MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[kiltedbryan]

Game ball goes to Justin Hallowell, who had 19 pts on 4-8 shooting from the outside and a critical 5-5 from the line.

...and 15 rebounds!

Good luck to both W's tonight, both have very tough games on tap. 

Oh, right, yeah, and a career-high 15 boards. Minor detail.   

[ohiofan1954]

the game tonight between wittenberg and marietta could be a great one. That freshman guard for the pioneers(sorry can't remember his name)is tough and will be tough to handle. That duo inside I saw last week for wittenberg could make things very hard for marietta. Could be a classic.


david

[Cali-Scot]

I agree the Witt/Marietta game should be good....  I think if Witt plays like they are capable, they should win the game

[ScotsFan]

A tough night for some of the Scots, especially Nathan Balch, who fouled out  was called for a mythical travel late in the game, and only contributed 4 points. (FWIW, Balch hadn't fouled out this year, and only had 4 fouls called on him once in 28 games before last night.)

I would look for Balch to have a big bounce back game tonight.  He could never get into the flow of the game and the way the officials were calling fouls on anyone guarding Green from BenU, I really don't know how you are supposed to guard him.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear that Manchester has anyone with the speed and athleticism Green had so I would guess Balch should be able to stay out of foul trouble tonight. 

[ohiofan1954]

too bad for the tigers but was that a great game or what? Great finish to the scott game also. Very exciting night indeed.

[kiltedbryan]

Manchester 45
Wooster 47
Final

Manchester misses a 3 at the buzzer. No one will want to watch the videotape of this one, but Wooster manages the mantra of "survive and advance."

Heck of a game at Marietta, too. Good season for Wittenberg and the great season keeps rolling for the Pioneers.

[ScotsFan]

Hats off to Manchester for never saying die.  Wooster had multiple chances in the 2nd half to bury this team, but each and every time, Manchester had an answer.  The ultimate was Wooster up 7 with a minute to go.  After watching the Spartans miss 6 straight at the line, Ian Franks proceeds to draw a foul.  And he then misses BOTH of his leaving the door cracked ever so slightly.  Then, Manchester runs off 5 straight over the final minute and had the ball with a chance for the win.  They actually had two damn good looks at 3's for the win(especially the final shot) but the shots went begging!  What a game!  My heart can't take this much more.  

Marietta and Cabrini have already punched their ticket and Whitworth plays later tonight.  Outside of the very low probability of Whitworth being upset, the only question remains is where the round of 16 games will be played.  My money is on Wooster but we shall see...

Lastly, congrats to Justin Hallowell for surpassing 1,000 points tonight.  He is now the 4th player on Wooster's roster with 1,000 or more in their Wooster careers joining Franks, Wickliffe and Balch.

[smedindy]

First, congrats to Witt and Wooster for representing the NCAC in a positive way. Close games can go either way, and this year it seems the tournament is just a crapshoot.

Second, I know Earlham is no longer "one of us", the Quake let Jeff Justis go.

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2011/03/earlham-coaches-out

[Cali-Scot]

Survive and Advance baby.... Let's go Wooster!

[HopeConvert]

Wooster hosting a sectional. Students start spring break on Friday, however.

[ScotsFan]

Wooster hosting a sectional. Students start spring break on Friday, however.

As derek pointed out on the OAC board, last year Wooster's spring break started a week earlier and fell during the first week of the tournament.  Wooster left the campus open for that first weekend allowing students the option of staying and watching those games.  Hopefully, that option will be available again this weekend!   

Regardless, I'm expecting there to be some large crowds at the games this weekend.  I would think Marietta will be bringing a large contingent up from southern Ohio so Friday's games should be in front of a packed house.  And if Wooster and Marietta happen to both win on Friday, look out!     Saturday's crowd could be packed to the rafters!  On the flip side, if Wooster and Marietta both lose on Friday, you'll probably be able to hear crickets in Timken on Saturday! 

[goscots]

One of the questions discussed after last nights game was "When was the last time Wooster won a game with less than 50 points?". A quick look at the media shows Feb 14th 1996 against Kenyon (48-43). It's also the last time Wooster was under 50 win or lose. In other words - this does not happen often.

Watching the Manchester players come out of the locker room after the game to the applause of their families and fans was heartful. I'm sure they didn't sleep much last night knowing they had a great chance to advance.

Much credit to Manchester for playing a tough, disciplined game. For Wooster it was won with defense obviously. Manchester didn't even score until almost four minutes into the game and then it was only 2-2.

To me a key to the first half offensive struggles was that Wooster didn't make the 3-point shot part of their offense. Manchester obliged and crowded the lane, challenging every shot in the paint. In the second half you could tell coach Moore had told them to shoot 3's at halftime and it was just enough to loosen up the defense to allow players like Balch to hit some clutch jumpers.

Congratulations to Justin Hallowell for attaining 1000 points. To achieve this as a junior puts him in with some elite Wooster players. He was big this weekend, cleaning up the boards to limit the opponents to single shots.

[old scot]

Great weekend for the Scots. Hopefully they can make the up coming weekend even better. Go Woo!!!!

[woolax]

So Wooster v Cabrini, how do these two teams match up against each other?

[sac]

So Wooster v Cabrini, how do these two teams match up against each other?

Wooster should be a solid favorite in my estimation.