MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[Matt Letourneau]

Catholic defeated Marymount, 60-57 in Arlington. 

Not a real pretty basketball game, but last year CUA lost at Marymount so they'll gladly take the win.  The Saints had jumped out to a 41-34 lead and looked like they were about to put the game away, but Catholic clawed back.   Fouls played a big role in this game.  Marymount was very, very physical--refs didn't call everything that was going on out there (they couldn't--they did a good job, much better than the Gally game anyway) but CUA still got to the line 31 times.

On the flip side, Shane Sowden again picked up 2 quick fouls and played rather sparingly in the 2nd half because he fouled out in just 17 minutes.  Wheeler and Baker got most of his playing time, I can't say that either had their best day---Spirenberg did a pretty good job. 

Satalin was CUA's leading scorer, but he was 4-16.  You get the picture.  Papageorge had a good game.  Stolzenthaler struggled with the aggressive Marymount defense.

What is absolutely ridiculous is the Marymount table.  D-Mac's rant early in the season not-withstanding, somebody has to do something about the way the game is run there.  Its embarassing.  Constant clock problems, lack of knowledge on the rules, etc--they were routinely resetting the shot clock on jump balls.  The real kicker, because it actually affected the game, was with 18.9 seconds left Catholic inbounded the ball.  Marymount was trying desperately for a steal and it was a tough inbounds play.  They ran it beautifully, and got it into the right guy's hands, and then a freaking horn went off for no reason.  The officials stop play, run over, talk about it for 5 minutes.  Probably 2-4 seconds had run off the clock, but most important Catholic had inbounded the ball cleanly.

Well the officials decide to BRING THE CLOCK BACK to 18.9 seconds and make Catholic inbound it again at midcourt like nothing had happened. It was ridiculous--they punished Catholic because the table screwed up.  Of course, the second time around, Catholic had a terrible time trying to inbound the ball, had to burn a time out, and then nearly turned it over (ball got knocked loose all the way back to the Marymount basket, but CUA retained posession on a jump ball).  At the very least, the seconds that ran off the clock following the original inbounds should not have been put back on!!!!  It was a HUGE favor to Marymount, #1, that play stopped in the first place, and #2, that they put time back on the clock.

It could have cost Catholic the game, and then you would have really seen me steamed.  As it was, it was bush league.  Its ALWAYS something at the table, every year, and it NEVER is something that benefits the visiting team.  NEVER.  I've been going to that place 7 years.  They always find new and imaginative ways to screw up.

So, sorry D-Mac for the rant, but you can't just give a pass for that sort of thing because it affects the outcome of the game and its a consistent problem. 

Anyway, obviously Catholic is going to have to play better against Mary Washington if they're going to beat them.  They seem to be becoming one of those teams that plays up or down to their opponents, so...

[unreallawns]

Salisbury still deserves to be mentioned as on of the top teams in the conference.  They should finish top four.  Plus it was an emotional game at York.  Kind of like when the redskins got waxed at Giant stadium after there owner died.  There aren't too many teams who would have won that game.

[rmboy211]

[

Excellent post rmboy..........really meaningful stuff you got there. York played well, Salisbury played bad. 52% from the floor vs. 32% will usually determine the game. York was clicking on all cylinders today.

Salisbury still deserves to be mentioned as on of the top teams in the conference. They should finish top four. Plus it was an emotional game at York. Kind of like when the redskins got waxed at Giant stadium after there owner died. There aren't too many teams who would have won that game.

Yes, it was meaningful stuff that I wrote because I have to admit, Salisbury just got lucky the first game that they played against York. Im not taking anything away from the season that you guys are having as it has been a nice turn-around. Another thing is that the emotion aspect did help alittle, but as one famous person "if there is a will, there is a way" So if Salisbury came to play they would have done better, but they didnt show up to the game and York helped them not come to the game.

Good job by York and we are on the same pace as last years Final Four team. Good luck the rest of the way

[basketballguru]

Todays lines

CUA @ Marymount +3  A push on the road for CUA
GAL @ Goucher +5  Galley covers on the road
SMC @ UMW -6.5   UMW covers @ home
SAL @ YCP -4   York wins big @ home, Sal U. is prob a little overrated.

