MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Denison needs to visualize everybody that they play are wearing Wabash uniforms.  They can't be beat under that scenario. 

There are few things in this world I hate more than seeing an NCAC team with a record like Denison's: 2-0 conference, 2-8 overall.

You could be one of those in the "2" side of that ledger.   

[ScotsFan]

Brandon Johnson continues to be bitten by the dreaded injury bug.  It appears as though he sprained his ankle in Sunday's practice and is doubtful for the Mose Hole... 

Here's a link to the preview of the Mose Hole from the DR.  It touches on WashU standout, Elida native and former COW basketball camper Aaron Thompson's return to Timken.

No. 1's in town tonight...

[smedindy]

Denison needs to visualize everybody that they play are wearing Wabash uniforms.  They can't be beat under that scenario. 

There are few things in this world I hate more than seeing an NCAC team with a record like Denison's: 2-0 conference, 2-8 overall.

That's a SWAC record!

[David Collinge]

Today's scores:
Wartburg 83, Allegheny 79

[ScotsFan]

Halftime in game one of the Mose Hole and we have a bit of a shocker in the making:

Transy - 39
WashU - 30

The difference in this game has been from beyond the arc where Transy has been unconscious hitting 8-13 and WashU is 0-3.  

Also, WashU's pair of All-American guards who came into the game averaging better than 32 ppg combined have a whopping 2 points to their credit in the first half and that was a pair of ft's from Aaron Thompson!    Transy must be doing a hell of a job defensively holding this duo without a fg for an entire half!

Update:

Apparently no one decided to update the live stats after halftime, but my dad called me from the game to tell me that Transy was up 14 with around 8 minutes to go!

[Marty Peretz]

Looks like our undefeated dream season is falling by the wayside...      too bad no radio or functioning live stats. We always struggle after the break...no excuses though.

[fantastic50]

Wow ... down goes Wash. U., 73-69.  Barring another upset tonight, I guess that the home team won't get to face the Bears.

[David Collinge]

OWU gives #6 Guilford all they can handle, closing to 72-70 with 1:06 remaining, but they couldn't close the deal and fall 79-72.  Nice effort from the Bishops, who maybe are starting to put it all together after early-season struggles against a difficult schedule.

[ScotsFan]

Wow ... down goes Wash. U., 73-69.  Barring another upset tonight, I guess that the home team won't get to face the Bears.

As much as I was looking forward to seeing the Scots take on WashU, I'm pulling for a meeting with Transy now!   

That would be pretty crazy though to see a consolation game of Wooster and WashU in this tournament. 

[ScotsFan]

OWU gives #6 Guilford all they can handle, closing to 72-70 with 1:06 remaining, but they couldn't close the deal and fall 79-72.  Nice effort from the Bishops, who maybe are starting to put it all together after early-season struggles against a difficult schedule.

This should be a confidence builder for the Bishops moving forward even though they came up short in their upset bid.  The key will be how they follow up this performance tomorrow.

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 37  Kalamazoo 21

Wooster being led by Ian Franks with 10 points, Nathan Balch with 9 points and Justin Hallowell with 8 points.  Matt Fegan hit a three pointer one second before the halftime buzzer and has chipped in 6 points (2 three pointers).

Scots shot 62% in the half and made 6 out of 10 from the three point arc.  Brandon Johnson is taking the night off with a mild ankle sprain and may play in the game tomorrow.

Ryan Clark is leading K-zoo with 7 points.

Wow - hard to believe that #1 Washington Univ. went down in the first game.  Transylvania should be a tough opponent if Wooster gets to the championship game tomorrow.

UPDATE:  Wooster opens up the 2nd half with a 17-2 run and this game is essentially over.  54-25 Scots with ~14 min. left.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg guts out a 55-49 victory over Olivet.  The Comets held a slender 49-48 lead with 2:59 left, but the Tigers held them scoreless while scoring the game's final seven points.  Witt only connected on 32% of their field goals but had a wicked +20 rebounding margin leading to 15 second-chance points.  Gregg Hill was the only Tiger in double figures with 12, but that's not so bad when you have ten players contributing to the scoring, as Witt did.  Olivet's Michael McClary had a noteworthy game with 13 points and 14 boards.  Witt will face Marian (IN) in the Zimmerman Classic final tomorrow; Marian defeated Ohio Dominican 64-52, thus preventing a matchup of Artie Taylor's squad against his mentor.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 70  Kalamazoo 41

Wooster got balanced scoring tonight with everyone gettting playing time.  Scots were led by Ian Franks with 15 points, Justin Hallowell with 11 points, frosh Josh Claytor with 9 points, Nathan Balch with 9 points and Matt Fegan also with 9 points.

Wooster still had too many turnovers with 17.

K-zoo was led by Ryan Clark with 10 points and Joe Prepolec with 9 points.

Wooster is now 7-4, 3-0 NCAC.   Next up is Transylvania in the tourney championship game tomorrow. 

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Hiram had a 75-70 lead with 0:27 left and blew it, losing at Muskingum 89-86 in OT.  With 0:08 remaining in regulation and Hiram up 3, MU's Nick Hershberger (a transfer from Wooster, who had a career-best 34 tonight) fouled Hiram's Chris Meyer, sending him to the line with a chance to ice the game.  Instead, the sophomore missed the front end, and then compounded his error by fouling Musky's Colin Bass with 0:01 left...in the act of shooting...a trey.  Bass hit all three free throws to force the OT, five minutes in which the Fish never trailed.  Ugh.  Chris Roberts had 30 to lead the Pups.

Otterbein drops Denison to 2-0/2-9 with an 87-71 victory at the Rike Center.  The homestanding Cardinals enjoyed a slight edge from the free throw line, where they were 24 of 30 to Denison's seven of 14.  And that's the whole story, as the rest of the stats (aside from a +13 rebounding edge for OC) were fairly even.  Denison did shoot a robust 50% from the field and committed just 13 turnovers.  Larry Farmer's 17 led four Big Reds in double figures.

Here's tomorrow's schedule:
Allegheny vs. Carroll at Daytona Beach, 4pm -- Live Stats and Video
OWU vs. Grove City at Marietta, 5:30pm -- Live Stats(?) and Live Video
Marian (IN) at Wittenberg, 7pm -- Live Stats and Audio -- Zimmerman Classic championship game
Oberlin at Anderson, 7:30pm -- Live Audio
Transylvania at Wooster, 7:30pm -- Live Stats, Audio, and Video -- Mose Hole Classic championship game

[bufordscot]

So much for the foregone conclusion that Wash U beats the Scots.