MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Basketball23]

OTT beat Wilmington the 3 seed, this wednesday. So that means with Mount losing to ONU in OT by 1 today OTT is in regardless of tonites outcome vs. CAP by owning the tie breaker for better win.

So i belive the tourney shapes up like this:

#8 OTT @ #1 CAP
#5 Musky @ #4 ONU

#6 BW @ #3 Wilmington
#7 JCU @ #2 Berg

[kiltedbryan]

OTT beat Wilmington the 3 seed, this wednesday. So that means with Mount losing to ONU in OT by 1 today OTT is in regardless of tonites outcome vs. CAP by owning the tie breaker for better win.

I understand that. But Mount Union also beat Wilmington this season.  Otterbein and Mount Union were both swept by Capital, swept by Heidelberg and split with Wilmington.

ONU secured the #4 seed today by beating Mount Union, but Mount Union won the first contest. ONU swept Otterbein.  Otterbein is done.

And you don't even have to agree with me...you can just check out Capital's web page dedicated to next week's tournament.

[kiltedbryan]

Final Scores from the last regular season OAC day:

Capital 87
Otterbein 77

Heidelberg 108
Muskingum 102 (2 OT)

Mount Union 76
Ohio Northern 77 (OT)

John Carroll 84
Wilmington 86

Baldwin-Wallace 86
Marietta 60

Seems like a lot of teams and players came out to play today, with many of them knowing what was on the line.  Mount Union clearly refused to go away quietly; and (now) #5 seed Muskingum sent a pretty good message to #2 Heidelberg that "We can play with you."  Unfortunately, the Muskies came up short and will have to travel on Wednesday.

[kiltedbryan]

Final 2007-2008 Regular Season OAC standings:

1. Capital (16-2)
2. Heidelberg (14-4)
3. Wilmington (11-7)
4. Ohio Northern (10-8)
5. Muskingum (9-9)
6. Baldwin-Wallace (8-10)
7. John Carroll (8-10)
8. Mount Union (6-12)
9. Otterbein (6-12)
10. Marietta (2-16)

The tournament pairings look like this:

Wednesday
#8 Mount Union @ #1 Capital
#5 Muskingum @ #4 Ohio Northern

#7 John Carroll @ #2 Heidelberg
#6 Baldwin-Wallace @ #3 Wilmington

[kiltedbryan]

Looked at the box score for yesterday's Otterbein/Capital game...can anyone explain why Nate Stahl didn't play for Capital?  I'm guessing he was sick?  It would be a blow to Capital if for some reason they are without Stahl for any more games.

[Dynex]

KB - not sure why he was out either. I was at the game and asked someone from Capital and they said they didnt know either but assumed he was sick. There has been some team sickness going around with CAP for about a month or so starting a couple weeks back when they lost to WILM. It would be a big loss if they had to play without Stahl anymore than this past weekend. Hes the team leader and the best player in the league in my opinion, even though hes not in the  league leaders on the OAC site for any category except 3pt%.  13pts and 5 rbs a game with double teams every night is a great stat line for him considering Capital is such a balanced team.

congrats to Adam Wells from Otterbein for pouring in 36 points on saturday night and hitting 1,000 points on the head.

I Also had a chance to read up on the Musky HEID game, what a finish! Sounded like there was some great basketball in the OAC again this past weekend and not just in Westerville.

[NCAC_alum55]

Was also at the Ott/Cap game on Saturday... hard-fought, great game (as always). Hopefully Stahl will return soon for the Crusaders. They are still a good team without him, but their chances of advancing deep into the NCAA tourney decrease drastically (IMHO) if he is out for some reason. He's the guy who makes that team go.

Again, congrats to Adam Wells on reaching the 1,000 point plateau. Good honor that says a lot about "career consistency", but I'm sure somewhat bittersweet considering the loss to Cap.

[privacy]

I think that there will be a upset in the OAC tourney. Only one of the top two seeds will make it to the OAC championship. If capital has everyone playing they will be in the finals.

