MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Elsewhere:
Kenyon 75, Marietta 48
Ithaca 85, Allegheny 63
Capital 87, Denison 63
Defiance 83, Earlham 68

[imderekpoe]

Just back from a loooong ride back from Hanover...

I thought that the Scots made some big strides this weekend.  They seemed a bit overwhelmed early against Platteville, but picked up the defensive intensity midway through the first half and it seemed to carry through the rest of the weekend.  The offense went flat for a long period in the second half of that game or it would have been much more interesting down the stretch.  Today's game was impressive, albeit against a much weaker opponent.  As Wooscotsfan mentioned, Hanover played a zone almost exclusively, and the Scots were able to shoot over the zone pretty much at will.  However, I will say that I don't ever recall a Scots team moving the ball so well against a zone.  They did a nice job of passing quickly, reversing the ball, and driving the lane and kicking it out for wide-open jumpers.  Pretty much a textbook performance on the offensive side. 

A lot of the newcomers really stepped up their game this weekend.  In particular I've been wondering what Steve Moore had been seeing in Nathan Balch that was warranting so many minutes.  This weekend he played a very confident game, was quick and decisive with the ball, and was deadly from outside.  Congrats to Balch and Justin Hallowell for making the all-tournament team.  The inside game was still a little weak, but frosh Greg Ross played very well and I wouldn't be surprised to see him move up the depth chart if his improved play continues.

There is still room for improvement - they did foul a LOT all weekend, usually from not being in position, but there was definite improvement in the defense.

Overall, I think that we got a peek at what could be a very good team by the end of the season, but we should know a lot more by this time next week.

Go Scots!!

[David Collinge]

Ohio Wesleyan played excellent basketball for about 30 minutes today.  After building an 18-point lead with 11:52 remaining, the Bishops went flat at both ends, and Albion went on a tear to make a game of it.  Trailing by 15 at the 7:58 mark, Albion went on a 14-2 run over the next 5:13 which was ended by a brilliant drive through the lane by OWU's Kyle Holliday.  From that point forward, the Bishops made just enough free throws to keep the Britons at bay.  OWU, which connected on just two of their last nine field goal attempts, shot 42% for the afternoon (57% in the first half, 30% in the second) and hit a sterling 24 of 27 free throws (although two of the three misses were in the final 0:24 of the game).  Holliday led the way with 18 points, including a 9-for-11 performance from the line.  Frosh Pat Pellerite added 15 points and a game-high 8 rebounds.  Albion managed to make just one of eleven three-point attempts and misfired on nine of 32 free throws; statistically at least, that was their undoing.  Albion goes home to Michigan with their first two losses of the season.  Recap; box.

The second game was won easily by the homestanding Lords; too easily, in fact, as they appeared to have some difficulty maintaining their intensity whenever the lead reached 17 points.  The lead would shrink to about 10 points, then Kenyon would regain focus and renew their lead.  On one occasion, the momentum change was spectacular, as senior Allen Bediako blocked a shot, crossed to the other side of the lane and rejected a second shot (this one reaching the Marietta bench), and moments later made a nifty baseline move around his defender and thunder-dunked over a second Pioneer, sending what crowd was still there into a frenzy.  That sequence adequately fired up his teammates, who ended the game on a 24-8 run (the last 2+ minutes being played by the last five guys on the bench) to post the lopsided final score.  The leading scorer, for the fourth time in five games, was Bryan Yelvington, who posted 23 points on 7/13 shooting and 9/10 from the line.  Bryan is now averaging 23.2 PPG, and prior to today's game was honored by his coach for scoring his 1,000th career point, accomplished back on 11/16 in Chicago against Edgewood.  Yelvington also grabbed 11 rebounds and now leads the team in this category as well (7.8 RPG).  Bediako added 11 points, his second consecutive double-digit performance.  Recap; box.

For those who have faith in the "comparative scores" game, Kenyon should have a slight edge over their co-hosts.  The Lords beat Albion by 6 and Marietta by 27, while Ohio Wesleyan was "only" able to win by margins of 3 and 22, respectively.  OWU next takes the short drive to face Capital on Wednesday, then both Kenyon and OWU open NCAC play on Saturday in what could be pivotal games in the conference race.  Kenyon hosts Wabash, and OWU travels to Wooster. 

