MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

For the Hope guy, yes. But for the Wabash guy I was talking to, not as much.

Waitaminute ... isn't he a Carthage guy?!

[David Collinge]

For the Hope guy, yes. But for the Wabash guy I was talking to, not as much.

Waitaminute ... isn't he a Carthage guy?!

Nyuk, nyuk. 

I see smeds is averaging 8.6 ppg and hitting an even .500 from the arc so far this season.  He even got picked by K-Mark in the CCIW Fantasy Draft!  At 16.7 minutes per game, though, I'm not sure his world's-oldest-freshman body can hold up to a full season of CCIW hoops.     

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg leads Kenyon 51-48 with under 5:00 left.  Kenyon led by 3, 31-28, at the half.

UPDATE:  Kenyon 55-54, 0:47.4 remaining.  Witt ball following a KC turnover.
UPDATE:  Borchers turns it over with :03 on the shot clock.  KC ball, 0:14.8 left and a one-point lead.
UPDATE:  no update; back-to-back time outs.  Kenyon has a 37% free throw shooter in the game.
UPDATE:  But it's Bryan Yelvington who draws the foul, and he shoots 85%.  Hits the first, hits the second.  Time out Kenyon, they lead 57-54 with about 10 seconds left.
UPDATE:  Hill gets fouled, but only gets a one and one for it.  Hits both, but Kenyon still leads by 1 with 0:08.2 left, and has the ball.
UPDATE:  Knapke draws the foul with 0:07.4 left; like Yelvington, he shoots 85%.  Hits the first; hits the second.
UPDATE:  Caraway ties it with a three with 0:00.5 left, and its OT in Gambier!

[kiltedbryan]

WOAH.  Does Witt/Kenyon have a live recording going?

Nevermind. Already found the recording off Witt's page.

[David Collinge]

Yes, at Wittenberg.edu.

59-59 as we begin the overtime.
Hemenway carries the ball and turns it over to the Lords.

UPDATE:  Klinger hits as the shot clock expires, and Kenyon draws first blood.  61-59, 3:51.
UPDATE:  Missed shot for Witt, turnover for Kenyon.
UPDATE:  Denbow drains a three and gives Witt the lead.  Denbow's first points of the game.  Jolson answers with a three with :07 left on the shot clock.  64-62 KC, 2:07.
UPDATE:  Missed shot for Witt, turnover for Kenyon.  64-62, timeout Kenyon.
UPDATE:  Borchers down low ties it with 1:10 left.
UPDATE:  Caraway steals it from Jolson and feeds Borchers for the layup.  Witt 66-64, 1:00 or so left.
UPDATE:  Caraway hurt on the play.  Haddox misses a jumper, Knapke misses the putback, and there's a foul called on Kenyon.
UPDATE:  Borchers misses the first, hits the second, Witt by 3 with 0:37 left.
UPDATE:  And Klinger dribbles it out of bounds.  0:29.1 left, Witt ball, timeout Kenyon.
UPDATE:  Murray draws the foul and will shoot 2.  Hits the first to make it a two-possession game.  0:027.9 left.  Hits the second for a 5-point lead 69-64.  Timeout, Witt.
UPDATE:  Somebody (Arce?) hits a quick 3 for Kenyon.  Borchers gets fouled immediately.  69-67 Witt, now 70-67, now 71-67.  0:17.3 left.
UPDATE:  Haddox travels; I think that's 5 Kenyon turnovers in the OT alone. 
UPDATE:  Hill to shoot two with 0:04.5 left and a 4-point lead. 
UPDATE:  Hill missed one and made one.  Jolson misses at the buzzer and Witt survives 72-67 (OT).

[David Collinge]

Another nailbiter win for Witt, who is 2-1 in the NCAC with both wins in OT (Denison, Kenyon)
Another nailbiter loss for Kenyon, who recently lost to DePauw on a buzzer-beater three.

