MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Time to heap a ton of credit onto the Big Red for taking it to the Little Giants tonight.  Denison was faster and sharper than Wabash all night long and when you do that, you win.  Denison, winless at the time, also gave Wabash a very difficult time last season at Chadwick.  I said it then and it bears repeating now, I really don't understand why that team isn't winning more games.  Maybe they don't bring it like they do against Wabash.  Who knows. 

And now it's time to talk about what the heck just happened here.  Seven days ago, Wabash was 2-3 in the league staring at home games vs. Oberlin, Earlham, and Denison in the next week.  Top half of the standings here we come, right?  Wrong.  Wabash dropped two games and got their best player injured with 90 seconds left in a double digit win.  Frankly, this week couldn't have been any worse for the Little Giants.  Against Earlham and again tonight against Denison, Wabash was sloppy on offense, a step slow on defense, and just out of sorts in pretty much every way.  Aaron Brock has been about the lone bright spot (23 more points for Aaron tonight).  It's gut check time for Wabash.  The LGs have 8 more games to get right before the NCAC tournament starts up.  Hopefully something will relight the fuse for these guys soon. 

[wally_wabash]

Wally, or anyone else who's seen him, I'm interested in your opinion of Denison's wonderfrosh Mike Garabedian.  He had 20 points against Wooster and already has 20 this evening.  EDIT:  finished the game with 26 on 9/17 from the floor and 7/9 from the line.

I was pretty impressed with Garabedian.  He's certainly not built like a freshman...very good size for a kid in his first year of college basketball.  As mentioned, he torched Wabash for 26 and just hit big shot after big shot in the second half.  Based on what I saw tonight, he's going to be a really good player in this league. 

[ScotsFan]

Maybe they don't bring it like they do against Wabash.  Who knows. 

I could say the same thing about Wabash when they play Wooster...

I mean, Wabash played out of their minds when the Scots came to C'ville and then proceeded to lose back to back games at home to teams that the Scots have since handled easily on the road as well??? 

Talk about a team that is hard to gauge at the moment...

[David Collinge]

The last two times Wabash and Wooster have met, Wabash is 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 20.5 ppg.  The only other NCAC team to beat Wooster the last two seasons was Wittenberg, and that was by one point in overtime.

[BigRedFan]

CONGRATS to the BIG RED!!!!

Huge win for the Big Red....first time in history of Wabash coming into the NCAC for the Big Red to win at Wabash.

Sounds like Coach Giloni may have a bunch of potentially very good freshman.  Garabedian sounds like the real deal.

With Earlham up next, maybe, just maybe, the Big Red can get on a roll here to finish the season strong and sneak in the back door!!!


Looking at the stats free throws were the difference.   25 of 29 for the Big Red.  That is stepping up when you have to.

[wally_wabash]

CONGRATS to the BIG RED!!!!

Huge win for the Big Red....first time in history of Wabash coming into the NCAC for the Big Red to win at Wabash.

Sounds like Coach Giloni may have a bunch of potentially very good freshman.  Garabedian sounds like the real deal.

With Earlham up next, maybe, just maybe, the Big Red can get on a roll here to finish the season strong and sneak in the back door!!!


Looking at the stats free throws were the difference.   25 of 29 for the Big Red.  That is stepping up when you have to.

Free throws do stand out in the box score, but what the box score doesn't show is how much faster and sharper Denison was than Wabash.  They simply looked like the better basketball team on Saturday night. 

[BigRedFan]

Thanks Wally that is some very welcome news!!

I know the Big Red has had some tough losses. 

Again, maybe they can keep it up and close strong. 

[David Collinge]

Tristian Gregory's game-winning three-pointer at Wabash not only sent the Little Giants into a tailspin, it also earned the EC senior the coveted NCAC Player of the Week award.  Gregory had 52 points combined against Wabash and Wooster, keeping him just ahead of Kenyon's Bryan Yelvington on the NCAC's scoring charts.  Congratulations, Tristian!

[David Collinge]

We've got more bad weather headed our way.  This is from the Columbus Dispatch:

Grab some extra bread and milk and locate your snow shovel.

The National Weather Service posted a winter storm warning for a large chunk of Ohio, including Franklin and surrounding counties, early this evening.

Up to 6 to 9 inches of snow are possible by the time the winter storm ends Wednesday afternoon, according to forecasters.

Light snow is expected to begin tonight and continue into Tuesday, with some freezing drizzle possible Tuesday afternoon, according to the warning. One to 2 inches of snow are possible through Tuesday afternoon.

Then, the heavy stuff is forecast to overspread the region Tuesday night into Wednesday, with another 5 to 8 inches of snow expected.

The winter storm warning is in effect from 10 p.m. tonight to noon Wednesday.

Travel could be "very hazardous or impossible," according to the National Weather Service, in the area along a line north of I-70 to the Ohio River.

