MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

I'm not sure it would be as interesting with only two games.  Maybe I could include the OAC semifinals as well.  Let me think about it.  I've got a serious cold (that's why I missed the Kenyon game tonight) and need to see how that goes over the next day or two.

[witt4ever]

Wooster will have free video of the semis and finals.

http://athletics.wooster.edu/mb/schedule.php

[smedindy]

Wabash has been successful with the press - and if I'm not mistaken when Mac brought in the bench against Earlham the first time at home they pressed and shook up the Quakers.

The killer, though, was Jewett with 19 points and 3 assists in the second half. Dang he was on it.

[pennstghs]

smed i resent your comment as i post on here regularly as a main witt representative. i wasnt at the game tonight as i had to work so i didnt provide feedback because i had no feedback.

in case anyone wants to know

I GOT THE MOST POINTS FOR  A SINGLE GAME BY PICKING WITT TO WIN BY 23(won by 22)----see i know my team

[smedindy]

It just seems sporadic. And, can you give us the suit update for road games??

[Li'l Giant]

I must have missed something this season. What's up with the "suit update"? 

[pennstghs]

yes i can as i will be in attendance saturday night. even if i'm not vocal i am visible on the board as i have read every single post on here this entire season.

one thing while listening to the witt postgame show they seemed to reference that wabash would be playing wooster in the second game....a little premature

[jscwittfan]

On the suit update, anyone that has seen a Wittenberg game knows that Artie Taylor (the Tigers' assistant coach) has some of the most stylish suits I have ever seen.  Tonight, he was pretty reserved though, wearing a brown pinstripe outfit.  This is a guy who has a lime green suit, a purple suit, a bright orange suit, and the list goes on and on and on.  Sorry we missed it on the radio broadcast tonight - when Scott's there, we usually almost get it!  I'll have to try and find a picture of one of his suits.

Anyway, on the game itself: Witt started out relatively slow, but with about 5 minutes or so left in the first half, they turned it on and never looked back.  Russ was awesome again (he had 27, moving into 10th on the all time Wittenberg scoring list, and a deep, high scoring run in the NCAC/NCAA tourneys could move him up to ninth), Borchers was his usual solid self with 16, and Gregg Hill had the best game of his career with 16.  Tyler Howard also had 11, but he is still too inconsistent of a shooter for me to have too much faith in him (case in point, at one stretch tonight, he missed a layup, missed the putback, then stepped outside and left a 3 way short).  Also, Witt's free throw shooting seems to be getting back to where they were earlier in the year (16-22 tonight).  However, 3 point shooting is still a problem (1-7 tonight), and Denison actually outrebounded Witt, 27-26.

While Witt played great basketball down the stretch, we were all stunned by the OWU score.  They are a scary, scary team right now, and matchup problems or not, they are going to give Witt a run for their money on Friday afternoon. If Witt starts out as slow as they did tonight, we may be looking at a Wooster-OWU rematch, not the Witt-Wooster rematch that everybody this time two weeks ago would have almost guaranteed.  Of course, I'm still picking Wittenberg, but I could see this being like last year's Witt-Wabash OT game in the semis at Wooster.

This should be a fun weekend of NCAC basketball (even on the women's side, where the top four teams are all very close talent-wise). 

[billy_pilgrim]

yes i can as i will be in attendance saturday night. even if i'm not vocal i am visible on the board as i have read every single post on here this entire season.

one thing while listening to the witt postgame show they seemed to reference that wabash would be playing wooster in the second game....a little premature

Who was doing the postgame for Witt? If it was Scott Leo, he'll be getting hell from me on Friday 

[jscwittfan]

yes i can as i will be in attendance saturday night. even if i'm not vocal i am visible on the board as i have read every single post on here this entire season.

one thing while listening to the witt postgame show they seemed to reference that wabash would be playing wooster in the second game....a little premature

Who was doing the postgame for Witt? If it was Scott Leo, he'll be getting hell from me on Friday 

It was Scott and myself.  Must have been a slip, because we knew in the postgame that Earlham had in fact won.

[jscwittfan]

As promised, a picture of Coach Taylor.  Not the greatest, but the only one I can find.

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/rotate/05rotate/coachtaylor05.jpg

[David Collinge]

even if i'm not vocal i am visible on the board as i have read every single post on here this entire season.

That alone is worth a karma point.   

[earlhamalum]

Wow, speaking of old people... Wabash had a 50 year old man, with a two year old girl in his arms, giving Earlham fans the middle finger and yelling curse words left and right.  I love the fact that so many students come out for Wabash--it's great for D3 hoops, but the fact that one grandpa could give the middle finger nearly 100 plus times and intermix that with a list of curse words worthy of "The Aristocrats" has to be embarrassing. Chanting "Bull****" a dozen plus times and telling "Fat Boy" (Coach Justus) to sit down on every contestable call is classless to say the least!  

On top of all that, Earlham had to beat at least seven guys tonight.  (Only the Steve Lavin clone seemed to be relatively impartial.)  Towards the end of the game (read as:  after the tip-off...), the guys in black and white did everything they could to allow Wabash to stay in it.  In one play, Zimmer jumped into the air to shoot the ball, came down, then went back up with it... No traveling call!!!.  Then,  Zimmer clearly knocked the ball out of bounds, but... Wabash ball.  The last few minutes had several plays like this, and I"m proud of my Earlham guys for pulling it out anyway.

Two more things... Wabash students had their shirts off and spelled WABASH ALWAYS FIGHT.  (Some of the letters were droopy, but it was spelled right.)  You'd think that more than 1 in 15 would use the weight room pre-game, since it is right across the hall(I'm talking to you "B"), but nevertheless...  Do a few laps in the pool or miles around the quad before we come back next year, OK guys?

Also, let's not forget about Brandon Miller and Tyler Stewart finishing a few plays with style tonight.  A few years ago Earlham had to win games with lay-ups.  It makes us old Quakers feel good when 6' 7" athletes like B Mill put down a reverse dunk and six footers like T Stew throw down with two hands on the breakaway.  See some of ya'll in Timken

[fighting_scots]

First off, DC, I'm glad you're in the house with the bar looming--if you don't know it now, you won't!

OWU's victory doesn't suprise me--Gheny doesn't defend real well, as evidenced by the Scots' thrashing of them earlier this month--I think the Scots went over the century mark with about 10 min to go--

With that being said, OWU is peaking at the right time--they're playing great D, and are shooting lights out.  I still think that they don't match up real well with Witt, but if they're still hot from 3, it should be a great first game Friday night.

Should be a fun weekend of NCAC hoops--we will look forward to the arrival of Billy Pilgram and earlhamalum to the friendly confines of Timken!

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

First off, DC, I'm glad you're in the house with the bar looming--if you don't know it now, you won't!

It's not looming any more, it's begun to collapse (today was day 1 off 3.)  But you're right; if I don't know it now, I never will.  And I don't.    Aside to LG:  question 3 was on the Doctrine of Waste. 

If I'm reasonably sober at 5pm Friday (2pm here), I'll be tuned in for Witt/OWU III.  I presume that Witt will be broadcasting; will OWU also do a broadcast?