MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

Greek Tragedy · November 27, 2024, 11:47:46 AM

Chicone, Frazier, Yontek, Toppin, Gentry and Raynor are all listed as seniors. This is the last year of the extra Covid year, so I imagine all these guys are done. I could be wrong, if course.

Dr. Acula · December 01, 2024, 10:45:17 PM

JCU drops from #3 to #19 in the most recent poll. Mount drops to not receiving a vote. Etta rightfully picks up votes but sits in ORV for now.

Dr. Acula · December 04, 2024, 07:50:04 PM

I'm very happy that Frazier couldn't shoot for 5 games but now tonight he found his touch. Greaaat.

For the record though, this team is a shadow without Chiccone. His value is very evident.

Dr. Acula · December 04, 2024, 09:11:54 PM

Mount wins it on the road 93-80 w Parker limited to 6 points. Farrington and Moore both at 20+. Nice road W to open OAC play. I believe Frazier had 31 according to the JCU PBP. Really nice game for him.

Dr. Acula · December 04, 2024, 09:17:35 PM

93-82. My bad.

BillyRayJimBob · December 07, 2024, 06:54:42 PM

Had nearly forgotten about the Purple Raiders basketball game today following the football win.
When I got to the game, had hoped for a 5 point win like the Grid Iron Gang ... LOL!

Dr. Acula · December 09, 2024, 08:27:46 AM

According to his X account Jackson PG Cam Weekly committed to Mount. He's one of the top players in the county. 6'1" and can absolutely shoot it. He led the state in 3 pt shooting last season at 57% (49-86) and also shot 66% on 2 pt FG attempts (84-128).

Dr. Acula · December 10, 2024, 11:07:42 AM

With JCU coming up just short on their comeback against ONU Saturday they dropped out of the top 25 this week. As a result the OAC does not have a ranked team. It's been a while since we've said that. Etta and Mount are receiving votes with Mount being a ways from cracking the top 25.

Dr. Acula · December 14, 2024, 09:30:36 PM

Congrats to Mike Fuline on his 250th win today tying the career record at Mount. Well deserved for a guy who has done an outstanding job elevating the program.

Mount escaped at Wilmington 70-69 on a putback layup by Parker with 3 seconds to go. I was hoping after Mount inexplicably got swept by a bad Wilm team last year that they'd be locked in today to make sure it didn't happen again. But they just struggle with Wilm's undersized athletic roster for some reason. The Quakers were getting to the basket too easily and getting too many open looks from three. Parker took advantage of them being undersized and put up 25 and 13. I'm sure he's mad at himself because he could have had 30 if not for the 1-7 FT. Oddly he went 4-7 from 3 though so just one of those days. The rest of the team was 1-13 from 3 and most were not close so not a banner day shooting the ball. Overall Mount was 42% from the floor and 52% from the line.

Good news is JCU beat Etta so Mount is the only 3-0 team. Take the win and get ready for the January grind after break.

Dr. Acula · December 17, 2024, 10:24:58 AM

The final pre-holiday top 25 is out and it's a low point for OAC hoops. Mount, buried in the ORV with 6 points, is the sole OAC school receiving votes. That kind of sums up the uncertainty in the conference this year. Wooster is up to #6 and watching the Mount game at Wooster I didn't see much difference between the two. But then I watched Mount play at 2-7 Wilmington Saturday and also did not see a ton of difference? It's looking like it's going to be an "anyone can beat anyone on any given day" conference schedule.

Dr. Acula · December 28, 2024, 11:08:46 PM

Mount plays arguably its worst game of the season losing 65-64 to Ramapo. Mount was an atrocious 10-22 at the line in the 2nd half including their best FT shooter, Steele, missing both FT with 0.3 seconds left. This came on the heels fittingly of Hudson missing both FT with 59 seconds left and Ramapo making both FT with 7 seconds left to take the lead. They were 22-27 at the line. If Mount plays halfway decent this is a 15-20 point win so this one has to be chalked up as a bad loss. Ramapo looked very average. Mount looked disjointed and for stretches inept offensively (I think they ended up shooting below 40% for the game).

BillyRayJimBob · December 29, 2024, 03:24:59 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on December 28, 2024, 11:08:46 PMMount plays arguably its worst game of the season losing 65-64 to Ramapo. Mount was an atrocious 10-22 at the line in the 2nd half including their best FT shooter, Steele, missing both FT with 0.3 seconds left. This came on the heels fittingly of Hudson missing both FT with 59 seconds left and Ramapo making both FT with 7 seconds left to take the lead. They were 22-27 at the line. If Mount plays halfway decent this is a 15-20 point win so this one has to be chalked up as a bad loss. Ramapo looked very average. Mount looked disjointed and for stretches inept offensively (I think they ended up shooting below 40% for the game).

I delayed posting anything in frustration ... but, yeah ... the free throw shooting.
Hasn't this been an issue for a couple of years?

I had to "go and return" to the game streaming on the computer (second family Christmas going on), but wondered where was Parker?

Dr. Acula · December 30, 2024, 02:17:26 PM

Parker was saddled with foul trouble on Saturday. He sat the majority of the first half and then picked up his 3rd foul less than a minute into the 2nd half.

Mount lost to Redlands 91-69 yesterday. I was not able to watch it due to traveling, but it looks like it went from Mount down 10 with 7:26 left in the 1st half to Mount down 31 at half. Looking at the PBP there were a lot of turnovers, fouls and missed shots as you'd expect with that type of run by Redlands. Redlands was 8-16 from 3 in the 1st half. At half Mount was 0-5 from 3 and 2-10 from the FT line. The Raiders did shoot 12-14 at the line in the 2nd half which is good to see.

The positive news for now is that Mount controls their destiny in the OAC. It doesn't seem like there are any juggernauts this season so they're going to have to grind out conference wins and see where the chips fall. I think we all had crowned JCU coming into the season, but unfortunate injuries have opened OAC play up for a few teams to potentially take a shot at the title now. Should be fun.

BillyRayJimBob · January 01, 2025, 02:59:25 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on December 30, 2024, 02:17:26 PMThe positive news for now is that Mount controls their destiny in the OAC. It doesn't seem like there are any juggernauts this season so they're going to have to grind out conference wins and see where the chips fall. I think we all had crowned JCU coming into the season, but unfortunate injuries have opened OAC play up for a few teams to potentially take a shot at the title now. Should be fun.

Concur.
Had thought, after the horrible loss, win the conference ... get into the playoffs ... and make something happen.

Dr. Acula · January 02, 2025, 10:32:00 AM

They normally defend well as a team. When Parker and Farrington aren't in foul trouble they rebound well as a team. You do those two things and you're gonna give yourself a chance to win most games as long as you aren't dreadful shooting the ball. I think this OAC slate is going to be a wild ride.