[David Collinge]

Wabash sophomore Wes Smith's 41-point outburst vs. Hanover has earned him the coveted NCAC Player of the Week award for the second week of the 2008-09 season.  Congratulations, Wes!

[David Collinge]

Hiram adds to Case Western Reserve's misery tonight, handing the Spartans an 84-80 defeat tonight in Cleveland.  Chris Roberts and Ian Pfouts combined for 54 points on 22 for 30 shooting; Pfouts' career high 25 points was augmented by 10 rebounds.  The Terriers shot 48% overall and owned a +15 advantage on the boards.  Hiram moves to 3-1 on the young season while Case drops to 0-5.  Recap; box.

[wally_wabash]

Halftime in Greencastle.....Wabash just put together a 3-20 shooting half.  Not surprisingly, the Little Giants are not winning.   

[David Collinge]

Final score:
DePauw 67, Wabash 57
Tigers and Little Giants split the season series.

The conference season kicks off tomorrow at Wooster when road-weary Oberlin comes to town.  In non-conference action, Wittenberg hosts Ohio Northern, Allegheny visits Gannon, Denison travels to Marietta, Earlham and Wilmington try to reach a consensus at Wilmington, and Ohio Wesleyan faces Capital in Bexley.

[imderekpoe]

Finals tonight:

Wooster 104 - Oberlin 54
Ohio Northern 78 - Witt 62
Capital 82 - Ohio Wesleyan 70
Marietta 84 - Denison 71

After hitting 45% (19 of 42) of their 3-pointers against Hanover, the Scots were 16 of 27 from behind the arc tonight for 59%!  Overall the Scots hit 67% from the floor, held Oberlin to 36% and outrebounded the Yeomen 41 - 16.  The Scots continued to struggle from the line hitting only 8 of 14.

Individually the Scots were led by Marty Bidwell with 19 pts (in 16 minutes) and Mike Evans, who poured in 18 points in his 13 minutes.  Justin Hallowell was also in double-figures with 12 on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc.  Oberlin was led by Jordan Beard with 13, Mike Loll with 12 and Omari Hall with 10.

[David Collinge]

Also...
Gannon (D2) 82, Allegheny 55
Wilmington 75, Earlham 48

It seems to me that OWU has three basic weaknesses, and a very, very good Capital team exposed two of them tonight in Bexley.
1) OWU really misses Dustin Rudegeair and Jesse Jean.  There's nobody on this year's team that can replace the production of these two players.  There's not enough going on in the paint to force the defense to pack it in and allow open looks to OWU's several excellent jumpshooters.  Brent Pleiman has the size of Jean, but not nearly the athleticism to be a credible scoring threat.  Kyle Holliday, like Rudegeair, has an excellent jump shot and is a fearless driver of the lane, but he hasn't got the size to play with his back to the basket.  Pat Pellerite looks like he'll become a special player, but he's still a freshman and a bit wild.  (And both Holliday and Pellerite are woeful free throw shooters.)  Between them, these three scored 24 tonight on 9 of 22 shooting.
2) On defense, OWU tends to overplay the man, leaving them susceptible to the back door cut.  Make no mistake, Capital as a team is very skilled at shooting the basketball.  But tonight they scored 38 points in the paint and only missed 14 shots taken inside the arc (64%), and you can't do that without help from the defense.  Pellerite is the key offender here; as a post defender, he tends to play his man off to the side just a bit, leaving the baseline undefended against either a backdoor cutter or a spin move.  I should say that this is a weakness that seems especially glaring when you play against a team with a half-dozen or more bulky but athletic guys listed at 6'6" but playing like they're 6'9"; nobody in the NCAC meets that description.
3) OWU has a short bench.  That's true, but the play of the key reserves has gotten a lot better, and tonight there was hardly any dropoff when they were in the game.  Tim Brady and Dillon McBride both had creditable games tonight, combining for 17 points.

