MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

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.   

Obviously consistency in the key in officiating (as well as so many other things!). In terms of it being physical ball, that is definitely the way it is played at the D-III level from Ohio on westward, into Wisconsin and Minnesota. The game is called and played with more finesse in New England for certain and to an extent in the Mid-Atlantic, so it's always interesting when teams meet from different parts of the country.

[ettaexpress]

The tempo in Ohio is fast as well. 5 OAC teams average 75 ppg or more, so that probably contributes to the problems, along with the physicality that's allowed to take place.

[Ohigy]

The two top billed games didn't disappoint last night!  Congrats to the Pioneers on a big win and for taking control of the OAC race at this point.  Mount played a great game as well and the environment looked and sounded amazing on the HD stream.  The return trip to Alliance could be another special night.  After gushing over the top four though I wonder what is going on in Columbus?  Cap is blown out by Muskingum - losing by 21 points to the Muskies - and Otterbein loses at home to Wilmington after leading by 12 in the 2nd half.   It's been a long time, if ever, since we have seen Cap AND Otterbein at the bottom of the OAC standings.

[David Collinge]

Speaking of standings...

1. Marietta 9-0/16-0
2. JCU 7-2/11-4
2. UMU 7-2/11-5
4. B-WC 6-3/12-4
5. Wilmington 4-5/7-8
6. ONU 3-6/8-8
6. Heidelberg 3-6/7-9
8. Muskingum 2-7/5-11
8. Capital 2-7/4-12
8. Otterbein 2-7/3-13

hth

[ohiofan1954]

The two top billed games didn't disappoint last night!  Congrats to the Pioneers on a big win and for taking control of the OAC race at this point.  Mount played a great game as well and the environment looked and sounded amazing on the HD stream.  The return trip to Alliance could be another special night.  After gushing over the top four though I wonder what is going on in Columbus?  Cap is blown out by Muskingum - losing by 21 points to the Muskies - and Otterbein loses at home to Wilmington after leading by 12 in the 2nd half.   It's been a long time, if ever, since we have seen Cap AND Otterbein at the bottom of the OAC standings.

Wow I went to Denison Wednesday night thinking it would be just another ugly Muskingum game. What a shocker. Hard times for two teams that don't have anyone who can shoot. Might have to change my mind on 2/14 and to go Wisconsin-A&M hockey game instead of Cap-Otterbein game.

[Dr. Acula]

Not surprisingly Mount struggled with Ott in the 1st half before outscoring them 50-33 in the 2nd to cruise to a 85-64 win.  Ott is obviously not good, but coming off JCU and Etta (and with BW next) I was afraid the Raiders might have a slight let down.  DeAllen Jackson was great again today tossing in 20 while again being stellar from the field (7-9).  Mount shot 60% overall and 84% from the line.  Good to get a win and move on from Etta.

Also, I'm curious to see what kind of rebounding numbers Kukura can put up next year when his minutes presumably increase.  He rebounds well for not being a post.  He's 3rd on the team at 4.1 Reb/gm in just 13.6 minutes per game.     

[EttaFan1]

Marietta jumped out to a twenty point lead in the first half.  However Heidelberg's pressure and athleticism took its toll on the Pioneers and the Princes came all the way back to tie the ball game late in the second half.  Marietta was able to fend them off late in the game to get a 6 point win.

It was an ugly win.  But give credit to Heidelberg for not giving up and battling hard for 40 minutes.  They could have easily packed it in down twenty and let the Pioneers run over them, but they didn't.  The most disappointing thing to me was that Marietta failed to use their advantage in size to their benefit.  Heidelberg doesn't have but one player over 6-4 and he isn't what I would consider a top tier "big" in the OAC.  A skinny 6-3 guy isn't a match for any of Marietta's 4 big guys. 

Too many turnovers and bad shot choices for the pioneers as well.  I'm sure practice will be interesting this week.

I told another Marietta fan, you know we have come a long way when we start complaining about the quality of a win.  It hasn't been too many years ago, when wins of any variety were not plentiful. 

At the end of the day, the Pioneers are 17-0, still two games ahead in the league standings and have lowly Muskingum coming to town on Wednesday before a more challenging matchup with BW on Saturday.  It isn't too far fetched to think this team could be 21-0 when they head to Alliance February 11th. 

The Pio's remaining slate.

MUSK 1/28
BW 1/31
@Cap 2/4
WILM 2/7
@MOUT 2/7
@JCU 2/14
OTT 2/18
ONU 2/21

[ohiofan1954]

Marietta up to third this week. Go Pioneers.

[EttaFan1]

The Category, things said at Marietta College for $1,000

Marietta up to third this week. Go Pioneers.

What is something you only hear during baseball season?

