MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Alright, we're almost ready for half two.  Wabash was led by Aaron Brock's 6 points in the first half.  Zimmer was 0-5 and didn't score although he did chip in with a team high 4 rebounds. 

OWU was lead by Jesse Jean's 9 points (on 4-10 shooting...wow, 10 shots in the first half!).  Rudegair didn't get much...2 points, just two FG attempts and he picked up two fouls.  I believe Wabash will start with the ball at midcourt.  Here we go...

20:00 - Early second half development...Wes has shed the headband. 

19:00 - The second half starts as the first did...with a Simkus bucket in the post.  28-28.  Argh...OWU quickly scores in transition.  30-28 Biships. 

17:59 - Brock scores to even things up at 30-30. 

16:15 - Lot of bodies on the floor here in the last minute.  Simkus nailed a three to give Wabash a 33-32 lead.  Zimmer is really struggling for Wabash tonight.  I will say that Wabash has picked it up here early in the second half.  Cafarella hits a triple for the Bishops.  We're tied at 35-35 now.  Timeout Wabash. 

13:46 - Zimmer is finally on the board with a hookshot.  This followed a Jesse Jean three point play.  38-37 Bishops. 

12:14 - Wabash goes up 40-38 on an Evan Arnold triple.  Kyle Miller has the answer.  41-40 OWU.  It's fast and furious here.  Zimmer scores in the lane.  42-41.  My point here was that the team foul situation is Wabash 5, OWU 1.  Wabash is going to have to win this game with field goals because there won't be many foul shots coming their way. 

9:45 - Zimmer is awake now.  Andrew scored again on a blow by Rudegair.  44-41 Wabash.  Zimmer is going to get a breather here. 

6:57 - Zimmer checks back in.  Jean is shooting free throws and he gets one out of two.  48-47 Wabash.  This is going to be a great finish.  Wes Smith just drained a big three pointer.  51-47 the Bash.

3:55 - Rudegair goes over Zimmer's back adn picks up his fourth foul.  It's been a frustrating night for Dustin.  We're at 53-50 right now with Aaron Brock headed to line for some free throws for Wabash.  Brock makes his shots.  55-50 Wabash with 3:22 to go. 

2:35 - This was sweet.  On the fast break, Brock floats a pass over the rim for Zimmer who jumped and put it back off the glass.  And he was fouled.  Free throw is good and Wabash goes up 60-50.  Of course, before I can save the post, OWU nails a three pointer and the shooter was fouled.  We'll have a Wabash timeout here.  60-53 Wabash with a free throw pending. 

Holliday missed his free throw.  The score remains 60-53.  Simkus gets called for charging.  Wabash is not doing well to protect the lead here. 

1:06 - Casey Teeters gives the foul on Chase Haltom who will shoot one and the bonus.  His shots are good.  62-53 Wabash. 

0:42 - I'm not sure why Wabash insists on doing this.  Two straight turnovers have turned into 5 quick OWU points and the score is 62-58.  This one should be on ice by now.  OWU's full court press forces a Wabash timeout now. 

0:31 - 10 second violation.  Le sigh.  OWU has the ball. 

0:20 - Brock just made the play of the game by swatting away a Rudegair shot near the rim.  The loose ball is controlled by Wabash, OWU can't set up the press and has to give the foul.  Haltom makes his free throws and Wabash goes up 64-58.  Wabash allows OWU pretty easy access to the rim.  64-60.  Wes Smith is fouled immediately on the inbound. 

Wes makes one out of two.  65-60.  Traveling is apparantly not a point of emphasis for officials tonight...OWU's player (didn't catch the number) walked his way all the way to the basket and scored the layup.  65-62 with 4.4 seconds left.  Timeout OWU.

Zimmer is fouled upon receiving the inbound...and that'll be five fouls for Rudegair.  Zimmer makes his first free throw and this one is doneski.   The second shot is also good.  67-62 Wabash.

And that's the final.  Wabash 67, OWU 62.  Gritty game for Wabash tonight in a really important game. 

[imderekpoe]

NCAC Scores from tonight:

Wabash 67, OWU 62
Wooster 117, Hiram 87
Allgheny 76, Oberlin 61
Kenyon 60, Denison 47
Wittenberg 59, Earlham 49

[kiltedbryan]

NCAC Scores from tonight:

Wabash 67, OWU 62
Wooster 117, Hiram 87
Allgheny 76, Oberlin 61
Kenyon 60, Denison 47
Wittenberg 59, Earlham 49

Pretty much right to form there, huh.  Big win for the LGs- they have to be happy about that one.  Other than that, only the somewhat smaller than expected margin of victory by Wittenberg stands out.

[sac]

JT Knight is back in the lineup; his problem was illness, not injury. 


Is this the same JT Knight from Ann Arbor Pioneer HS, if so I saw him last spring in the Michigan Class A championship game.  I thought he was a good looking D3 prospect.  I believe he and a teamate looked at Hope.  His teamate went to Carnegie-Mellon.

[Gregory Sager]

JT Knight is back in the lineup; his problem was illness, not injury. 


Is this the same JT Knight from Ann Arbor Pioneer HS, if so I saw him last spring in the Michigan Class A championship game.  I thought he was a good looking D3 prospect.  I believe he and a teamate looked at Hope.  His teamate went to Carnegie-Mellon.

Yes, it is.

[David Collinge]

JT Knight is back in the lineup; his problem was illness, not injury. 


Is this the same JT Knight from Ann Arbor Pioneer HS, if so I saw him last spring in the Michigan Class A championship game.  I thought he was a good looking D3 prospect.  I believe he and a teamate looked at Hope.  His teamate went to Carnegie-Mellon.

Yes, it is.

...and he is indeed a good-looking D3 prospect.

