MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Elsewhere...

Witt is on a 16-0 run, 25-4 since halftime, and is annihilating Catholic 60-27, 9:28 left...FINAL: Witt 70, Catholic 45...Witt got 15 guys onto the floor, and 13 of them scored or rebounded (or both).  Nowicki with 17, Hill had 11, and Black had 11 rebounds.

Hiram has led since the 14:xx mark and looks to close out Baldwin-Wallace, 76-68 with 1:44 left....FINAL: Hiram 82, B-WC 72...Roberts with 23 on 8 for 12 shooting; Terriers clean the boards 49-31 and shoot 53% overall.

Allegheny leads at Westminster 62-50 with 14:42 left.  UPDATE: Gators on a run, now up 20 (73-53) with 9:42 left...FINAL: Allegheny 100, Westminster 77...I guess Westminster is still using that silly System, resulting in 'Gheny shooting 58%.  4 Gators in double figures (Raftis 24, Briscoe 20).

Oberlin's one-game winning streak is in serious jeopardy, as they trail at North Central 37-16 at the half...FINAL: NCC 70, Oberlin 38

Wooster now on top of CMU 57-45, 9:18 left.  UPDATE: Wooster is about to win, details below courtesy of wooscotsfan.

As noted above, Haverford upended Kenyon 70-60.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:   Wooster 74  Carnegie Mellon 61 

Wooster played a solid 2nd half to notch the win.  Wooster was led by Justin Hallowell with 17 points (5 three pointers), Bryan Wickliffe with 13 points, freshman Josh Claytor with 12 points and Nathan Balch with 11 points.

Carnegie Mellon's top scorers were Jack Anderson with 21 points, John Duhring with 10 points and Jon Wolleben with 10 points.

Wooster is now 1-1.  Next up is #4 St. Thomas in the tourney championship game tomorrow night.  Wooster will have to play much better tomorrow if they are going to knock off the Tommies.

St. Thomas thumped Heidelberg 92-55 in the opening tourney game this evening.

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

(Updated with pairings)

Saturday:
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 - Live stats available from Maryville)
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 OWU.edu)
St. Thomas at Wooster 8pm (Live Stats, Live Audio, and "Free Video" available at Wooster.edu)

Sunday:
Wabash at Maryville TN 4pm (Live stats available from Maryville)
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.

[waterboy]

It was nice seeing a familiar NCAC face tonight in Witt. After a slow start, the Tigers pulled away from Catholic late in the first half thanks to hot shooting from Nowicki and a consistent effort on the boards. Catholic went ice cold in the second half, leading to Wittenberg's big run. The bigs did a nice job down low getting the team second chances and Hill really adds another element to the game that was definitely missing last season from what I gather.

The Tigers should not have too much trouble beating Messiah tomorrow. It was a bit of a yawner between the Falcons and Bullets, with a few threes here and there keeping the hosts in it. Messiah was unimpressive in the win, so I look for Witt to win by double figures especially if they can shoot a little better from the field.

Just some thoughts from an NCAC alum. Good luck to everyone in the NCAC this season!

[David Collinge]

Wooster's site proclaims that tomorrow's Van Wie championship game will have "Free Video." (Tuesday's game vs. Ohio Northern, who is now 0-2 by the way, is still listed as "Live Video.") 

Nice to "see" you again, waterboy.  Very surprised at Gettysburg's loss tonight; I hope you rebound vs. Catholic and have a good season.

[wooscotsfan]

Some thoughts on Wooster's tough opponent tonight -- #4 St. Thomas

The Scots will need to slow down the Tommies three best players who are all starters:

Joe Scott 6'4" Senior, Shooting Guard,  Preseason All-American 2nd Team by D3Hoops
13.4 ppg last year, 49% FG, 41% on three pointers with 71 made

Tyler Nicolai 5'11", Junior, Guard, scored 14 last night vs. Heidelberg
9.5 ppg last year, 48% FG, 43% on three pointers with 57 made

Anders Halvorsen 6'9" Junior Center, had 8 points, 5 boards vs. Heidelberg in limited minutes
7 ppg last year, 57% FG, big guy who hits the boards

St. Thomas plays aggressive team defense so it will be important for Wooster to take care of the ball and not commit a lot of turnovers.