Both halves of the game ended up 41-35, and Capital shot a blistering 56+% in each half.  OWU shot a respectable 43% in the first half, dropping to 38% in the second due in part to some fairly desperate attempts in the final couple of minutes.  Capital won the battle of the boards 40-31, with each team getting about 1/4 of the available offensive rebounds.  OWU continued to keep good care of the ball, with just 9 turnovers, counterbalanced by seven steals, but had just 8 assists on 26 baskets.  Kyle Miller led the Bishops with 17 points, and Pellerite ripped down 14 rebounds, including four on the offensive end.  OWU recap; box.

The matchup this Saturday between the Scots and Bishops gets more intriguing with each passing day.  It could be a classic.

[ScotsFan]

Solid win for Wooster last night.  Nice to see Bidwell have a nice night offensively.  I'm wondering if he's finally getting close to being 100% for the first time this season.

And how about these freshmen?  Three frosh shot a combined 11-14 from downtown led by Hallowell and Evans each knocking down 4-5 and Fegan adding 3-4!

On a side note, Hanover just beat newly ranked and previously unbeaten Transy last night to open HCAC play 55-53!  Go figure...  Hanover had been allowing nearly 88 ppg in their previous three contests which included lopsided losses to both Wabash and Wooster and they hold Transy to 53!  Either Hanover ditched that 2-3 zone that was so ineffective against Wooster or Transy couldn't shoot over it...

[WAS A PLAYER]

Just a matter of time till Coach Moore, Coach Cline, and the health of their players, put this team on the right track.

[David Collinge]

Franciscan University of Steubenville, a D3 provisional and new member of the AMCC, upends Hiram tonight, 88-80.  The Barons, coming off a 43-point loss Wednesday to Penn St.-Altoona, even their record at 3-3, but as far as I can tell this was their first win over a D3 opponent (the others being Penn St.-New Kensington and Christendom College).  I doubt there's any way to spin this as anything but a very bad loss for the Terriers, who fall to 3-2.  Box.  Hiram had four in double figures, led by Chris Roberts' 25 points on 10 for 16 shooting, but it appears that hot shooting by their hosts (50% overall, 10-for-21 from the arc) did them in.  Hiram forced 15 turnovers and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, leading to a +17 margin in field goals attempted, but more than a third of those attempts were from the arc, where the Terriers shot just 24% (7 for 29).  Every starter for the Barons finished in double figures, and collectively they provided 84 of the team's 88 points.

[woosterbooster]

From the tone of your post, I take it that Franciscan University wasn't moving DOWN from D1.   That does lead me to ask, though, what level of the basement are they coming up from, to be a provisional DIII?

[David Collinge]

Poking around their website, it looks like this is just the third year of varsity basketball at Franciscan; I guess it was a club or even intramural sport prior to that.  (In fact, the 2006-07 team might not have had varsity status; it's hard to tell for sure.)  They were 6-19 last year, although just one of those wins was against a D3 program (Waynesburg,) and 5-20 in their first season (including a win over D3 Penn St.-Altoona.)  But these guys own Christendom--they're 3-0 all time vs. the Crusaders with an average margin of victory of nearly 17.  Maybe Hiram should schedule Christendom?

[imderekpoe]

So, what does a Scot fan do in the middle of the night and he can't sleep??  Pour through the record book and see when the last time that a Scot team started off the season 1-3!  Turns out that the last time that happened was the final year under Lu Wims - 1986-87 - when the Scots opened with losses to Capital, Millikin and Mt Union before defeating Marietta.

Here's some tidbits regarding the 3rd loss in coach Moore's first 21 seasons at Wooster:
8 have come vs Wittenberg - no surprise there.  Next is Denison and Kenyon wth 2 each.
7 times the 3rd loss has occurred in December, 5 in Feb and March.  This year marks the only time the 3rd loss was in November.
9 years the 3rd loss came with less than 10 games in the win column, 5 times with 10-19 wins, and 8 times with more than 20 wins (and 7 of those they had at least 25!).
This is the 3rd season in which the 3rd loss occurred with less than 3 wins.  The other two seasons the Scots finished 18-9 (1989-90) and 21-7 (1991-92).

OK - maybe that number crunching has tired me out enough to get some sleep...