MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[kiltedbryan]

Scores from tonight's early games:

Oberlin 75  Denison 70

The goose egg gets larger....sigh. 

Also, OWU over Kenyon, 76-63.

[David Collinge]

The conventional wisdom about tonight's OWU/Kenyon game would have been that Kenyon needed to pound the ball inside on offense and exploit their significant rebounding advantage on defense if they wanted to come away with a victory.  Well, they couldn't, and they didn't, and they lost. 

To my complete surprise, Wesleyan, not known for their rebounding prowess, dominated the boards 34-24, and were nearly even under their own basket, grabbing 12 offensive boards vs. 16 defensive for the Lords.  At the other end, Dave Knapke had a very strong game, scoring 16 on 8/13 shooting and grabbing 3 offensive boards.  Bryan Yelvington, on the other hand, was shut down almost completely, with just 6 points (2/8 shooting), 2 rebounds, and 15 minutes of relaxation on the bench.  No rebounds + no Yelvington = no happy locker room in Gambier.

OWU got a big game from Kyle Holliday (12 pts., 9 rebounds including 4 offensive boards, and 4 steals), a bigger one from Jesse Jean (16 points on 8/11 shooting and 8 boards), and a huge one from Dustin Rudegeair (21 points on 9/12 shooting, and 9 rebounds including 3 on the offensive glass.)   Overall, the Bishops shot 52.9% and committed just 12 turnovers, helping to offset a fairly woeful 5/18 (27.8%) from the arc.  Kenyon had just 11 turnovers, but only managed 7 assists on 23 baskets and hit just 4 of 15 long-range shots, indicative of their injury-thinned guard rotation. 

The good news for Kenyon is that senior co-captain Josh Klinger was back in uniform, although he spent the whole game icing his balky knee.  Frosh JT Knight was also over his recent indisposition, and tossed in 10 points including a couple of treys.  It looked like OWU frosh Brent Pleiman was also back in uniform, but he like Klinger did not get into the fray.

OWU recap
Kenyon recap

[BigRedGrad]

It would appear that in the battle for the #1 draft pick the Big Red has a commanding lead. 

And I would say the road is not going to get much easier the rest of January.  The Big Red has Kenyon at home....Hiram at home and then three stright road games starting with the Scots.  Ouch.

Not pretty. 

This team hangs with pretty much anyone, they just can't close the deal.

[smedindy]

Hiram's definitely winnable for Denison.

[ScotsFan]

Hiram's definitely winnable for Denison.

That's what a lot of us thought about Oberlin as well...

[BigRedGrad]

I agree that Hiram is our best shot at stopping the O-fer.  But I certainly wouldn't bet the ranch.

[smedindy]

Oh, it's not a game I'd gamble on! Besides, not much action on D-3 games, you know.

[sac]

Oh, it's not a game I'd gamble on! Besides, not much action on D-3 games, you know.

The look you get from the sportsbooks in vegas when you ask for a D3 score is priceless.

[David Collinge]

I expect that I'll pick Denison to beat Oberlin, Earlham, and Hiram when each comes to visit Granville.  I'll be shocked, shocked if the Big Red go 0-3 through that lineup.

...then again, I'm essentially in last place in the pick'ems...

[David Collinge]

Under intense interrogation by Zach Bolinger of The [Wooster] Daily Record, Mac Petty broke down and let slip his entire gameplan for Saturday:

"To me, games always come down to making baskets. We have to take care of the ball, give ourselves a chance, and just try to play solid defense and solid offense."

Loose lips sink ships, Coach. 

I overheard Steve Moore tell Bolinger that he plans to encourage his team to "outscore" Wabash, but he quickly insisted that this comment be off the record, lest Petty find out about his secret coaching strategy.

[wally_wabash]

That kind of media savvy only comes with 3+ decades in the coaching business.   

[smedindy]

Petty knows that you play to win the game...

[Mr. Ypsi]

Under intense interrogation by Zach Bolinger of The [Wooster] Daily Record, Mac Petty broke down and let slip his entire gameplan for Saturday:

"To me, games always come down to making baskets. We have to take care of the ball, give ourselves a chance, and just try to play solid defense and solid offense."

Loose lips sink ships, Coach. 

I overheard Steve Moore tell Bolinger that he plans to encourage his team to "outscore" Wabash, but he quickly insisted that this comment be off the record, lest Petty find out about his secret coaching strategy.

He already let the cat out of the bag - he plans no defense!  Otherwise he would have said he plans to encourage his team to have Wabash score less than his team.

[wally_wabash]

Petty knows that you play to win the game...

Hello!

[woosterbooster]

Al Swearengen and the Deadwood coaching staff.  Their boys play in the NAIA Division - National Association of Inconsiderate Assassins.  Coach Swearengen, despite leading his team to a 13-0 record this season, has cast his eyes upon the top slot at Wabash College in Indiana, where he believes he can reverse that school's unfortunate trend against The College of Wooster.

"You just never know, when given such an opportunity, exactly what might happen.  But I like the odds.  I mean, pay heed, in all of Wabash's previous contests against Wooster, or anyone else for that matter, not a single Scot has been felled by gunshot while driving to the hole.  Uncanny!  Surely, just by pure chance, one has to figure that might change, and I'd like to be the man in the driver's seat when it does."