St. Thomas usually outrebounds its opponents so Wooster will also need to neutralize them on the boards.

I am looking forward to seeing a great game at Timken tonight!

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Kenyon takes a nine-point lead (39-30) to the locker room; they had led Swarthmore by 15 with 1:45 left, but allowed the Garnet to score the last 6 points of the half--three of them on free throws after Anthony Chun fouled Will Gates beyond the arc as the half ended.  That should make for a very unpleasant locker room.  Trying to find a combination that will help out the Knight and Knapke show, Matt Croci tried a new starting lineup today, replacing Uki Vaseljevik, Jay Findlay, and frosh Marcus Healey with AJ Clair, Tim Shadyac, and frosh John Beaulieu.  So far, so good.
UPDATE: Lords cruise in the second half, winning their first game of the season by a score of 71-56 (or thereabouts--Haverford's LiveStats has been a little squirrelly, and is stuck with 0:11 remaining).  Guess Who Sr. and Guess Who Jr. lead the way with a combined 37 pt., 20 rebound afternoon.  KC outshoots (47% to 27%) and outrebounds (45-36) the Garnet, overcoming another miserable day from the arc (4 for 25 today, 12 for 59 for the weekend.)

------------------------

Allegheny is manhandling Emory and Henry, leading 41-25 at the break.  'Gheny has made 52% of their field goals, down from 58% yesterday.

[fantastic50]

Wooster's site proclaims that tomorrow's Van Wie championship game will have "Free Video." (Tuesday's game vs. Ohio Northern, who is now 0-2 by the way, is still listed as "Live Video.") 

In my two years at Wooster, I don't think that the Scots have ever charged a fee for a regular-season broadcast.  In the NCAC tournament (at Wooster for the last several years), the conference sets the fee.

[David Collinge]

In my two years at Wooster, I don't think that the Scots have ever charged a fee for a regular-season broadcast.  In the NCAC tournament (at Wooster for the last several years), the conference sets the fee.

That's why yesterday's $15 tariff was so surprising.

---------------------------------

Allegheny holds off E&H, winning 78-63.  The Gators had gotten the lead out to 24 with about 7:00 remaining, but a 9-0 Wasp run over the ensuing two minutes led to Rob Clune's reinsertion of his starting five.  The starters, all of whom scored in double figures today, quelled the run and 'Gheny coasted home.  George Raftis led the way with 18 points and 9 boards, as 'Gheny cops the Buzz Ridl Classic title.

---------------------------------

Denison is hanging tough with Goshen down in Hanover, tied at 31 with about 5:00 to go before halftime.  Chris Luther has hit five of his first six shots for 12 early points.
UPDATE: DU uses a 14-2 run to take a 7-point lead inside 7:00 to go.
UPDATE: Going to OT, tied at 77; DU frosh Dimonde Hale fouls outside the arc with 0:02 left, and the Goshen guy makes all three FTs to tie the game.
UPDATE: Goshen pulls out the victory, 87-84; DU, setting up a potential game-winning play, has the ball stolen and Goshen's Jeremy Pope hits the buzzer-beating triple for the win (this must have been at least a half-court heave, as the steal was made with 0:01 on the clock after a :20 DU possession.)  A real heartbreaker for the Big Red, especially since Goshen, now 5-2 and with a win over NAIA-II's seventh-ranked team in the books, was a heavy favorite.