[unreallawns]

1. YCP - Just 2 conference losses in '04-05. Lost only 1 contributing senior if I remember correctly.
2. CUA - Lost no starters. Aaron Kelly returns after last years season ending injury. He and a group of quality freshman provide Catholic depth that they lacked at guard last season.
3. UMW - Mike Lee and co. return...they can put up points in a hurry but need to get tougher as a team.
4.  SMC - Improved last year with a young team and small roster.
5.  MU - Still just a middle of the road team.
6. Goucher - Lost their 2 top players.
7. SAL -
8. GAL - Haney and Jackson still at Gallaudent I presume, but still lack the supporting cast to turn them into a competitive team.

First of all I wouldn't necessarily say Salisbury is overrated since no one had them finishing in the top five and second of all, Salisbury is undefeated at home where not only did they beat York, but they beat Virginia Weslyan who has won 15 in a row and has a tougher conference this year.

[rmboy211]

The lines are out for the conference champion for the CAC. If anyone is interested they can contact your local bookie and you can place bets with them.

3-2                         York
7-1                         Mary Washington
9-1                         Gallaudet
10-1                       Catholic
13-1                       Salisbury
14-1                       St. Mary's
17-1                       Marymount
1000000000000-1 Goucher

[Matt Letourneau]

How did Galluadet get ahead of Catholic exactly???

Get me a bookie, I'll take those odds.

[rmboy211]

He factored in some components that arent release to the public and then just shooting on some luck to fall into place.

[CAC Basketball]

New member here and i went to the game on saturday at york.  The place was jumping for the opening tip to the final whistle.  Give credit to the york fans for really making it the toughest place to play in the conference.  In regards to an early post by rmboy11 salisbury plays very well at home and here never in this game.  The crowd took them out of it before it even started.  the goodbye chanted started with 10 minutes to go.  RMBoy did u see the game or just going by facts like you read the box score.  Anyway, if the CAC's go through York, Mary Washington is the only team that can run with them in that building.  I have not seen Catholic yet but that enviroment is tough to play in.  Salisbury beat York by 2 and then York slapped them around for 40 minutes.  It shows you why they are number 9 in the country.  Another thing is that if you look at last year, York is hitting their stride at the same time they did last year.  Yesterday was by far the most complete game of the year.  York showed why they will win out with one tough road game left at Mary Washington. 
Thanks,  Look foward to what you all think.

[Pat Coleman]

New member here and i went to the game on saturday at york. 

Not so new. Actually an old member returning.

[Matt Letourneau]

New member here and i went to the game on saturday at york.  The place was jumping for the opening tip to the final whistle.  Give credit to the york fans for really making it the toughest place to play in the conference.  In regards to an early post by rmboy11 salisbury plays very well at home and here never in this game.  The crowd took them out of it before it even started.  the goodbye chanted started with 10 minutes to go.  RMBoy did u see the game or just going by facts like you read the box score.  Anyway, if the CAC's go through York, Mary Washington is the only team that can run with them in that building.  I have not seen Catholic yet but that enviroment is tough to play in.  Salisbury beat York by 2 and then York slapped them around for 40 minutes.  It shows you why they are number 9 in the country.  Another thing is that if you look at last year, York is hitting their stride at the same time they did last year.  Yesterday was by far the most complete game of the year.  York showed why they will win out with one tough road game left at Mary Washington. 
Thanks,  Look foward to what you all think.

I think you're wrong about Mary Washington being "the only team that can run with them in that building."  Ask the York people what they think.   I'm willing bet to they think Catholic can run with them and/or beat them.  I'm not saying they think they WILL beat them, just that they've got a shot.

Catholic actually matches up pretty well against York--better than most in the CAC.  Catholic has struggled recently against very quick, athletic teams that like to play rough.  York isn't that kind of team.  Gally, Salisbury and Marymount are.  Talent-wise, Catholic is better than all those three but if they can get Catholic to slow down and play their kind of half court game, Catholic struggles.

Just like York, Catholic likes to play up-tempo.  They're at their best when the game is moving along.  In the first Catholic-York matchup this year, Catholic came out of the box in a track meet and built up a 10 minute lead on York in a flash.  York was able to slow the game down, get Catholic out of transition and they started to struggle.  Catholic ended up beating York by picking up the pace again.

