MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

Dr. Acula · January 11, 2015, 10:05:33 AM

Quote from: Ohigy on January 10, 2015, 11:34:52 PM
Wilmington beats Mount Union in Alliance. SHOCKER! I was also really surprised Heidelberg destroyed Otterbein by 20. JC, Marietta, and BW won as expected.

Either Mount played completely terrible defense or Wilm just shot the lights out because the Quakers shot over 60% from 3 and from the floor overall. Their starters shot closer to 70% from the floor. Wilm got blasted in their last OAC game by BW, but beat Mount and lost to Etta by 2 so who knows what they are this year. The bottom line is they were 1-4 in the OAC and you had them at home. Need to win that one if you want to give yourself a good chance to win the conference.

ohiofan1954 · January 15, 2015, 07:38:20 AM

I realize that this isn't a good year for Capital but Marietta sure seems to be on a roll.

EttaFan1 · January 15, 2015, 02:47:06 PM

Capital is not good (as their 4-10 record would suggest). They did little defensively to impact what was happening on the floor. They only seemed to have one real offensive threat, and he put up 17. Other than that, they were not really a threat to do much. It got ugly in a hurry, though. Marietta was shooting very well early on and it continued throughout the game.

The good news for the Pios: Andy Dollman probably had his best game of the season so far. He must be mostly recovered from his injury (an ankle problem was mentioned on the radio a few weeks back).

This is a very deep and talented Pioneer team.

The most interesting thing that happened last night. The first whistle of the game for ANYTHING came at the 10:46 mark of the first half. No fouls, no violations, no out of bounds plays. Up and down at a pretty good pace. The first whistle: Capital calling a time out. I've not seen that before.

Dr. Acula · January 16, 2015, 09:50:14 AM

Big game tomorrow in Alliance with JCU coming to town. Both are 6-1 in the OAC. The Raiders need to bounce back from the Wilmington loss at home and get one back here. They don't want to go into that first clash with Etta next week already down 2 games in the standings.

ohiofan1954 · January 16, 2015, 08:51:11 PM

Quote from: EttaFan1 on January 15, 2015, 02:47:06 PM
Capital is not good (as their 4-10 record would suggest). They did little defensively to impact what was happening on the floor. They only seemed to have one real offensive threat, and he put up 17. Other than that, they were not really a threat to do much. It got ugly in a hurry, though. Marietta was shooting very well early on and it continued throughout the game.

The good news for the Pios: Andy Dollman probably had his best game of the season so far. He must be mostly recovered from his injury (an ankle problem was mentioned on the radio a few weeks back).

This is a very deep and talented Pioneer team.

The most interesting thing that happened last night. The first whistle of the game for ANYTHING came at the 10:46 mark of the first half. No fouls, no violations, no out of bounds plays. Up and down at a pretty good pace. The first whistle: Capital calling a time out. I've not seen that before.

Looking forward to seeing Marietta tomorrow night against Marietta. I want to see the team that gave my bobcats such a rough game this year. Bobcats are bad yes but the Pioneers still had a halftime lead and led at one time by 14.

Ohigy · January 17, 2015, 10:33:07 AM

The way Marietta is playing, the Mount/JCU loser could find themselves out of the championship hunt. The Pioneers are rolling. The league is the Big Four and Little Six right now. Otterbein has a D1 transfer that just started playing last week so look for the Cardinals to start putting up some W's. Kudos to the OAC for the new website design! I like it!

Dr. Acula · January 17, 2015, 03:24:35 PM

Mount is already down 28-18. They are stone cold shooting. I'm watching the video and they're tossing up some big time bricks. 1-9 on 3's isn't helping.

Dr. Acula · January 17, 2015, 03:28:58 PM

Of course I no sooner type that and Mount goes on a 10-0 run to tie it at 28-28.

Dr. Acula · January 17, 2015, 04:55:10 PM

Mount 95, JCU 92

Wow, that was a heck of a finish. JCU starts the 2nd half on a 19-4 run to go up 11. Mount battles back. Both teams shot better down the stretch and Mount holds off a JCU 3 at the buzzer to win 95-92. DeAllen Jackson was enormous for Mount scoring 24 on 9-11 shooting including the huge 3 to break a 90-90 tie. That kid is a stud. Stevie Griffin also went 4-4 at the line in 2 huge situations in the closing minutes. I'll take a win against JCU any day and especially on a day when 2 of your main scorers shot very poorly.

ohiofan1954 · January 17, 2015, 10:16:18 PM

I know Marietta was playing Otterbein but that was impressive tonight. Anyone will have their hands full with the Pioneers this year.

Dr. Acula · January 18, 2015, 09:31:28 AM

I saw on Twitter that Tallmadge's HC congratulated Andrew Francesconi on picking Mount Union. Nice get for Fuline. Francesconi fits his blueprint perfectly...6-4 scorer who will be able to run the floor. Francesconi was 1st team All-Suburban League and All-District and 3rd team All-Ohio in D2 as a junior. Excited to see him added to the mix next year.