[kiltedbryan]

If you're being an over-the-internet fan tonight, Capital's tournament website promises to be one-stop shopping for broadcast and live stats links.

http://www.capital.edu/17574/

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks -- I've added the ones that weren't already on our front page live games box. Looking like a good night for following on the Net.

[Dynex]

Saw the Cap Mount game tonight, first five minutes of the game Capital looked like the best team in the country, then for the other 35 look content to just win.  Nate Stahl was back in the lineup but a couple Cap's players were still under the weather according to a student sitting in front of me. Game ball goes to Q.Mitchell, two thunderous dunks in traffic late in the game sealed what was a valiant comeback attempt by the raiders. the tourny comes through columbus this weekend. 

ONU at Capital on Friday after ONU put it to Muskie despite Tyler Felt hitting for 26..
game will be at 8pm.

Havent heard about the other two games. should be a fun weekend!

[kiltedbryan]

OAC Quarterfinal Results:

#8 Mount Union 54
#1 Capital  67

#5 Muskingum 67
#4 Ohio Northern 78


#7 John Carroll 74
#2 Heidelberg 104

#6 Baldwin-Wallace 67
#3 Wilmington  59


Pairings for Friday night in Bexley will be:

#6 Baldwin-Wallace vs. #2 Heidelberg
#4 ONU vs. #1 Capital

[kiltedbryan]

Saw the Cap Mount game tonight, first five minutes of the game Capital looked like the best team in the country, then for the other 35 look content to just win.  Nate Stahl was back in the lineup but a couple Cap's players were still under the weather according to a student sitting in front of me. Game ball goes to Q.Mitchell, two thunderous dunks in traffic late in the game sealed what was a valiant comeback attempt by the raiders. the tourny comes through columbus this weekend. 

ONU at Capital on Friday after ONU put it to Muskie despite Tyler Felt hitting for 26..
game will be at 8pm.

Havent heard about the other two games. should be a fun weekend!

Dynex, while I won't go so far as to say that Capital looked like the best team in the country in the first five minutes, Cap was dominant early- really for the first 10-12 minutes.

Mount Union outplayed Capital in the last few minutes of the first half and then for the first ten minutes of the second, bringing a 15 point halftime lead down to 4 on a couple occasions, but Capital simply had enough talent to spare tonight that it could cruise through to the semifinals.  In particular, Mount Union couldn't accomplish anything offensively in the paint all night, as the Raiders were outmatched by Capital's Gunn, Kyser and others.

Quintin Mitchell is consistently impressive. I think Mitchell is Capital's best pure athlete, and both of the dunks sealed the deal and put the game on ice.  In fact, after those plays (~5 min. left), the overall level of play dropped quite a bit, as even the last few minutes where the starters were still in the game, it felt like garbage time.

Overall, pretty good all around game for Capital, and a solid, hard-fought effort by Mount Union.

[kiltedbryan]

While I do not think all of these wins are from college or D-III coaching, this still deserves a mention here:

Baldwin-Wallace Coach Steve Bankson Wins 700th Career Game as B-W Beats Marietta, 86-60, in Marietta

Bankson Wins His 700th Career Game
BEREA, OHIO --  Junior center Andrew Bene (Hinckley/ Medina Highland) scored 17 points today (Saturday, February 23, 2008) to help Baldwin-Wallace College veteran men's basketball coach Steve Bankson win his 700th career game as the Yellow Jackets beat Marietta College, 86-60, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game on Fenton Court in the Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta. With the win, Bankson improved to 700-441 in 44 years overall, including 419 victories in 28 seasons at B-W. Bankson is the third winningest men's basketball coach in OAC history.

Congratulations to Coach Bankson!

[kiltedbryan]

Live Stats, Live Video and broadcast links for tomorrow's contests:

http://www.capital.edu/17574/

It should be a great round of OAC games.  I expect both Capital and Heidelberg to be much more challenged than they were with their respective first round opponents.