MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

A big Thank You! from a Wooster fan to the Wabash Little Giants!   WAF was very true tonight!

The Little Giants strengthened their Pool C chances tonight if they don't win the NCAC tourney bid.

[David Collinge]

Hiram 86, Oberlin 57

[David Collinge]

Allegheny hung tough with regionally-ranked Penn St.-Behrend all evening, but finally succumbed by a 83-73 count.  NCAC finishes up with a 43-38 (.531) non-conference record.

[Li'l Giant]

I wonder if Roger Smith thinks it is cute or funny to consistently mispronounce 'Wooster?'  None of Wittenberg's other on-air folks have that difficulty.

It's been a problem for Wabash's announcers for our entire time in the NCAC. I'm not a Wooster grad and it grates on me.

[David Collinge]

Current standings with one game remaining (except for Denison, which is done):

1. Wittenberg 13-2, 17-6
1. Wooster 13-2, 22-2...Neither team holds the tie-breaker; if they both lose Saturday, Witt wins the tie-breaker
3. Ohio Wesleyan 11-4, 15-9
4. Wabash 10-5, 18-5...Wabash holds the tiebreaker with OWU
5. Hiram 7-8, 13-11...#5 seed
6. Kenyon 5-10, 9-14...#6 seed
7. Denison 5-11, 8-17...#7 seed; Denison holds the tiebreaker with Kenyon corr: Kenyon holds the tie-breaker
8. Allegheny 3-12, 6-18...#8 seed
9. Oberlin 1-14, 2-22...Oberlin is eliminated
   

[pennstghs]

DC - time to brush out the tiebreaker procedures? what happens if both win and its a tie?

I followed the Live Stats and from the looks of it the game was decided in a 5 minute stretch in the second half where Witt couldn't buy a shot and Wabash was making everything.

LIke I said earlier, rebounds and 3's would decide the game and Wabash held the edge in both categories.

[seinfeld]

Good night for Wooster, as both Hope and Marietta lose. The Hope loss, coming at home, is a crusher for their hopes of passing Wooster. Marietta now has almost no chance as well. Assuming Wooster only loses one more time, and that loss doesn't come in the first round of the NCAC Tournament, they probably are going to finish #1 in the GL region regardless. Two losses, and all bets are off.

[David Collinge]

DC - time to brush out the tiebreaker procedures? what happens if both win and its a tie?

Tie-breakers, as I understand them (they've probably changed slightly this year because of the double-round-robin, but should be the same as what the women's have always been, since they've always been d-r-r):
#1-#2:  Witt and Woo split with each other and with Wabash.  If they both win Saturday, they will have identical records, and it will come down to a coin toss.  If they both lose Saturday, Witt will be the #1 seed on the third tie-breaker, which is record vs. individual opponents in descending order of standings.  The Tigers will have swept OWU (either #3 or #4) while Wooster will have split with them.
#3-#4:  OWU and Wabash split their games.  Wabash would prevail on the second tie-breaker, which is combined win-loss record with all teams above tied teams.  Wabash was 2-2 with Witt and Woo, while OWU would be 0-4 (Wooster must beat them Saturday to force an OWU/Wabash tie.)
#6-#7: Denison and Kenyon split.  Kenyon wins the tiebreaker (despite what I posted above, I'll correct that) on the second tie-breaker, as they were 2-8 vs. the top 5 finishers, while Denison was 1-9.  (Kenyon's 2 wins were vs. Hiram, while Denison's was vs. Wabash.  That would give the 3rd tie-breaker to DU, but Kenyon prevails on the second.)

[kiltedbryan]

Wooster and OWU is the only evening game on Saturday; Witt and Hiram play at 3 p.m. Wooster will know the conference situation by the time they tip it up in Timken.

Witt almost snuck back in right at the end, but Wabash held on, making enough of their free throws to seal the win (unlike Hope tonight).

[woosterbooster]

The end of that game was two-thirds of the way to being amazing.  With 2:43 to play, Wabash led by 18 points.  It wasn't until the 2:11 mark that Wittenberg scored, making the score 63-47.  Wabash added a point on a free throw, with 1:45 to go, extending the lead to 17.  Bill Brown, around this point, pulled his regulars, or most of them.  I remember this because the Wabash student announcers were perplexed at this move.  To me, it seemed very reasonable.  The game was over, he was looking to avoid injuries, and probably not at all too happy with their play anyway.

Wabash, then, pulled their own starters, even as Witt began hitting long threes.  Three in a row went in, unanswered, cutting the lead to 8 at the 48 second mark.  Mac Petty began rushing regulars back into the game.  A Wes Smith free throw was followed by another Witt three, making the score 65-59 with 34 seconds to go.  Wittenberg had cut an 18-point lead to 6 in 1:37!

That was as far as it went, but for my money, that was as good as it gets.  A Wittenberg win, which was what Wooster needed, but in the process we got to see the Wallies squirm.

[ScotsFan]

Nice that Josh McKee was one of those bench players tonight for Witt.  He was a starter last year but had mono and is just getting back to being in game shape.  I was under the impression that it was McKee who hit those three straight triples himself for Witt.

Nevermind.  I just read over the boxscore and see that McKee made only 2 of the 3 treys in question.   But he also started the run with a lay-up and he also just happened t assist on the trey he didn't make that was made by McDowell.

[Wabash2011]

Wabash played the defense tonight that was what put together the win streak at the first of the year. Shelborne on Sullivan and Curosh on Black were the key match-ups.  Rebounding was an additional factor with Wahash taking the offensive glass over in the second half.  This should be a great tourney...just not sure where to make reservations?

[bashbrother]

A Wittenberg win, which was what Wooster needed, but in the process we got to see the Wallies squirm.

How exactly would a Wittenberg win last night have benefited Wooster?  Regional Rankings?  Tournament seeding?

[ScotsFan]

A Wittenberg win, which was what Wooster needed, but in the process we got to see the Wallies squirm.

How exactly would a Wittenberg win last night have benefited Wooster?  Regional Rankings?  Tournament seeding?

I'm guessing he meant to say a Wabash win was what Wooster needed.  Having to pull for either Witt or Wabash can have negative effects on your thought process which is pretty evident by WooBoo's typo... 

[wally_wabash]

That was as far as it went, but for my money, that was as good as it gets.  A Wittenberg win, which was what Wooster needed, but in the process we got to see the Wallies squirm.

No squirming here.  Wittenberg did shoot their way back to a six point game, but by that time Wabash was in the double bonus.  Wabash was going to have to miss four more free throws in a row AND Witt was going to have to hurry and make two more three point baskets to tie the game.  Both of those things were not going to happen. 

I followed the Live Stats and from the looks of it the game was decided in a 5 minute stretch in the second half where Witt couldn't buy a shot and Wabash was making everything.

Wabash took a seven point lead late in the first half, then Witt bridged an 11-0 run over the intermission to get the lead.  Then Wabash went bananas for about 7 minutes...largely super-sub Derek Bailey and Jordan Surenkamp making shots during that stretch.  I believe Aaron Zinnerman also had a couple of big baskets during that run as well (one big bomb with the shot clock expiring...that was a killer shot).  Total team effort from the LGs last night on a night when they had to have it.  It was a lot of fun to be in the gym last night.