Bill Brown is really impressed with Kenyon's new athletic facilities.  He says it might be the best facility of any college or university in America, "regardless of size."     I've really gotta get down there and see this place.  (I was going to go tonight, but have been waylayed by a serious headcold. )

[David Collinge]

Ohio Wesleyan easily disposes of Denison in Granville, 72-50.  That's 9 losses in a row for the 1-11 Big Red.  OWU moves to 8-4 and 2-1 in the NCAC.

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to Earlham senior Markous Jewett, selected NCAC Player of the Week for the past fortnight.  Jewett averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds in 5 games over the holidays.  NCAC Men's POTW

[kiltedbryan]

<glances above him>

<cue radio announcer voice>

...and here on page 300, David Collinge has recovered from a first-half dominated by Pat Coleman and sac fighting down low over 200-mile long rebounds to return to his dominating, Hall-of-Famer-who-recently-and-deservedly-had-his-posts-elevated-to-front-page-status player and has made the last four posts from the field, and six of the last seven...

<color commentator> that matches his season average, and with numbers like these he might just lift the NCAC board deep into the postseason in the d3hoops Board Championship Season this year.  Unfortuntely, with the stacked MIAA board and the regional focus of d3, it looks like the tournament selection committee could stiff the NCAC with a tough draw again this year...

[WillieBrown]

Seems like a real barn burner in Gambier. Schwab mustve had those boys ready to play. The rest of the teams in the NCAC seem to be catching up with witt woo. Nice to see some competition, could give some valuable late game situation prep for the tournament. Something that was sorely lacking last year (Witt avg win of 24 ppg). By the way pennstigs it is hemenway not hemingway.

[pennstghs]

my bad-didnt mean to offend you willie-guess im not a perfect speller after all-

[roadtrip]

Wabash is departing for a brutal (travel-wise) roadtrip...Hiram and Gheny approx 800 mi roundtrip...nice (in conference) bus ride....and due to injuries will prob have to start 2 fresh and a soph across the front line...go for it!

[TigerFan_1973]

A very interesting Top 25 poll this week, with only five points separating the top three teams.

Week 5 men's poll
# Team W-L Pts. Last Week
1 UW-Stevens Point (9) 10-1 598 5
2 Ohio Northern (7) 10-1 595 7
3 Amherst (9) 9-0 593 2

Here's a question that maybe Pat could answer:
Without naming names or school affiliations, who votes in the Top 25 poll and how are those voters distributed by region?  I'm just wondering in general and not trying to relate the question to this week's results.

It seems very difficult to have a national view of Division III without the press and TV coverage that is available to DI voters and the lack of what used to be called "inter-sectional" games.  How does a voter realistically compare Amherst and UW-Stevens Point, let's say.  I took a look at the schedule for UW-Stevens Point and all their opponents start with "UW." 

That's not a shot at UW-Stevens Point but really making the point that having a tournament is the only thing that really matters.  The polls give us something to talk about in the meantime, which is certainly a good thing.

I was surprised at the closeness of Witt's game last night but there's a lot to be said for an exciting game rather than a blowout, particularly when listening on the radio.  Unfortunately, I missed listening to it.

[TigerFan_1973]

Wabash is departing for a brutal (travel-wise) roadtrip...Hiram and Gheny approx 800 mi roundtrip...nice (in conference) bus ride....and due to injuries will prob have to start 2 fresh and a soph across the front line...go for it!

That is brutal.  I assume they play the same night they get off the bus?  It seems like it would take a few hours to get the kinks out of the body after that kind of a ride.

[TigerFan_1973]

http://www.d3hoops.com/faq.php?question=44

Thanks for putting this link up.  I found it very interesting.  It answered my question about whether a game against a closely located opponent in another region counted.  The 200-mile rule answered that question.

I did find this line humorous in a bureaucratic sort of way:
2) The teams are within 200 miles of each other via the NCAA's approved mapping software. 

It seems like if you get on the bus and the odometer has changed by less than 200 miles, it doesn't matter if you use the right software or not.  I guess there could be some D3 mechanic out there with one of those special odometer wrenches, though!