MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[imderekpoe]

Good day for Wooster athletics, both short term and long term. Will start with short term.

Nathan Balch is becoming Mr. February/March. In six career postseason games for Wooster, Balch is averaging 17.8 ppg, shooting 67% (37-of-55) from the field and 66% (21-of-32) from three-point range. Another remarkable aspect of the win is how well Wooster played despite having two starters (Johnson & Hallowell) well below 100%. If it weren't for a couple of real shaky calls on Wickliffe at the end of the first half and Balch having to sit early in the second half, Witt never would have made their run, as the Scots came out in the second half playing like they did in the first.

As for hosting, Wooster will definitely host. They will be the No. 1 team in the Great Lakes Region. It's just a matter of who they will play.

As for long term, the College announced today that they will begin construction on a rec center, after all these years. Here is a snippet from the email that was sent out:

The board has voted to authorize construction of a 123,000 square foot Student Recreation Center, the first phase of our long-term master plan for the Campus Center. The timeline for the project is aggressive, but it means that those entering Wooster as first-year students this fall will be able to use the new facility by the second semester of their sophomore year.

This will be, in dollar terms, the largest capital project the College has ever undertaken: $30 million.

Interesting.  I assume it will be located where the Field Hockey field is now and attach to Armington PEC?

They're actually going to be ripping out the office section of the PEC, and the new part will extend to the south and east.

[wooscotsfan]

Back from Timken where I watched Wooster play a great game to claim the NCAC tourney title and the automatic bid into the big dance!

Scots played a complete game tonight and took care of the ball (only 10 turnovers ).  As Seinfeld noted, Nathan Balch played a terrific game and hit the big shots tonight.  Witt cut the Wooster lead to only 6 points (61-55) with about 10 minutes left in the game.  Coach Moore reinserted Balch and he immediately hit a three pointer to widen the lead back to 9 points.  A few minutes later, Balch hit another key three pointer to extend Wooster's lead from 12 points to 15 points with about 6 minutes remaining (76-61).  Balch had 22 points on 8 of 11 shooting with 4 three pointers!

Wooster had 3 players really clicking well tonight with Balch, Ian Franks (21 points) and Bryan Wickliffe (18 points and 7 boards).  Hallowell also looked good with 8 points and 9 boards.

Congrats to Wittenberg on a nice season with 21 wins.  Michael Cooper played an excellent game leading the Tigers with 23 points.

Kudos to Coach Moore and the Scots on winning both the NCAC regular season and tourney titles.

Let's hope that Wooster, now 23-5, can make a nice run in the NCAA tourney this year!

GO SCOTS!

[ArmingtonCave]

Good day for Wooster athletics, both short term and long term. Will start with short term.

Nathan Balch is becoming Mr. February/March. In six career postseason games for Wooster, Balch is averaging 17.8 ppg, shooting 67% (37-of-55) from the field and 66% (21-of-32) from three-point range. Another remarkable aspect of the win is how well Wooster played despite having two starters (Johnson & Hallowell) well below 100%. If it weren't for a couple of real shaky calls on Wickliffe at the end of the first half and Balch having to sit early in the second half, Witt never would have made their run, as the Scots came out in the second half playing like they did in the first.

As for hosting, Wooster will definitely host. They will be the No. 1 team in the Great Lakes Region. It's just a matter of who they will play.

As for long term, the College announced today that they will begin construction on a rec center, after all these years. Here is a snippet from the email that was sent out:

The board has voted to authorize construction of a 123,000 square foot Student Recreation Center, the first phase of our long-term master plan for the Campus Center. The timeline for the project is aggressive, but it means that those entering Wooster as first-year students this fall will be able to use the new facility by the second semester of their sophomore year.

This will be, in dollar terms, the largest capital project the College has ever undertaken: $30 million.

Interesting.  I assume it will be located where the Field Hockey field is now and attach to Armington PEC?

They're actually going to be ripping out the office section of the PEC, and the new part will extend to the south and east.

Wow.  I hope they don't mess with the hill.