---------------------------------

Lakeland is having little trouble with Oberlin, leading 50-25 early in the 2nd. 
UPDATE: 65-42 Lakeland, 8:16 left.
UPDATE: Oberlin made a run at them, closing to within 13, but it looks like Lakeland will survive, leading 71-58, 2:05 left.
UPDATE: Final, Lakeland 77, Oberlin 63

---------------------------------

Wittenberg starts the game ice-cold and trails Messiah 37-24 at the half.  Witt shooting just 9 of 32 (28%).
UPDATE:  Witt is also making a run, getting with 6 before a technical foul on Clayton Black puts Messiah back up by 8, 44-36, 14:07 left.
UPDATE: Getting exciting; Witt is within 3, 57-54, with 2:28 to go.  Witt just 5 of 12 from the free throw line, and right now that's the difference in this game.  How's this for balance: Witt has 10 players with points, none of them with more than 8 (and four players have that many.) 
UPDATE:  Hill and Sullivan drain quick threes in back-to-back possessions and Witt has the lead, 62-61, 0:40 left and Nowicki at the line shooting 2.
UPDATE:  Witt pulls it out!  Final score, Witt 66, Messiah 61.  Gregg Hill was just 4 for 19 today, but hit a big three to give Witt the lead and then two free throws to ice the victory.

---------------------------------

Maryville College's Live Stats program gave up the ghost just 34 seconds into the Wabash/LaGrange game.  Oh well.
UPDATE: Still down.
UPDATE:  Wabash wins, 81-63.

---------------------------------

IWU's Live Stats are down, too, so no live updates of what is sure to be OWU's earth-shaking upset of #1 Wash U.  Actually, I think the blame lies with sidearmsports.com, the vendor of the (awful) Live Stats program; I've had problems with this product all across America today.
UPDATE: The program is up now, but it says that the game has yet to begin.
UPDATE:  OWU leads by 8, 27-19, with 8:00 left in the 1st period.
UPDATE: Bishops go cold, Wash U. goes on a 17-4 run to take the lead.  Now 38-34 WUSTL, 2:25 left.
UPDATE:  OWU recovers and goes into halftime with a 45-41 lead.  Pat Pellerite with 14 on 5 of 7 shooting; OWU shooting 58% overall.
UPDATE:  Wash U. opens the half on a 10-2 run to lead by 4.
UPDATE:  WUSTL has opened a 12 point lead, 64-52, behind some hot three-point shooting.  13:00 left.
UPDATE: It's all Bears now, as they've outscored the Bishops 33-9 since halftime.  74-54, 9:23 left.
UPDATE:  Final score, Wash U. 85, Ohio Wesleyan 68.  A respectable effort from the Bishops, considering what we all know WUSTL is capable of.

---------------------------------

In the meantime, Chicago leads Earlham 19-11, 10:xx left in the first.
UPDATE: Chicago 47, Earlham 28, halftime.
UPDATE:  Chicago 55, EC 44, 11:14 2nd.
UPDATE:  UC 82, Earlham 69, 1:37.
UPDATE: Chicago 84, Earlham 71, Final.

---------------------------------

Wooster is being dominated early by UST, who leads 23-8 with 9+ minutes left.  Wooster looks completely clueless on both ends.
UPDATE: Halftime, UST leads 48-23.  Ouch.
UPDATE: At least it's not an in-region game.
UPDATE:  John Finn: "Tommies lead 79-52, 3:51 left in regulation."  In regulation!  That's it, John, stay positive!
UPDATE: Final, UST 84, COW 53.  Wooster looked terrible, but some of that is because St. Thomas looked so good.  They'd get my #1 vote if I had one.

[David Collinge]

(Updated with pairings, assumes that J&W will not come back from a 22-point halftime deficit tonight)

Sunday:
Earlham vs. Southwestern 2pm (at Chicago - Live Stats available at UChicago.edu)
OWU vs. Johnson & Wales 3pm (at Illinois Wesleyan - Live Stats via IWU.edu)
Wabash at Maryville TN 4pm (Live stats available from Maryville)
Denison at Hanover 5pm (Live Stats and Live Video available at Hanover.edu)

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

[wooscotsfan]

Some thoughts on Wooster's tough opponent tonight -- #4 St. Thomas

The Scots will need to slow down the Tommies three best players who are all starters:

