MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[ste24vie]

There is no dominant team in the OAC this year. Marietta without Halter is just ordinary. JCU is up and down. Wilmington without TWhite is very ordinary. Otterbein's program is unsettled, lots of returning players from last year have disappeared prolly because of the coach. ONU might be the biggest surprise so far. Mt Union and Muskingum and Heidelberg are all struggling. I thought BW would be at or near the top.  Just goes to show, once again, the OAC is up for grabs.

[WAlum]

Otterbein beat Witt last night.   They were picked 3rd in the pre-season by the coaches but have not met expectations thus far.    Is this the win  that turns around the Cardinals season?

[WAlum]

Recent Scores:
Dec. 28
Williams 79 Ohio Northern 73
Otterbein 71  Wis.-Platteville 69  OT
   
Dec. 29    
Ohio Northern 73 UC Clermont 63    
Hiram 88 Heidelberg 77     
Grove City 75 Muskingum 59    
John Carroll 86 Regis (Mass.) 60
Hope 84 Marietta 73       
Ohio Wesleyan 75 Otterbein 65    
      
Dec. 30    
John Carroll 86    Case Western Reserve 74    
Marietta 95 Grace Bible (Mich.) 79    
Muskingum 94 Ohio St. Lima 66     
Baldwin-Wallace 89 Alma 81        
Wooster 73 Heidelberg 61
   

Standings going into 2012:
4-1    5-5  Wilmington (Ohio)    
3-1    8-2  John Carroll    
3-1    8-3  Baldwin-Wallace    
3-1    7-4  Ohio Northern    
3-2    8-4  Marietta    
2-2    5-5  Capital    
2-2    5-6  Otterbein    
1-3    3-8  Heidelberg    
1-4    4-8  Muskingum    
0-5    3-7  Mount Union    

[WAlum]

Marietta is the only OAC team getting any kind of Top 25 votes.  The Pioneers have fallen into the Other Receiving Votes category.  When will Halter be back?

[WAlum]

Wednesday Finals:
John Carroll 89, Baldwin-Wallace 85    
Wilmington 64, Muskingum 61    
Heidelberg 75, ONU 74
Capital 76, Otterbein 67

[ste24vie]

The Quakes are winning without TWhite, is he injured or what???

The Pioneers are struggling without Halter...

Whats up with the once mighty program at Westerville? Players coming and going like a swinging door. Several underclassmen from last year have left the program. They even leave and come back. Change at the helm is definitely in order there.

Can the Muskies and the Mount be bad every year?

I thought da 'Berg would be better.

JCU seems to always have lots of  shooters and plays a full court game.

Cap is always competitive.

ONU is a bit of a surprise.

[ste24vie]

Does the winner of the JCU-Wilmington game on Saturday have a chance to break into the top 25 ??

Contenders or pretenders ? BW and Cap

ONU, Marietta and Otterbein are in MUST WIN games Saturday.

Upset pick of the day........no Halter, no win for Etta....

[ste24vie]

PRE SEASON ALL AMERICA TYLER WHITE........Is he injured?? Why no chatter about the absence of a Preseason All American???

[rscl70]

The growing pains continue....MUC drops I believe their 6th straight losing at home to Musky by 3.  Jimmy Wood shot poorly and they just can't overcome that because he's basically their only consistent scorer.  The starting backcourt of Gillespie and Jacubec continues to shoot poorly (both around 30% from the floor for the season).  This isn't good considering they take the 3rd and 2nd most shots per game, respectively.

I wonder if Fuline knew just how great a challenge he was taking on?

[ohiofan1954]

well hope otterbein shoots foul shots a little better tonight. That game against capital wednesday night was about as bad as you can get from the line. You might see that a lot in d1 but not very often in d3. Hope the cards get it going tonight. Oh that game against wisconsin-platteville was as good as you would want last see. That half court shot at the end of regulation was a beauty.

[ste24vie]

Muskingum beats a sinking Otterbein team in OT....More bad clock management by the Cards letting the clock expire in OT and taking TOs home with them. 

Lets see...more player swinging doors...no Max VanMeter tonight. Significant underclassmen missing from last years team. See if I get this right, last year Matt McCollister started many games and didnt even come out for the team this year because of the coach. Last Years first Big Man off the bench picked school in Europe instead of Bball, prolly because of the coach. CJ Julian, a part time starter last year, starts out with the team this year and now is no longer on the team. Max VanMeter has been on and off the team, now missing again tonight. Senior Steve Isac was a starter as a freshman and doesnt even get in the game tonight. Looks like total chaos in Westerville, certainly ruining any hope of Chris Davis becoming an All American.

[ste24vie]

Interesting fact here....Class of 2012 up to date conference records...

JCU....................48-12
Capital................41-19
Wilmington...........36-25
ONU....................35-25
Marietta...............32-28
Heidelberg.............25-35
Mount Union..........24-36
BW......................21-39
Otterbein..............20-40
Muskingum............19-42

[WAlum]

JCU 90, Marietta 80    
Mt. Union 67, Heidelber 49
Capital 76, Muskingum 62
Wilmington 73, Otterbein 64
Baldwin-Wallace 70, Ohio Northern 65

Standings:
   
6-2    11-3  John Carroll
6-2    9-6    Capital    
6-3    7-7    Wilmington (Ohio)    
4-4    9-6    Baldwin-Wallace    
4-4    9-6    Marietta    
4-4    8-7    Ohio Northern    
3-5    7-8    Mount Union    
3-5    5-10   Heidelberg    
3-6    6-10   Muskingum    
2-6    5-10   Otterbein    

Fun to look back at the coaches pre-season poll:
1. Marietta (9) - 81
2. John Carroll (1) - 69
3. Otterbein - 59
4. Capital - 50
5. Heidelberg - 49
6. Ohio Northern - 48
7. Baldwin-Wallace - 37
8. Wilmington - 29
9. Mount Union - 17
10. Muskingum – 11

[Dr. Acula]

The growing pains continue....MUC drops I believe their 6th straight losing at home to Musky by 3.  Jimmy Wood shot poorly and they just can't overcome that because he's basically their only consistent scorer.  The starting backcourt of Gillespie and Jacubec continues to shoot poorly (both around 30% from the floor for the season).  This isn't good considering they take the 3rd and 2nd most shots per game, respectively.

I wonder if Fuline knew just how great a challenge he was taking on?

I wonder that as well.  The good news is that they've been playing much better the last few weeks.  Won a couple road conference games including at BW, which is a good sign.  Fuline is certainly going to be given every chance to build the program for the long haul.  That's a good thing because 2 decades of mediocrity isn't fixed overnight.  He has to change the culture of the program.  And he should have the job security to do that the correct way.  With Jimmy Wood graduating this spring I think they're going to be VERY young next season as Fuline ramps up his recruiting.  My guess is we're 2 yrs away from them being in the top half of the conference, but next season we should start to see the foundation of a good team.

[ScotsFan]

I am shocked to see how poorly Marietta is doing without Halter.  I knew he was a significant loss, but I never thought he would have this much of an impact on that team.  Does anyone have a timeline as to when he might return?