the 13 losses that is.

Again, congrats to Wooster. Represent the NCAC well in the tournament.

[kiltedbryan]

Wouldn't be surprised to see a three-peat matchup next year, with Wooster graduating Johnson and Bidwell and for Wabash, Maloney and Turpin.   

Wooster's Brandon Johnson took a medical redshirt for this season.  He plans to return as a fifth-year senior next year and play for the Scots.

[kiltedbryan]

Since we've now seen all the match ups we'll see between two NCAC teams this year, I think it's probably time to say- what a fun, great year in the NCAC.  This conference shows all indications of continuing to be deeper top-to-bottom than it has been in years (perhaps ever).  Three lower seeds win in the NCAC quarterfinals, Hiram breaks into the top four and looks like it plans to stay there for awhile, Wabash gives Wooster all it can handle in a great tournament final, and with the exception of Oberlin and Earlham anyone in this conference could've beaten anyone else all season (see: Denison vs. Wooster in 2OTs, or Ohio Wesleyan vs. Oberlin).  With a ton of young talent in the league, it looks like this competitive trend will continue next season in the NCAC.

So here's to Wooster being a worthy representative for this year's NCAAs from a conference that looks to be on the rise in overall quality and depth.  Major kudos to Wabash in the game tonight-- I suspect we'll see a few more Haltom/Hallowell 3-pt raining contests in the next few years.

[M.Knapke]

Sounds like it was a great game last night. I was not able to attend. It was a great season and tournament for the Teams and the Conference. I agree with Brian's comments, Wooster has shown that they truely are not just the Conference Champs; but the best squad to represent us ( NCAC & Great Lakes) all in the Tournament.

Best of Luck.... Your re playing for us all.

Bring Home some Hardware.

[ScotsFan]

Every time the Scots needed a big bucket tonight, freshman Justin Hallowell knocked down another 3.  With about four minutes left, and Wooster up by just four, Hallowell swished a long jumper, and as time out was called, pounded the black ribbon on his chest and pointed to Mrs. Cline, sitting behind the Wooster bench.  It was one of many emotional moments for Wooster, wrapping up a week full of them.

This was indeed the capper on what was a very emotional week for the College of Wooster Basketball team!  And what a capper it was!  Hats off to Wabash who played one hell of a game and ended the season on a rather impressive run and should have plenty of confidence to build off of going forward to next season!  But I just don't think that anyone could have stopped this Scots' team from reaching their destination and that was bringing the NCAC Tournament trophy home for Corey!!!  I cannot convey enough how much I applaud the players and coaches for how they persevered through this very difficult week to reach their goal of an NCAC Championship!

It is so nice to be able to discuss where the Scots might end up as opposed to having to fret over whether or not Wooster's resume was good enough to garner them a Pool C!  For selfish reasons, I'm hoping that the Scots stay close to home at JCU (whom I'm assuming should be a lock to host out of the GL Region) so I could attend the games.  And in all reality, is there ever a year more wide open in the GL Region where any number of teams could prevail out of this region?!  Any other year, I would say I wouldn't mind seeing Wooster shipped to another region due to the toughness of staying in the GL Region.  But this year, I don't know...

[wooscotsfan]

For selfish reasons, I'm hoping that the Scots stay close to home at JCU (whom I'm assuming should be a lock to host out of the GL Region) so I could attend the games.

The D3Hoops projection envisions this exact scenario with John Carroll hosting Wooster, Hope and Medaille (from Buffalo, NY) in a 4 team pod for the first 2 rounds.  If the projected seeds play out, Wooster would play Hope in the first round and the winner would likely face JCU in the 2nd round.

If the Scots don't play in Wooster, this is probably the next best travel scenario as ScotsFan noted.

[wooscotsfan]

If the D3Hoops projected bracket is accurate, here are the geographically closest NCAA tourney teams for Wooster:

~65 miles  John Carroll
~95 miles  Capital
~125 miles Carnegie Mellon
~215 miles Thomas More (across river from Cincy)
~250 miles Medaille (in Buffalo)
~285 miles Transylvania (Lexington, KY)
~325 miles Centre (Danville, KY)
~330 miles Hope (Holland, MI)

The D3Hoops projected bracket is mingling some Great Lakes teams with some Middle Atlantic teams.  If the NCAA chooses instead to create a full bracket with mostly Great Lakes teams, it would likely be most of the above teams plus Wooster.  For example, if Centre stayed in a South Bracket, then Wooster plus the other 7 teams above could create a 8 team bracket with JCU as the likely #1 seed.  Wooster has been in pods/brackets with several of these teams in past tourneys (Transy, Centre, Cap, JCU, Hope)

Technically, the NCAA can ask a team to bus up to 500 miles (they avoid airline expenses if possible) which resulted in Wooster playing in Rock Island, Illinois last year in the first round.   Let's hope that Wooster as a Pool A automatic bid isn't asked to drive ~495 miles for a first round game this year.

National balancing of the brackets and the NCAA attempting to minimize travel costs for all teams could obviously result in some other combination of teams in a bracket as well.

[ScotsFan]

I really think that trying to prognosticate what the NCAA selection committee is going to do is kind of a waste of time.  I mean, what they try and predict here on this site is things that actually make sense!  And we all know all too well that the NCAA's thought process through the selections and seeding of the brackets often leaves us with nothing left to do  but scratch our heads...

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks, ScotsFan, appreciate the vote of confidence.