EttaFan1 · January 19, 2015, 08:41:35 AM

Wednesday's tilt between Marietta and Mount Union is looking like a dandy. I would imagine it will be a near capacity crowd as the local community is starting to notice what is going on a little bit.

Most of the remaining home games don't have as much "sizzle" to them, but this one sure does. I imagine both teams will be excited to play this one.

I'm anxious to see how well the teams match up against one another.

The other big matchup is between JCU and BW (at John Carroll). some exciting midweek matchups at the top.

ohiofan1954 · January 19, 2015, 04:14:29 PM

Quote from: EttaFan1 on January 19, 2015, 08:41:35 AM
Wednesday's tilt between Marietta and Mount Union is looking like a dandy. I would imagine it will be a near capacity crowd as the local community is starting to notice what is going on a little bit.

Most of the remaining home games don't have as much "sizzle" to them, but this one sure does. I imagine both teams will be excited to play this one.

I'm anxious to see how well the teams match up against one another.

The other big matchup is between JCU and BW (at John Carroll). some exciting midweek matchups at the top.

After the crowd I saw Marietta bring for the Otterbein game I would assume tickets for any remaining home game will be hard to come bye. I just might have to stay home from the Denison game Wednesday night and watch the Pioneer game on the net.

EttaFan1 · January 21, 2015, 09:48:22 PM

That was a dandy. A heavyweight bout without question. Two very impressive teams.

I'll post more tomorrow when I have a keyboard I can use to type effectively and efficiently.

EttaFan1 · January 22, 2015, 08:52:51 AM

One of the great things about D3 basketball is it doesn't get a lot of "fanfare" or hype. There was a nice write up in the Marietta times earlier this week, which helped drive attendance, but unless you follow the OAC or more specifically, Mount Union or Marietta you probably didn't know a whole lot about this game. Marietta's early season success has generated some excitement. The fact they were playing the team currently (and still) in second in the OAC standings last night was enough to fill the building. It made for a great atmosphere.

This was "round one" of the heavyweight battle. Mount who was picked preseason to be the top team in the OAC against Marietta who was picked second. It did not disappoint. Both teams were fired up and ready to play.

I have to give a lot of credit to Mount's top two players, DeAllen Jackson and Nate Jacubec. These guys gave Marietta fits all night long. Jacubec is frustrating to defend, especially when he is "on'" as he was last night. 7-10 from the floor and 4-5 from behind the arc. He was unconscious for 36 minutes last night. Wide open, guys in his face, didn't matter, he just drilled shot after shot. At least he did until his last two attempts, missing a contested three in the right corner and blowing a layup when playing catch-up. We didn't really have an answer for him.

DeAllen Jackson is a really good player. He handles the ball extremely well, he is quick and a matchup problem for most guards. They run a lot of ball screens to get him opportunities to go to the basket. It is easy to see why he came into the game shooting a mind boggling 58% from the floor. He finishes strong, and does well drawing contact. He caused a lot of problems for the Pioneers all night long.

Taylor Moore was the only other Raider player who stood out to me. He is not a big, bruising post player, but he is smooth, and has great footwork. The Marietta bigs had trouble defending him when he was able to get moving down low.

Marietta's big guys were more than Mount could handle. The four man rotation of Stephenson (17 pts, 4 Reb) Grenert (12 points, 8 Reb), Stegman (8 pts, 8 reb), and Edwards (6 pts, 8 reb) had a decisive advantage in the paint. They controlled the glass on both ends of the floor, with Marietta having a +14 advantage in rebounds, and grabbing a whopping 19 offensive rebounds.

The men of the match last night were RaNeal Ewing and Keith Richardson. Richardson provided a big boost off the bench in the first half. And Ewing made the play which swung the momentum of the game in Marietta's favor with a strong "and 1" finish on a fast break opportunity against one of Mount's big guys.

A word about the officiating. Officiating in the OAC is strange. It is some of the most physical basketball I've ever seen. You can't be timid and play in that league. I don't know how it is in other D3 conferences, but in the OAC, you better bring your big boy pants to play. Now I don't have a problem with the way the game is played. But there are times when you just scratch your head about some of the calls and non-calls which happen. One trip, a guy gets stabbed, hit with a trash can, and run over by a truck and nothing. The next trip a butterfly lands on a guy and it draws a whistle. It just seemed wildly inconsistent for both teams last night. Of course this observation is clouded by a biased rooting interest and emotional "heat of the battle" feelings, but it was still strange--not bad, not good, just strange.

It was a great atmosphere. The local community support was strong. The students are into it. It was pretty much a packed house. Fortunately the Pioneers did not disappoint. A great game by two very good teams. It won't surprise me if Mount Union beats Marietta when the game is in Alliance in February.