MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg is having no trouble with UC-Clermont so far, leading by 21 early in the 2nd.  The only noteworthy thing to report so far is that the Tigers were 7/14 from the arc in the first half.  The Witt announcers were suggesting that there'd never be another game where they shoot that many treys, and it's not like Clermont is a good litmus test for a "normal" game, but it's still impressive.

Update:  Witt wins, 91-65.  I'll let pennstghs handle any recap he feels is necessary.

Wabash travels to Maryville, TN this weekend for a little 4 team powow.  I believe Wabash is scheduled to play the host Maryville who made the tournament last season.

I don't know why the Wabash site doesn't specify the matchups (or didn't, last time I checked), but my understanding is that Wabash will face LaGrange on Saturday and the host Scots on Sunday.  See also: D3hoops.com schedule.

[pennstghs]

Thanks David for the privilege haha.

Pretty ho hum win for Wittenberg tonight, although to be honest it probably shouldn't have been as close as it was. Wittenberg seemed to play down to their opponent a little but overall it was an easy win and a good way to start the season.

To note, Wittenberg's road gets extremely tougher starting Friday at Gettysburg classic vs Catholic and then either Gettysburg or Messiah and then an intra-state battle vs Capital next week.

Wittenberg has returned to the days where their size can overwhelm opponents. Off the top of my head, I don't think any team will be able to match Witt's post size and depth. Similarly to last year, this is a deep team that can go 10-12 deep easily.

[ScotsFan]

Off the top of my head, I don't think any team will be able to match Witt's post size and depth.

Have you looked at Wooster's roster lately?  The Scots appear to be able to match...   8)

[pennstghs]

Yes that's true, however to clarify I should have put no one will be able to match the experience of post players....maybe Wooster can, but from past experience Wooster plays a more up tempo, guard oriented offense that isn't focused on post players as heavily.

Wittenberg is also playing a more up tempo game this year, as last year scoring 91 points vs anyone wasn't even a thought. Just somethign to keep in mind.

A few other discussion points:

-- since everyone I'm sure is concerned, the officiating last night was flawless and fair

-- Wittenberg had a nice crowd last night as well. They actually have a student section this year (meaning students dressing up and participating rather than just sitting there). We'll see how this transpires throughout the year

--I"ll try to stay as active as possible so this can be an NCAC board, not just Wooster and Wabash discussion all day every day.

+ karma

[wally_wabash]

--I"ll try to stay as active as possible so this can be an NCAC board, not just Wooster and Wabash discussion all day every day.

+ karma

Awesome.  +k for you as well!

[David Collinge]

-- since everyone I'm sure is concerned, the officiating last night was flawless and fair

--I"ll try to stay as active as possible so this can be an NCAC board, not just Wooster and Wabash discussion all day every day.

Great!  If you're interested in discussing Wittenberg women's hoops as well, we'd love to have you!  (And by "we," I mean "I"!)

[ScotsFan]

Yes that's true, however to clarify I should have put no one will be able to match the experience of post players....maybe Wooster can, but from past experience Wooster plays a more up tempo, guard oriented offense that isn't focused on post players as heavily.

I figured you were coming from an experience standpoint.  Yes, Wooster has been running a more up-tempo, guard oriented offense and I would expect that to continue this yearto a certain extent.  But, at the same time, it wasn't all that long ago when Wooster ran a more deliberate, half court offense that was centered around the post.  I wouldn't be surprised to see this Wooster team, with the addition of what appears to be 2 pretty decent freshmen bigs, go back to their roots a bit more this season...

[WooHoopsntrack01]

I was at the Albion game.  If you call that "up tempo" then we have a long way to go with our basketball philosophy.   

It was a disappointing effort all around for the most part.  Scots will be ok I think after a while, but they may go through more downs than ups early on.  I'm sure the fellas shoot the ball much better than they did, just were out of sink.  Got beat by a much worse team, though Albion...or anywhere in Michigan is a tough place to play. 

This weekend will be a big weekend for the Scots as hopefully they matured quickly over this past week.  Let's get it goin fellas!!  GO SCOTSS!!

