MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

Derek, maybe you should try a hot rum toddy.  Or 11 of them. 

[David Collinge]

Kenyon takes care of business this afternoon in Gambier, defeating Wabash 70-55.  J.T. Knight led the Lords with a huge 20 point, 10 board, 5 assist afternoon.  Bryan Yelvington also recorded a double-double, with 16 points and 11 boards.  Wabash's Chase Haltom led all scorers with 23 points, but the Little Giants collectively only shot 27% and were out-rebounded by a whopping 22 boards (48-26).  Box.

Behind Tristian Gregory's 24 points, Earlham knocks off Oberlin 68-64.  Oberlin got 19 from Jordan Beard, but Mike Loll was held to 8 points on 3/11 shooting.  The Quakers had just 6 turnovers on the day and outscored their hosts by a dozen at the free throw line, helping to counteract Oberlin's 47% shooting and +7 rebound margin. Box.

Allegheny steals a victory at Denison on a free throw with one second on the clock, winning 64-63.  The game was a back-and-forth affair, with 17 lead changes and neither team able to build a lead larger than 8 points.  Chris Luther hit a short jumper with 2:06 left to give the Big Red a 63-60 lead, but the hosts were only able to get one more shot off, committing two turnovers and three fouls down the stretch, while the Gators converted four of six free throws, including one by Donte Brisco to provide the margin of victory.  Allegheny got 25 points from George Raftis on 9 of 12 shooting (but just 7 of 12 from the free throw line), part of an overall 46.5% shooting effort.  Denison won the battle of the boards 38-25 and had eleven more field goal attempts, but sent their guests to the free throw line 30 times, where despite connecting on just 57%, the Gators outscored Denison by 5--more than enough for the victory.  Box.

[David Collinge]

The evening ends with a couple of blowouts:

Wooster wipes out Ohio Wesleyan by the deceptive score of 82-65.  The Scots led by 21 at the half and by 26 as late as the 3:07 mark before OWU closed the game on a 14-5 run.  OWU, which has had low turnover totals all season, coughed it up 11 times in the first half, and shot the ball miserably when they managed to hold on to it.  For the game, OWU shot just 37.5% and were outrebounded by 13.  Wooster got out to an early 10-point lead despite missing their first 5 shots, but then righted the ship and ended up shooting 47% for the game (although just 26% from the arc.)  The fans who braved the cold and icy roads (myself not among them) were treated to 19 missed free throws between the two teams.  Wooster was led by Ian Franks with 18 points, all but one of them in the 2nd half, with four others contributing 9 or more points, including Bryan Wickliffe who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with his 9 points.  The Kyles led OWU, as Kyle Holliday netted 15 points before fouling out, and Kyle Miller added 13. Box.

Cedarville, ranked #4 in NAIA D2, waxed Wittenberg by the embarrassing score of 80-53, Witt's largest loss in over 4 years (since the NCAC title game in 2004.)  Wittenberg had just 4 assists on the night, and managed to force just 5 Cedarville turnovers.  The Tigers couldn't find the bottom of the net from anywhere on the floor, shooting 32% overall, 21% from the arc, and 55% from the free throw line.  The leading scorers for the Tigers were David Nowicki, who had 9 at the half and still had 9 when the game ended, and frosh Michael Cooper, who saw his first action of his career in garbage time and scored eight on two treys and two free throws.  Fortunately for the Tigers, as a non-conference, non-regional, non-D3 game, this one only hurts the pride.  Box.  In his postgame comments, Bill Brown suggested that the series between these neighborhood rivals (the two campuses are less than 15 miles apart) may not be continued.

[wooscotsfan]

Just got back from Timken after some snowy driving and Wooster made the trip worthwhile with a convincing win over the Bishops.  As David noted, this game was not really as close as the final score with Wooster in complete control before halftime.

I was impressed by both Wooster's defense and their rebounding.   OWU shot 37.5% because Wooster challenged most of their shots and the Scots won the battle of the boards by 46-33.

The newcomers are starting to play more cohesively and the defense is improving so Wooster seems to be rounding into form just in time for the conference schedule.  Nathan Balch and Justin Hallowell appear to be the best additions this season from a talent standpoint but Greg Ross, Mike Evans and Matt Fegan also played some quality minutes tonight.  Ian Franks took control of this game in the second half and Bryan Wickliffe really hustled tonight on the boards.

Gideon Mabeny was manning the video camera tonight and he is walking normally without a limp so his recovery seems to be going well but it will be next season before he hits the court.

It is always nice to get a NCAC win vs. a contender and this was a convincing victory by the Scots. It will be interesting to see how Wooster does against the rest of the NCAC in the next couple of months.  If the Scots can continue to play defense like they did tonight, they should be a strong contender for another conference title.

Wooster is now 4-3, 2-0 NCAC.  Next up is Albion at home next Saturday.

GO SCOTS!

[woosterbooster]

Wooscotsfan, you said it all.  This is a very different team than the one that lost at CMU just 11 days ago.  Albion next, and OWU knocked them off.  Things are looking good, and I'm very happy to be so surprised.

For your consideration: if it takes 6 months for a six-footer to recover from an ACL injury, does it take 7 months for a seven-footer, given the proportional length of his ACL?  

[David Collinge]

Nuscottsfan, thanks for the insights into Hallowell.  You do realize that we can see your email address, right?

[Reserved Seat]

Looks like Wittenberg's Sullivan is having the same problems he had at F&M. 

[David Collinge]

Looks like Wittenberg's Sullivan is having the same problems he had at F&M. 

which are...?

