MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

I think Wooster is better, but not by too much, and it didn't seem all that obvious to me.  Mount had more first downs and gained a bit more yardage on the ground.  They're very physical, like all of the good OAC teams.  Tonight the officials were calling the fouls and that helped Wooster.  At another time, with another set of officials, it could have gone a bit differently.

[Dr. Acula]

Thanks for the input, WB.  Being even remotely relevant is new to us so I'm always skeptical right now.  Not knowing Wooster's roster, but knowing Mount's very well my concern would be matching up in the post.  Ruffin is very athletic and skilled, but the rest of Mount's bigs struck me as more bruisers than skilled guys.  In my mind Wooster usually has skilled bigs (plural). 

[Ohigy]

I saw the Wittenberg game at Cap.  I see the Tigers lost again last night.  What is going on in Springfield?

[ScotsFan]

Considering Mount isn't even ranked I'm pretty happy with their effort.  They were competitive with a top 10 squad on the road.  Wooster is obviously better, but I think Mount is making progress.

I'm not really sure why Mount isn't ranked.  They are the favorites to win the OAC. Surely that warrants at least a spot in the OTR portion of the rankings. I was actually quite surprised when I saw not one OAC team anywhere in the rankings.  Anyways, even in a loss, I think Mount proved that they may have been overlooked a bit. At the same time, it is a pre season poll so if Mount plays well, it won't be long to see them showing up in the poll.

As for the game, thank god for the bench.  Wooster's bench scored 39 while the starters out scored them by just 2!  Wooster's bench seemed to be a spark for the Scots all night long and were crucial to that 23-6 second half run David pointed out.

Lastly, I know it's early, but Xavier Brown isn't even close to playing like a 1st team pre-season AA.  He had just 4 points and 2 assists in the opener and followed that up with a whopping 8 points and 1 assist last night and he all but disappeared in the 2nd half being held scoreless. I guess one way to look at it is that Wooster has looked good despite Brown's struggles so if/when he does get going, that only bodes better for the Scots!   

[smedindy]

Only 25 teams out of 400+ get ranked. It's not easy to get on that list, and there are a plethora of good teams out there...

[Dr. Acula]

They absolutely didn't deserve to be ranked or even receive votes in the poll IMO.  I think they will get some votes now though. 

[woosterbooster]

Thanks for the input, WB.  Being even remotely relevant is new to us so I'm always skeptical right now.  Not knowing Wooster's roster, but knowing Mount's very well my concern would be matching up in the post.  Ruffin is very athletic and skilled, but the rest of Mount's bigs struck me as more bruisers than skilled guys.  In my mind Wooster usually has skilled bigs (plural).

Both of Wooster's bigs are playing really well.  Josh Kipfer, coming off the bench last year as a sophomore, was a pleasant surprise.  This season he's even more confident, especially as a scorer.  He's developed some moves to go along with his strength, and would now start on 80-90% of the DIII teams out there.  The starting post, sophomore Dan Fanelly, has shown improvement in every area this year.  He's very athletic, sees the court, and can finish.  He's also beginning to look like a leader out there.

The best thing about all of this is that it's clear now that these two guys can be on the court at the same time, with Fanelly moving along the baseline or to the high post.  I'm not sure that the starting lineup shouldn't include this tandem.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 91  St. Vincent 53 

Back from Timken where I watched Wooster absolutely dismantle St. Vincent.  This game was over at halftime 49-27 so the second half was rather uneventful.  It is hard to believe that St. Vincent was picked to win the PAC and they won't unless that conference is incredibly weak this season. 

Wooster was led tonight by Dan Fanelly who had 25 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and Xavier Brown who had a excellent game with 21 points.  Fanelly was on fire tonight with at least 2 big dunks and also nailing 3 three point shots.  Milt Davis had 10 points and Evan Pannell just missed a double double with 9 points and 13 boards.  Freshman Spencer Williams had another nice game with 9 points.

As a team, Wooster shot 54% from the floor including 9 of 18 from three point range.  Scots' defense held St. Vincent to only 28% shooting.

Wooster is looking very strong this season with excellent play by all 9 players in the regular rotation.  It will be very interesting to see how Wooster handles their next 3 games which include 2 road games in Indiana.

Wooster is now 3-0    Next game is on the road at Hanover (IN) on 11/29

GO SCOTS!

[Bishopleftiesdad]

OWU beats d3hoops 6th rank Calvin 85-71.

[wooscotsfan]

OWU beats d3hoops 6th rank Calvin 85-71.

Tremendous win by the Bishops!  Top teams in the NCAC (Wooster, DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan) are all undefeated and looking very strong as the season gets rolling. 

[Schwami]

OWU beats d3hoops 6th rank Calvin 85-71.

Tremendous win by the Bishops!  Top teams in the NCAC (Wooster, DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan) are looking very strong as the season gets rolling. 

And . . . Oberlin? 

[wooscotsfan]

OWU beats d3hoops 6th rank Calvin 85-71.

Tremendous win by the Bishops!  Top teams in the NCAC (Wooster, DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan) are looking very strong as the season gets rolling. 

And . . . Oberlin? 

Well, Oberlin's signature win this year is over a Wittenberg squad that is now 0-4 to start the season. 

Let's see how the Yeomen play in the next 5 games before we talk about them as a top team.

[smedindy]

Don't rain on the Yeomen's parade!

[woosterbooster]

By the way, kudos given when deserved.  The Wooster video feed had but one announcer on Saturday night.  It was the guy who usually does the color, and he was very good flying solo.

[David Collinge]

When was the last time, if ever, that Wittenberg started the season 0-4?