[David Collinge]

Earlham joins Oberlin and Wittenberg in the NCAC Parade of Winners, downing Franklin this evening 83-78 on the Grizzlies' home floor.  The EC took a two-point lead to the half, and the teams traded the lead back and forth over the first 14 minutes of the second half, until AJ Sutherlin buried a three to give the Quakers a one-point lead with 5:59 remaining.  Franklin managed to forge a tie with 4:09 left, and had a chance to regain the lead when Kyle Calder robbed FC's Scott Trueblood and fed Shane Heidt for a fastbreak layup, giving Earlham a lead they'd not relinquish.  Franklin got within a single point on several occasions, but Earlham converted six-of-six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.  Heidt and Sutherlin did most of the damage, scoring 26 and 25 respectively.  The Quakers allowed their hosts to hit 59% of their shots, but hit 52% themselves, were much better from the free throw line (14/16 vs. a woeful 8/17 for FC), and took care of the ball (just 9 turnovers), all adding up to their first win of their last NCAC season.  Box score.

[David Collinge]

Full slate this weekend around the league.  All times Eastern.

Tonight:
Kenyon vs. Haverford 6pm (at Swarthmore - Live Stats available from Swarthmore via Kenyon.edu)
Baldwin-Wallace at Hiram 7:30pm (Live Stats available at Hiram.edu; Live Audio available from B-WC's WBWC radio)
Allegheny at Westminster 8pm (Gators' season opener - Live Stats and Live Audio available at 'Gheny men's hoops page)
Wittenberg vs. Catholic 8pm (at Gettysburg - Live Stats and Live Audio available at Wittenberg.edu)
Carnegie Mellon at Wooster 8pm (Live Stats, Live Audio, and Live Video available at Wooster.edu)
Oberlin at North Central 8:30pm (Live Stats available from Oberlin.edu)

Tomorrow:
Kenyon vs. Swarthmore 1pm (at Haverford - Live Stats available from Haverford via Kenyon.edu)
Allegheny vs. Emory & Henry 2pm (at Westminster - Live Stats available at 'Gheny men's hoops page)
Denison vs. Goshen 3pm (at Hanover - Live Stats available at Hanover.edu)
Oberlin vs. Lakeland 3:30pm (at North Central - Live Stats available from Oberlin.edu)
Wittenberg vs. Messiah 4pm (Live Audio available at Wittenberg.edu - Live Stats and PPV Video from Gettysburg)
Wabash vs. LaGrange 5pm (at Maryville TN - not sure about coverage)
Earlham at Chicago 7pm (Live Stats and Live Video available at UChicago.edu)
Ohio Wesleyan vs. Washington U. in St. Louis 7pm (at Illinois Wesleyan - Bishops' season opener - Live Stats available at WUSTL's site)
St. Thomas at Wooster 8pm (Live Stats, Live Audio, and Live Video [presumably] available at Wooster.edu)

Sunday:
Wabash at Maryville TN 4pm (not sure about coverage)
Denison at Hanover 5pm (Live Stats and Live Video available at Hanover.edu)
Earlham vs. TBA (at Chicago - either vs. Southwestern at 2pm or vs. Rose-Hulman at 6pm, depending on Saturday outcomes, Live Stats available at UChicago.edu)
OWU vs. TBA (at Illinois Wesleyan - either IWU or Johnson & Wales - consolation at 3pm, championship at 5pm - Live Stats and Live Audio via IWU.edu if they are the opponent)

Corrections welcome -- also check the D3hoops.com scoreboard page for updated coverage information.

[David Collinge]

In a game with the momentum swinging back and forth, the last swing favored Haverford, and Kenyon goes down to a 70-60 defeat.  It was close throughout; the final score indicates the shoot-and-foul style Kenyon had to resort to in the last couple of minutes.  As usual, JT Knight (21 pts., 10 reb.) and Dave Knapke (14 pts., 7 reb.) led the way, and as usual they got little support from the rest of the roster.

[David Collinge]

Looks like Wooster is charging $15 for the video webcast.  Harumph!

[pennstghs]

Gettysburg is charging 5.95 for the "paperview" broadcast to watch on video. I'll take the WUSO 89.1 radio cast for free and watch UNC/Syracuse instead!

Good luck Witt---time for a huge weekend

Tiger Up!

[kiltedbryan]

Looks like Wooster is charging $15 for the video webcast.  Harumph!

It'd be nice if they did that at least as a $15 for both (Wooster) games of the tournament.  Limiting me to listening to WQKT and the live stats.

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:   Wooster 37  Carnegie Mellon 31

Wooster played a reasonable first half with 9 players scoring points.  Bryan Wickliffe is leading the Scots with 8 points, Brandon Johnson has added 6 points and Justin Hallowell has chipped in with 6 points.

For CMU, Jack Anderson has 11 points, Jon Wolleben has 6 points and John Duhring has 6 points.