[wooscotsfan]

Team Records thru 12/6 (Overall, NCAC)

Kenyon 5-1, 1-0
Wooster 4-3, 2-0
Hiram 3-2, 0-0
Ohio Wesleyan 3-3, 0-1
Allegheny 3-4, 1-0
Wabash 2-3, 0-1
Oberlin 2-5, 0-2
Wittenberg 1-4, 0-0
Denison 1-5, 0-1
Earlham 1-6, 1-0
(Note: this list sorted by most overall wins)

Only 3 NCAC teams with overall winning records at this point.  Kenyon has looked the most impressive on paper so far with their tournament win at Chicago and beating Wabash at home yesterday.  Their only loss was on the road at W&J by 3 points, a team that also beat Wooster in Timken on opening weekend.

With graduation losses and injuries, Wittenberg only has 3 returning players (Nowicki, Murray, Snyder) who played significant roles last season and with 6 newcomers logging minutes they still appear to be finding their team chemistry.  As a team, they are shooting 36% from the floor through 5 games.

Wooster has 5-6 newcomers (Hallowell, Balch, Fegan, Ross, Evans, Sawyer) logging minutes and they appear to be headed in a positive direction as they have now won 3 games in a row after a 1-3 start.

Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash and Allegheny should also factor in the NCAC race this year but none of them have a winning record at this point.

Can anyone else add some observations to this discussion?





 

[imderekpoe]

Question regarding the Wooster-OWU game this weekend.  Did anyone else notice coach Dewitt and his seeming lack of interest in the game?  It seemed that once the Scots started to pull away in the first 10 minutes he just sat in his seat with his legs crossed and his chin resting in his hand.  I believe that he only called one timeout in the first half (after which they cut into the lead) and I'm not sure they ever called one in the second.  I dunno - maybe that's just his style.

[imderekpoe]

Can anyone else add some observations to this discussion?

We might know a little more after Kenyon's visit to Delaware on Wed night.  If the Lords win that one it sets up a pretty big game after the holidays when the Scots will travel to Gambier for the only game between Wooster and Kenyon this season.

Having only seen 2 NCAC teams so far this year (Wooster and OWU), its hard to make much of an early season judgement.  However, I think its safe to say that if the Scots continue to play they way have the last 3 times out - especially defensively - that they're gonna be pretty tough to beat.  But as mentioned by a couple of others, the Scots are playing mostly 1st year players and they're bound to have a few games where they don't play at that level.  And teams with a good inside game are likely to give Wooster some problems. 

I think it looks like its shaping up to be an interesting season with maybe 7 teams having a legit shot at playing a home tourney game this year.

[David Collinge]

I think it is worth noting that the four team that have beaten Wittenberg have a combined record of 26-3, and two of them are ranked in the top 12 nationally in their divisions.  When you have a practically all-new team, that's a rough way to start the season.  (You could say something similar about Wooster, but the Scots have more veterans and have had games vs. Oberlin and Hanover.)  I made the mistake of underestimating Witt when they struggled early last year, and while I think they're not the favorites, they'll still be a factor in the conference race.  Their next three games are against Denison, Hiram, and Otterbein, and the results of those games should tell us a lot.

Question regarding the Wooster-OWU game this weekend.  Did anyone else notice coach Dewitt and his seeming lack of interest in the game?  It seemed that once the Scots started to pull away in the first 10 minutes he just sat in his seat with his legs crossed and his chin resting in his hand.  I believe that he only called one timeout in the first half (after which they cut into the lead) and I'm not sure they ever called one in the second.  I dunno - maybe that's just his style.

That absolutely is his style.  He's the most laid-back coach (literally and figuratively) that I think I've ever seen.  It's not that he's not completely into the game, it's just that his body language doesn't belie his feelings.  I do wonder sometimes about his reticence in calling timeouts, though.  He called one with maybe 10:00 gone in the first period last night, and I immediately thought "wow, that's odd, he must think they're in deep trouble."  Which of course they were.

We've got a number of teams out there that have played or will play three or more NCAC teams, giving us a benchmark of somewhat dubious merit.
*Hanover--won at Denison 77-74; lost at Wabash 89-63; lost to Wooster 93-61
*Washington & Jefferson--won at Wooster 72-70; def. Kenyon 61-58; hosts Denison Sat.
*Albion--lost to Kenyon 61-55; lost to OWU 69-66; plays at Wooster Sat.
*Case Western Reserve--lost at Denison 92-82 (OT); lost to Hiram 84-80; hosts Kenyon Jan.3; plays at Oberlin Jan. 7; could host OWU Dec. 30
*Marietta--lost at OWU 80-58; lost at Kenyon 75-48; beat Denison 84-71
*Capital--def. Wittenberg 73-62; won at Denison 87-63; def. OWU 82-70; hosts Kenyon Dec. 22
I apologize and welcome additions if I have missed any.

[Reserved Seat]

Sullivan's problems at F&M were his inability to make plays from the point guard position(few assists) and his inability to knockdown his shot(current shotting percentage similar to last year).

[smedindy]

while the Gators converted four of six free throws, including one by Donte Brisco to provide the margin of victory

Donte Brisco? Wasn't there a movie made about him with Depp and Pacino?

Oh, wait...that was Donnie Brasco.

Nevermind.

[woosterbooster]

while the Gators converted four of six free throws, including one by Donte Brisco to provide the margin of victory

Donte Brisco? Wasn't there a movie made about him with Depp and Pacino?

Oh, wait...that was Donnie Brasco.

Nevermind.

The Count of Donte Brisco?  Shot six free throws, made four.  Film at eleven.