Joe Scott 6'4" Senior, Shooting Guard,  Preseason All-American 2nd Team by D3Hoops
13.4 ppg last year, 49% FG, 41% on three pointers with 71 made

Tyler Nicolai 5'11", Junior, Guard, scored 14 last night vs. Heidelberg
9.5 ppg last year, 48% FG, 43% on three pointers with 57 made

Anders Halvorsen 6'9" Junior Center, had 8 points, 5 boards vs. Heidelberg in limited minutes
7 ppg last year, 57% FG, big guy who hits the boards

St. Thomas plays aggressive team defense so it will be important for Wooster to take care of the ball and not commit a lot of turnovers.

St. Thomas usually outrebounds its opponents so Wooster will also need to neutralize them on the boards.

Back from Timken where I watched #4 St. Thomas absolutely dismantle Wooster.  I don't usually quote myself but in this case my worst fears were realized.

1.  Tyler Nicolai had 20 points, Anders Halvorsen had 14 points and Joe Scott added 9 points as the Tommies top 3 scorers

2.  St. Thomas played very aggressive defense and Wooster buckled with 18 turnovers vs. only 8 turnovers for the Tommies.

3.  St. Thomas won the rebounding battle 28 to 21.

Two other key stats also tell the story of this lopsided game:

4.  Wooster went over 5 minutes in the first half with NO points while St. Thomas ran off 12 points.  The score was 11-8 St. Thomas and went to 23-8 before the Scots scored again.  Key question:  Who is Wooster's "go to" scorer when they need a bucket?  So far this season, I don't see such a player.

5.  Points off Turnovers:  St. Thomas 26  Wooster 0

I agree with David Collinge -- St. Thomas would also get my vote for #1 in the nation.

Wooster is 1-2.  Next up is Ohio Northern at home on Tuesday.

[wooscotsfan]

One other observation -- Wooster really needs to work on their offensive sets.  The Scots did not pass the ball crisply tonight and there is not enough movement and picks off the ball.  In the first half tonight, Wooster only made 7 field goals due to poor offensive execution and excessive turnovers.

Wooster is relying too much on one on one drives to the basket that often result in turnovers.  Ian Franks was a casebook example of this tonight as he turned the ball over 4 times when he was pressured in the lane by St. Thomas.

The Scots must take better care of the basketball or they will lose to the tougher teams on their schedule.

Here are Wooster's cumulative team stats after 3 games:  30 Assists and 50 Turnovers

The good news is that the season is still early and Wooster has the talent and coaching staff to get these issues corrected.

GO SCOTS!

[kiltedbryan]

Well, I'm not sure of the last time I saw Wooster get so thoroughly beaten by a simply superior team, and on their own floor to boot.  I only watched the second half of this one, but one half was enough to make it clear that UST already looks like its in mid-season, even post-season form, while Wooster doesn't yet look to be in any form at all.  UST had their way inside, had their way outside, shooting nearly 60 percent for the game while taking 22 more shots thanks in large part to collecting 7 more rebounds and forcing 10 more turnovers.  Tonight, at least, the Tommies looked better than even the best Wooster teams of recent years that I can remember.  Impressive performances up and down their bench--the UST bench logged 39 to the starters' 45 pts. tonight.


As for Wooster, for a team that essentially returned all of its scoring from the previous year the Scots seem in near total disarray on the offensive end.  Turnovers coupled with poor shooting are simply crushing their ability to be effective.  From my viewpoint tonight, (and again, I was only watching once this one was already decided) the Scots looked listless on the offensive end--no energy, not enough movement, no one seeming to take the leading role and spearheading the attack.  While I must give UST immense credit for their defense, which was stellar, even Wooster's "good" passes just didn't seem crisp, the attack didn't seem purposeful, and they just seem to lack direction.  Calling the Carnegie Mellon game, Mike Breckenridge said that Wooster seemed to be missing a cylinder, even last night on a game they won—tonight they looked like they were missing two or three cylinders.