[kiltedbryan]

For those (like me) who are generally unfamiliar with Springfield and it's eating options- can anyone recommend a few dinner spots for 5 college/grad school/recent graduates, all of whom are interested in good food without having to break the wallet?

[David Collinge]

For those (like me) who are generally unfamiliar with Springfield and it's eating options- can anyone recommend a few dinner spots for 5 college/grad school/recent graduates, all of whom are interested in good food without having to break the wallet?

Dayton. 

[wally_wabash]

For those (like me) who are generally unfamiliar with Springfield and it's eating options- can anyone recommend a few dinner spots for 5 college/grad school/recent graduates, all of whom are interested in good food without having to break the wallet?

Dayton. 

I was going to say Columbus.  We're on the same page.   

[BigRedGrad]

Apparemtly the bright lights of Hollywood were too much for the Big Red.

I am just curious if anyone was at this game?  60-47 isn't exactly lighting it up on both sides.

Another question I have for anyone having witnessed the Big Red in action......where is everyone?

What happened to McMahon, Koecheler, Ward, Glover, Tichenor?  Did they all give it up?  The only one on the roster with significant playing time last year is Gognat and he hasn't played a single minute.  I thought I read where he is hurt.  

Every team on the D-III level loses people.  When you are not paid to play you really WANT to play the game at this level.  But it seems that from last year to this that is a whole lot of guys did not return.  On top of losing seniors Izzo and Hodgkinson.  You put that group as a whole and you basically have last years entire team outside of Luther and Sullivan.  

That to me is a recipe for disaster and I guess 0 for 14 proves my point.

I now have my doubts about Saturday but I still think they will get the W against Hiram.

[David Collinge]

I am just curious if anyone was at this game? 

I'm sure someone was...   But among those likely to post in here, I'm probably the only one that ever sees either of these teams in Granville or Gambier (plenty of lurkers, though).  And I was not there; I was down the road in New Concord.

Another question I have for anyone having witnessed the Big Red in action......where is everyone?

What happened to McMahon, Koecheler, Ward, Glover, Tichenor?  Did they all give it up?  The only one on the roster with significant playing time last year is Gognat and he hasn't played a single minute. 

Yes, well, that's the $64 question, isn't it?  The attrition isn't quite that bad, as you seem to realize by your later comments.  Pat Sullivan, Chris Luther, Chris Eberst, and Brian Elder were key contributors last year and are the team's leaders this year.  Why the others are not playing (and, quite frankly, how much they are missed, at least in the case of some) is a question for which I don't have an answer.

[David Collinge]

For those (like me) who are generally unfamiliar with Springfield and it's eating options- can anyone recommend a few dinner spots for 5 college/grad school/recent graduates, all of whom are interested in good food without having to break the wallet?

Courtesy of my good friends (well, friend) in Springfield, I can direct you to a listing of area restaurants:
http://www4.wittenberg.edu/springfield/restaurants/index.html
I think the place I ate last year, with three other posters, was Mike & Rosy's Deli, although I could be mistaken.  Wherever it was, it was very close to Pam Evans Smith Arena, and quite pleasant. 

[ScotsFan]

SF,

Yeah, the fact that they have the three wins on the road is very impressive.  The same type of impressive that Wooster will be going for if it can pull off a win at Wittenberg this weekend (though that would only give Woo a 1 game NCAC lead.)

KB,

I thought I'd respond to this over here on the NCAC board since it is NCAC related and not OAC related.

I feel that, should Wooster win in Springfield, they would be in a pretty comfortable position in the NCAC even though, in essence, it would only be a one game lead.  Wittenberg, while they are tied at the top of the standings with Wooster, has done it by feasting on the bottom half of the NCAC.  And Witt is doing it less than impressively including last night's closer than expected tilt with The EC.  And Witt's schedule only gets tougher after their date with Wooster as they travel to OWU the following Wednesday and then they travel to Wabash a week from that.  So, I guess we'll find out just how far Wittenberg has come in the next week and a half.

If Witt can find a way to beat Wooster on Saturday, I might buy into their turnaround a little more.  Not only would it give the Tigers a signature win, but amazingly, it would put them alone in 1st place in the NCAC!   As for now, I'm having trouble overlooking the fact that the average wins of the teams they have beaten over their 8 game win streak is a tad under 4.

[kiltedbryan]

So, I guess we'll find out just how far Wittenberg has come in the next week and a half.

If Witt can find a way to beat Wooster on Saturday, I might buy into their turnaround a little more.  Not only would it give the Tigers a signature win, but amazingly, it would put them alone in 1st place in the NCAC!   As for now, I'm having trouble overlooking the fact that the average wins of the teams they have beaten over their 8 game win streak is a tad under 4.

Added the emphasis, because I hadn't realized the size of the difference.

Overall record of Wooster's last 10 opponents:   72-76 (.486)
Overall record of Wittenberg's last 8 opponents: 31-82 (.274)

Wittenberg's win over Allegheny is its only win over an above .500 team this season.  Wooster counters that with wins over above .500 teams Farmingdale St., St. Thomas, Ohio Wesleyan, Walsh, Wesley and Wabash, and St. Mary's is at .500 currently.

Again, on paper, this looks like a game where Wooster should win...but I know better than to bet on the "on paper" analysis in this rivalry.

[woosterbooster]

For those (like me) who are generally unfamiliar with Springfield and it's eating options- can anyone recommend a few dinner spots for 5 college/grad school/recent graduates, all of whom are interested in good food without having to break the wallet?

Dayton. 

I was going to say Columbus.  We're on the same page.   

See?  Now if I'd come out with a remark like that I'd have been buried so deep in negative karma I'd have to climb for weeks just to reach Spence.

Personally, had I commented, I would have said San Francisco or New York City, but that's just me.