MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[GoRed]

Denison has opened up a 61-50 lead against Oberlin. Can they hold on?

Yes!  The Big Red hold on to win 72-63 by calling time out with 23 seconds left and up by nine.  Great move!

Why not call a time out when down 7-0 early in the game instead of subbing in for the starting five?

[pennstghs]

I'm liking what I'm seeing out of Wittenberg the past two weeks. Although a tough in-region loss, the Otterbein game may be just what they were looking for to get that fighter-mentality going on the season.

HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE game Saturday at Ohio Wesleyan. To me, its a prove-it game for Ohio Wesleyan. Of course they are very solid this year, but until they can consistently show they can beat the tough NCAC teams, they aren't the favorites in my mind yet. Saturday is huge for Witt as they can have a huge edge in the standings.

[David Collinge]

Geneva is all kinds of awful. Amazingly, this team won 18 games last year, and returned three starters for this year. Wooster's first turnover was in the final minute of the first half. Those who have seen the Scots play this season will not believe that previous sentence, and it is completely indicative of the level of defensive "pressure" exhibited by the Golden Tornadoes. It was a sad spectacle.

For those who may be wondering why we still had rotation guys in the game at the end, there was no choice. The Scots have been playing a 10-man rotation lately, and tonight there were only 12 players available. Those last two guys (Baker and Sherrod) got in for the last five minutes or so. Also of note, Doug Thorpe started at the point tonight, with X. Brown starting at the 2 and Matt Fegan starting on the sidelines.

[Wabash2011]

Wooster probably headed to the Top 10 in next week's poll with this win.      This kind of game can prove to be serious at this time of year.  I'm sure it is not what Wooster was looking for when they scheduled this game.

[GoRed]

How could I forget to mention . . .

Denison Junior Dimonde Hale becomes the latest member of the 1,000 point club!  Congratulations, Dimonde.

[smedindy]

Geneva is all kinds of awful. Amazingly, this team won 18 games last year, and returned three starters for this year. Wooster's first turnover was in the final minute of the first half. Those who have seen the Scots play this season will not believe that previous sentence, and it is completely indicative of the level of defensive "pressure" exhibited by the Golden Tornadoes. It was a sad spectacle.

For those who may be wondering why we still had rotation guys in the game at the end, there was no choice. The Scots have been playing a 10-man rotation lately, and tonight there were only 12 players available. Those last two guys (Baker and Sherrod) got in for the last five minutes or so. Also of note, Doug Thorpe started at the point tonight, with X. Brown starting at the 2 and Matt Fegan starting on the sidelines.

Why were only 12 dressed? Injuries? JV time? It seemed like the perfect game to make sure 15 or so are dressed for game experience.

[David Collinge]

JV time.

[woosterbooster]

I wasn't at the game, but the boxscore indicates that Evan Pannell and Jalen Goodwin did not play.  Goodwin received significent minutes at point guard during XB's injury.  Pannell has not been in the regular rotation, but has played ahead of Baker and Sherrod.  I don't know if these two guys were in attendance or not, or if they're injured.  Gideon Mabeny, the seven-footer, may have left the team again.  I don't know.

[David Collinge]

Pannell and Goodwin were dressed and ready, but sat out because they have played too much JV ball and Steve Moore wants them to be available for varsity play the rest of the way. It goes without saying that they were not needed last night. Mabeny is no longer with the team.

[smedindy]

It's time for the NCAC to get cookin'! We have a deep league and lots of great action from bottom to top.

Let's do this.

Friday, January 6

Non -Conference:

Ohio-Zanesville (record unknown) @ Oberlin (4-7) - Finding out info about ORCC teams is quite the challenge. Massey has them playing only two games, both early in the season. Some of the other ORCC have more games loaded into Massey, but I can't find a site or any current info. At any rate, I think the Yeomen will be prohibitive favorites, but you wonder if this was a last minute 'we need a game and I don't care who it is' situation or a 'we gotta get teams we can beat on the schedule' situation. Maybe both?