[Dr. Acula]

Big game for Mount tonight hosting BW.  It would be a nice hurdle to clear getting the season sweep of the Jackets.  2 games back of Etta they already need to pretty much win out and hope for help just to pull even with the Pios.  They can't afford to lose any more conference games if they want to have any chance of tying Etta.  While Mount played Etta tough and I could see them potentially winning the rematch in Alliance I just can't see Etta losing more than one other time in conference.  They're playing way too well to think they're going to stumble. 

[ohiofan1954]

The Category, things said at Marietta College for $1,000

Marietta up to third this week. Go Pioneers.

What is something you only hear during baseball season?

Marietta rated first.

[ohiofan1954]

Pioneers the team you have to worry about in the NCAA's isn't Wooster, it is Ohio Wesleyan. If that zone defense is working like it did tonight and they are hitting their 3's they are going to be tough. They don't miss foul shots either,  something Wooster should take note of.

[Ohigy]

11-0, 18-0  Marietta
9-2, 13-4    JCU
9-2, 13-5   Mount Union
7-4, 13-5   BW
5-6, 8-9     Wilmington
4-7, 9-9     ONU
3-8, 7-11   Heidelberg
3-8, 5-13   Capital
2-9, 5-13   Muskingum
2-9, 3-15   Otterbein

Marietta is in complete control of the league chase.  Barring something tragic, it looks like the Pioneers will win the OAC regular season title.  JCU and Mount continue to give chase for 2nd and a possible NCAA at-large bid.  BW needs to win out to have a shot at an at-large bid.  Wilmington, ONU, and Heidelberg are middle of the pack.  They usually win the games they should and lose the games they should.  Cap, Musky, and Otterbein are fighting to stay out of the cellar.  Otterbein and Muskingum play Saturday so one of those two will emerge from the bottom while the other cements themselves as the bottom-feeder.  I think the league will get two teams in the tournament this year.  Marietta and whoever emerges from the JCU/Mount scrum.

[EttaFan1]

Well Mount got it done against BW, winning 83-72.

Marietta beat Muskingum soundly.  The final score ended up 16 points, but it was a bigger margin when Marietta went to their third group, who managed 2 FG's in like 3-4 minutes of play.

Muskingum was physical with the Pioneers.  They did a good job of keeping the Marietta bigs off the glass.  Muskingum had more offensive rebounds than the Pioneers.  There are not many teams who can say that, this year. 

Marietta made a concerted effort to involve the big guys throughout the game.  Grenert, Stephensen, Edwards, and Stegman combined for 40 points on 18-28 shooting from the floor.  Edwards continues to impress and keeps earning minutes with solid play on both ends of the court.  There isn't much of a drop off when he comes in the game. 

Dillon Young, a freshman also continues to impress.  He is a level headed, smart ball player. 

The noticeable thing about Marietta last night is they turned up their defense a notch.  They pressured the ball a lot better than they had been doing and it paid dividends. 

This is a deep Pioneer team.  The points can come from a variety of places on any given night.  AJ Ireland is a guy who is a solid contributor off the bench.  He doesn't get involved in the box score a lot of the time, but last night he just seemed to be feeling it.  He was co-leading scorer (13 Pts.) along with Edwards.  The offensive contributions come from so many different spots in the roster.  Sometimes I think the biggest coaching challenge with this group is keeping everyone's heads on straight and egos in check.  When these guys play as a team, they are really, really good.  At times, and there was one point last night, it almost looks like they are playing pickup ball—No offensive flow, no sharing of the ball, bad or rushed shots.   Not everybody is going to be the star every night, and getting the young men to buy into that is critical to their success down the stretch. 

A key matchup with BW on Saturday looms. 

[ohiofan1954]

11-0, 18-0  Marietta
9-2, 13-4    JCU
9-2, 13-5   Mount Union
7-4, 13-5   BW
5-6, 8-9     Wilmington
4-7, 9-9     ONU
3-8, 7-11   Heidelberg
3-8, 5-13   Capital
2-9, 5-13   Muskingum
2-9, 3-15   Otterbein

Marietta is in complete control of the league chase.  Barring something tragic, it looks like the Pioneers will win the OAC regular season title.  JCU and Mount continue to give chase for 2nd and a possible NCAA at-large bid.  BW needs to win out to have a shot at an at-large bid.  Wilmington, ONU, and Heidelberg are middle of the pack.  They usually win the games they should and lose the games they should.  Cap, Musky, and Otterbein are fighting to stay out of the cellar.  Otterbein and Muskingum play Saturday so one of those two will emerge from the bottom while the other cements themselves as the bottom-feeder.  I think the league will get two teams in the tournament this year.  Marietta and whoever emerges from the JCU/Mount scrum.

Things are looking good for the OAC this year. Quality league this year for sure. I am interested in catching Mt. Union this Saturday since I have read all the good reports on here.