That line seems to extend into central Indiana, at least.  That puts Earlham at Denison (I-70 all the way) squarely at risk, as well as Wabash at Wittenberg.  Further north, we have this winter storm watch from the NWS:

AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE UP THE TENNESSEE VALLEY LATE
TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. WINTRY PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
LOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST
BEGINNING LATE TUESDAY. BY TUESDAY EVENING MOST OF THE AREA SHOULD
BE SEEING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF
SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND EAST OF LINE FROM MANSFIELD TO
JUST SOUTHEAST OF CLEVELAND TO ASHTABULA. ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 6
INCHES ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT IN THIS AREA WITH ANOTHER COUPLE
INCHES LIKELY ON WEDNESDAY. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO QUICKLY END
FROM WEST TO EAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

Hiram, due to host Kenyon, is squarely in the path of this one (Hiram's been squarely in the path of every snowstorm since 1830), while Allegheny would have to drive right through it to get to Wooster.  And Oberlin would have to deal with both parts of this storm (the northern and southern portions) in trying to get to OWU.  (The women's slate, at Allegheny, Oberlin, Kenyon, and Denison, are all also at risk.)

In short, I wouldn't make any plans I couldn't cancel.  With the forecast improving from Wednesday into Thursday, some teams may take a cautious approach and push their games back a day.  If you hear of any postponements, please post them in here.

[smedindy]

Us Minnesotans scoff at 4 to 6 inches as mere ground cover. Heh.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Us Minnesotans scoff at 4 to 6 inches as mere ground cover. Heh.

This year, us Michiganders, too.

The problem is getting to be that there is no place to put the damn stuff - my driveway is nearly 3 feet deep on both sides, and some roads are beginning to resemble tunnels.

[woosterbooster]

(Hiram's been squarely in the path of every snowstorm since 1830)

Correct.  'Twas Andy 'By God" Jackson himself that declared Hiram a national disaster area and it has remained so to this day.

[David Collinge]

Us Minnesotans scoff at 4 to 6 inches as mere ground cover. Heh.

The National Weather Service has heard your scoffing and has upped the ante:

Forecast for the northeastern section of the NCAC (affecting Allegheny, Hiram, Oberlin, Wooster, and Kenyon):

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 4 PM EST
Wednesday for northeast and north central Ohio.

Heavy snow will spread across the region this evening and last
through the first half of Wednesday as low pressure moves through
the Ohio Valley. Snow will increase in intensity this evening and
continue through the overnight hours. Snow will be heavy at
times... especially around daybreak Wednesday. By the time the
snow tapers off Wednesday afternoon most of the region should see
7 to 10 inches of new snow accumulation. Some blowing and drifting
of snow will be possible Wednesday afternoon as winds increase out
of the northwest.

Forecast for the I-70 section of the NCAC, where it has already begun to snow (affecting Denison, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg, Earlham, and perhaps Wabash):

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 12 PM EST
Wednesday.

Snow will mix with sleet and freezing rain overnight. The wintry
precipitation will change back to all snow early tomorrow morning.
Then the snow will taper off from west to east tomorrow afternoon.

An additional 3 to 5 inches of snow and sleet will occur tonight
along with up to one tenth of an inch of ice accumulation. Another
2 to 3 inches of snow can be expected tomorrow.

Total snow accumulation for the entire event will be 7 to 11
inches.

Especially considering that conditions look to improve rapidly on Wednesday evening and Thursday, I'm expecting that most or all of tomorrow's games will be pushed back to Thursday.  This especially sucks for Wittenberg (forecast for Springfield is 8-12"), who has a game scheduled for Friday night vs. Transylvania and another Saturday vs. Hiram.  If their game with Wabash is pushed to Thursday, they'd have three games in three nights.  At least they'd all be home games.

[wally_wabash]

Seems a silly thing to schedule out of conference smack dab in the middle of conference play.  That's why we have November and December!  How realistic do you suppose it would be for Wittenberg to postpone or maybe even more likely cancel that game vs. Transy?  Three games in three nights is hard...particularly when that third game is against the conference co-leader who is working off of a more normal rest. 

[David Collinge]

I don't know why that Transy game is there, but it was there in the original schedule.  I think Witt and Transy had a home-and-home contract (Witt played in Lexington in Dec. 2007) and maybe this was the only date they could agree on.  Witt's original schedule, therefore, had three games in four days, and three games in three days is only slightly worse.  It's also not unheard of; I think some of the 8-team holiday tournaments like those in Phoenix, San Diego, and Daytona, are set up that way.  Last season's NAIA-1 national champs, Oklahoma City, played five games in six days to win that tournament.

I also don't know the ins and outs of athletics management, so I can't begin to guess how difficult it would be for Witt to get out of their game with Transy, assuming they even would want to.  No doubt the Pioneers will want to play it if possible; it's a regional game (same administrative region, and within 200 miles) and Transy looks like a valid Pool C aspirant.