Conference:

Wabash (2-0, 10-1) @ Hiram (1-1, 8-3) - The conference season kicks off again with a good one. While some have been less than gung-ho about the Terriers when seeing them in person, they are 8-3 and won't be an easy win for any team, especially up at Hiram. The Little Giants need consistency on offense and make sure that they keep Jamaal Watkins and crew contained. A healthy Nick Curosh would be a big help, but he may or may not be ready.

DePauw (1-1, 7-4) @ Allegheny (0-2, 2-9) - DPU makes its initial long hoops slog to Meadville, but it looks like the trip won't be much of a hassle for the New Tigers. However, DePauw has had some head-scratchingly close games against weaker competition (hello, Earlham...) and the Gators could keep this too close for comfort.

Saturday, January 7:

DePauw (1-1, 7-4) @ Hiram (1-1, 8-3) - DPU will face a big test here. The madcap offense of the Terriers could force DPU into a game they're not totally comfortable with, and I can see this as a battle of wills and / or tempo.

Wabash (2-0, 10-1) @ Allegheny (0-2, 2-9) - Wabash also has kept some teams (Millikin) too close for comfort, but I really can't see the fuzzy-cheeked Gators keeping pace with the experienced Little Giants.

Denison (2-1, 5-7) @ Kenyon (0-3, 6-6) - Both programs need this game. The Lords need an NCAC win to make sure they don't fall too far behind in the quest for an NCAC tourney bid. The Big Red need a win for confidence's sake. Kenyon had a great tournament in Roanoke against some mediocre-at-best teams, so they may have the edge in momentum.

Oberlin (0-3, 4-7) @ Wooster (1-2, 10-2) - I don't quite get the Yeomen playing a game right before having to travel to Wooster. But they probably will have five wins going into this game, and five wins coming out of this game. However, Oberlin is scrappy and may hang with the Scots for a while.

Wittenberg (3-0, 9-3) @ Ohio Wesleyan (3-0, 11-1) - A huge game to start the new year. The Old Tigers slipped against Otterbein before Christmas, while the Bishops handled them at Otterbein's tourney. But Witt righted the ship and look to be in good shape to face the under-rated (nationally) OWU squad. The winner grabs a big edge in the quest to host the NCAC tourney, and if Witt steals one on the road, that'll be a huge advantage. The key will be for Witt to contain Tim Brady and not let the rest of the Bishops crew hurt them.

[sac]

Ohio-Zanesville (record unknown) @ Oberlin (4-7) - Finding out info about ORCC teams is quite the challenge. Massey has them playing only two games, both early in the season. Some of the other ORCC have more games loaded into Massey, but I can't find a site or any current info. At any rate, I think the Yeomen will be prohibitive favorites, but you wonder if this was a last minute 'we need a game and I don't care who it is' situation or a 'we gotta get teams we can beat on the schedule' situation. Maybe both?

I like their mascot, painted on the floor in the team photo  http://www.zanesville.ohiou.edu/students/student-life/mensbasketball.htm

[woosterbooster]

"Brunette girls. Every time we were like struggling in kicking, Coach tells me to think about girls on a beach or brunette girls."

Or brunette girls? What, do brunettes not frequent the beach? And what of blondes, are they so distracting to this kicker's imagination that his attempts continually sail wide to the right? 

[smedindy]

The Yeomen had no problems tonight, winning 78-30.

Oberlin played 13 players, held OU-Zanesville to 19.3% shooting, and led 39-9 at the half.

The NCAC finishes it's non-conference slate at 59-28. That'll do.

[smedindy]

DePauw topped Allegheny 60-56. The game was knotted at 56 with 1:47 left in the game but the Gators couldn't find the hoop again.

Barry Flynn led the New Tigers with 16 with Sean Haseley adding 15. James Ness led the Gators with 14.

[smedindy]

Wabash survives a madcap game against Hiram, beating the Terriers on the road 77-70.

The Little Giants shot 16-31 from three-point land. Derek Bailey all scorers with 28 with Aaron Zinnerman added 16. Andy Walsh came off the bench and hit four three-pointers.

Jamaal Watkins led the Terriers with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Wiegand added 16 points and 10 boards.