[imderekpoe]

Great game for the Scots tonight.  IMO the game was won by the tremendous defensive effort in the first half.  Witt couldn't take a step without a Wooster player in their shadow and just about every shot for the Tigers was strongly contested.  Witt made a run in the 2nd half when Balch was forced to the bench with foul trouble, and the Tigers got hot from behind the arc.  But the Scots didn't wilt under the pressure, made a couple of key shots and put the game away.  Balch was clearly the Scots MVP for the tourney, but Franks was huge in the last 10 minutes driving to the hoop and drawing several fouls.

I agree that the Scots should host next weekend.  At least I hope so as I'm flying back from Philly on Friday and that's about the only way I can make it to the game!

And great job with the Anthem Fantastic50!  I wish that Wooster would have live singers for the Anthem more often...

I believe that the rec center will extend down the hill somewhat, although it was tough to tell from the drawings I've seen.  They're supposed to have a model inside Lowry Center, but I haven't seen it yet.

[imderekpoe]

And and off-topic congrats to wooscotsfan's alma mater, Carleton College, for winning the MIAC tourney!  They beat Gustavus-Adolphus in OT tonight, after beating St Thomas (who beat Wooster by 31 early this season) on Thursday.

[wooscotsfan]

And and off-topic congrats to wooscotsfan's alma mater, Carleton College, for winning the MIAC tourney!  They beat Gustavus-Adolphus in OT tonight, after beating St Thomas (who beat Wooster by 31 early this season) on Thursday.

imderekpoe - thanks for the note on Carleton.k+  It has been a while since the Knights made the NCAA tourney!

Here are some possible opponents for Wooster in the NCAA tourney:

OAC bid   Wilmington 21-7
HCAC bid  Defiance 23-5
PrAC bid   Grove City 19-8
MIAA bid   Hope 21-7 (may get matched with Midwest region)
AMCC bid  Medaille 23-4 (Buffalo - may get matched with Northeast)

OAC pool C?  John Carroll 20-6
HCAC pool C?  Anderson 22-5 (Indiana)

[Gregory Sager]

Don't forget DePauw and Centre, who are playing in the SCAC title game down in Mississippi tomorrow.

[wooscotsfan]

Don't forget DePauw and Centre, who are playing in the SCAC title game down in Mississippi tomorrow.

Greg - quite possible depending on how the brackets are balanced.  Centre has played at Wooster before in the NCAAs.

Two more possible opponents:

Pool B bid  Maryville 23-4  (these Scots have played at Wooster before in the tourney)
E8 Pool C?   St. John Fisher 22-5 (Wooster was sent to Rochester one year, why not the reverse)

[sac]

They also sent Wooster to Augustana one year.

[Gregory Sager]

It's just as likely that Wooster could play Nazareth rather than St. John Fisher. The two E8 rivals are practically right next door to each other in metro Rochester.

[David Collinge]

Lost amid the hoopla of the conference championship game is the fact that junior guard and POY hopeful Ian Franks scored his 1000th point tonight.  It was probably on a free throw!  He ended the game with 21 points, and it was the 17th that turned over his odometer.  Congratulations, Ian!

[wooscotsfan]

They also sent Wooster to Augustana one year.

Yes, that one squeaked just under the 500 mile limit by less than 20 miles? and they got to face the national champ Wash University in the first round!  Not a good combination!

[David Collinge]

Yes, Wooster has been sent to Rochester and to Rock Island in recent years, and I made both trips.  Fair's fair; if they can't get a home bracket this year, why not send them to Arcata to cut down on my travel?  

P.S. To ScotsFan:  I mowed my lawn this afternoon.  Just thought you'd like to know.  

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yes, Wooster has been sent to Rochester and to Rock Island in recent years, and I made both trips.  Fair's fair; if they can't get a home bracket this year, why not send them to Arcata to cut down on my travel?  

P.S. To ScotsFan:  I mowed my lawn this afternoon.  Just thought you'd like to know.  

I shoveled my driveway - are those just about equal?!

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, Wooster has been sent to Rochester and to Rock Island in recent years, and I made both trips.  Fair's fair; if they can't get a home bracket this year, why not send them to Arcata to cut down on my travel?  

North Park went to Arcata back in '78 and beat Humboldt State in the Elite Eight game, back when HSU was still a D3 school.