One of the reasons why is that Catholic has the depth to run--most teams don't.  There's a difference between being quick and athletic and playing up-tempo.  Gally, Salisbury, etc have quick players, but they don't play an up-tempo up and down the court type of game.  Catholic and York do, naturally.

Now, there is no denying the home court advantage York has, its huge.  But its not unique.  Catholic just beat Marymount by 2 at Marymount---at home, they just about doubled them up and beat them by 40-odd points.  But two really good teams generally don't have those kinds of games--CUA had a nice advantage when York played there, but York was smart and mature enough to withstand it and have a shot to win anyway. Catholic is the same kind of team.

I'm not predicting anything, I'm not claiming Catholic is going to go up there and beat York, at least the first time, but I am saying that I'd be surprised if they didn't play them very, very tough.  And I don't understand how you can dismiss the team that actually beat them with a similar style.

[bisonpride]

"The Bison scored 51 points in 2nd half to win their 10th game of the season."
Gallaudet 78
@Goucher 66
Halftime - GU Bison led 27-26

The victory mark their first win ever at Goucher's 15 years old, SRC Arena after 0-18 in previous 18 games after some successful wins at old Gym before the SRC exist. Gallaudet got its first conference series sweep in their favor for pretty awhile. The Bison finally got their double digit wins since probably more than 10 years ago.

Gallaudet open up the game with 11-0 run right after first 6 minutes. Goucher finally score on free throw at 13:22 remaining. At the halftime score was in favor of Gallaudet up by one, 27-26. Gallaudet afterward didn't look behind and begin to building up the confident lead in second half, most range at the above 14 points to the largest lead of the game, 21 points twice before settled in for 12-points win. Not only Robert Haney, Jr. had an all-around performance but it's total team efforts that came away with first ever win at SRC Arena. Gallaudet shot 45% FG for whole game while 57% FG in second half alone.

Gallaudet:
Haney, Jr. - 25 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal in 36 minutes
Mowl - 13 points, 5 assists in 37 minutes
Weedon - 13 points
DaSilva - 5 steals along with 8 points
Jackson - 10 rebounds

Goucher:
Garritt - 27 points (8-21 FG, 3-11 3FG, 8-8 FT), 7 rebounds in 39 minutes
Russo - 25 points (6-17 FG, 4-12 3FG, 9-10 FT), 5 rebounds in 40 minutes
Ajose - 5 assists
Sweeney - 6 rebounds
Team FT - 20-25 (80%)

Gallaudet Bison (10-8, 4-4) will go on non-conference game at Christendom College on monday, January 30th.

[kitchenrat]

I hate that i had to be out of town this weekend, because i would have loved to see the games on Saturday. It is always big to get a win over a team who you have already lost to so it would have been big even if it wasn't a special day in the kitchen.
    As for Catholic or UMW and the race for first place, it is never easy and as we have seen this season anyone can win at any time so i'm not going to say what "could" or "will" happen. I hope to see the Sparts carry the spark they got from the win over SSU in to the upcoming road games at Goucher, Marymount and Hood. 4 games in 8 days is only made harder when three of them are on the road, but with the fourth being a home tilt vs CUA that puts more at stake. I hope that game will be York's chance to avenge their only other loss of the season at that point, but no one is looking past the other teams on the schedule. 

[John Rusnak]

As for the odds, there are two ways to look at it...

First, if you go off of the real odds/probability that somebody wins the conference, I'd say York is probably 2-1, Catholic is closer to 4-1/5-1, and Mary Wash is probably somewhere similar.

If you are looking at betting odds, York would probably be more 2-3 and Catholci would probably be closer to 2-1, only because they have enough supporters that would bet on them to move the line.  I have a feeling that Mary Wash and Salisbury would have enough supporters to temper their odds as well.

It doesn't sound like York will be beaten this year, however if they are going to start playing in their new facility, anything is possible since nobody is fully familiar with it yet...or have they been practicing in there already?

[ycp]

The Spartans will be at Wolf Gym the remainder of this season. The Grumbacher Center will not be ready until after the season is complete.