What's not clear to me yet is whether this is still something of an early season "we're-still-adjusting-to-playing-together" funk, caused perhaps by re-inserting Brandon Johnson in a new lineup and rhythm unlike the earlier Wooster teams he played on plus getting Claytor, Mays, Mabeny and others fitting into new roles; or if this is a "we're-really-just-not-as-good-as-initally-advertised" funk that will hang around for Wooster's year.  Among individual players, Ian Franks and Brandon Johnson just don't seem to have gotten going yet.  Franks, the team leader in scoring a year ago at 15.5 ppg, is struggling to find the basket this year, shooting only 30 percent from the floor.  Johnson, who will probably never be 100 percent on his knee this year, hasn't yet found the range either, also shooting around 30 percent.  Right now, though, the Scots are definitely underperforming their talent offensively, and I'm no longer exactly sure when that ship will be righted, especially with the quality of opponents still facing Wooster down on their schedule.


Defensively, it's obviously never a "good" defensive effort when your opponent registers 58% shooting on you, but even while I'm sure Wooster could've done much better—especially on their interior defense—St. Thomas was just that good.  Even on their best defensive night, I'm not sure Wooster could've held UST much below 50 percent tonight.  The Tommies offensive execution looked extremely well-coached and purposeful: fluid ball movement, effective driving, excellent shot selection, and great ball protection.  The only other times I recall seeing a team in Timken gym that showed that level of poise, drive and execution were from the "we're-hell-bent-for-Salem" Wooster teams during their final four runs—and UST is clearly a team of that caliber.

[David Collinge]

Earlham captures the 4th Place Trophy at the University of Chicago's Midway Classic, dropping the consolation game to Southwestern 80-70.  EC hung with the Pirates for the first 30 minutes of the game, but the Texans finally pulled out to an 8-12 point margin which they more or less sustained down the stretch.  Four Quakers scored in double figures, led by Shane Heidt's 21.

--------------------------

OWU outlasts Johnson & Wales, 73-65, in the consolation game at Illinois Wesleyan.  This is a game I expected the Bishops to win fairly easily; maybe they weren't motivated, or maybe J&W is better than I thought.  OWU got behind early and played a sloppy first half with something like 19 turnovers, but scored the half's last five points to tie the game.  The Bishops then held their opponents scoreless for the first 4:52 of the second, and while they only accumulated six points in that stretch, it was enough to give them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.  Pat Pellerite had 18 points and 8 rebounds before fouling out with 2:54 left.  Tim Brady, Dillon McBride, and Marshall Morris also scored in double figures for the Bishops, who ended up shooting 52% for the game.

[wally_wabash]

Halftime in Maryville:
Wabash 40
Maryville 32

Wabash is being led by (surprise) Wes Smith and his 12 points.  Chase Haltom has chipped in with 11 first half points.  Maryville is led by their preseason All-American Eryk Watson's 10 points.  This would be a pretty solid road win for the Little Giants if they can hold on.  WAF!

Ten minutes to play:
Wabash 61
Maryville 57

Wes and Chase continue to pace Wabash.  Maryville has come back with some hot three point shooting.  Watson is on the bench with 4 fouls.  

5 minutes to play:
Wabash 66
Maryville 71

Maryville has stormed back behind seven three point field goals in the second half.  

Under 2 to play:
Wabash 76
Maryville 76

Wabash has turned Maryville over a couple of times and picked up some layups to tie the game.  This one is going down to the wire!  Smith has 22, Haltom 19 for Wabash.

They've stopped updating the livestats, so I have to assume that the game is over.  The final score (I think):
Wabash 79
Maryville 86

Maryville exploded in the second half with three point plays (7 three point field goals and at least three basket plus a foul plays).  Wabash just wasn't able to keep pace with Maryville's 54 point outburst.  Wabash slips to 1-2 on the season.  Next up for Wabash will be Franklin College on the Monon Bell-less campus of DePauw University next Saturday.