MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[sludge]

Jacketlawyer, I have a strong gut feeling that our Yellow Jackets are going to turn their season around now. We just might come away with a couple of victories this weekend and turn the corner and gain more confidence for the final haul. This team certainly has the potential!

I agree about the potential of your team, but I have a Strong gut feeling the turn won't come until at least Sunday. 
Really, this weekend's games are very important to Guilford.  And Macon has been playing too well for anyone to be tempted to overlook them in the least.

A tough homestand for Guilford, but I think they'll pull through.

[baselinejam]

Where hae all the posters gone

Every team has something good or frustrating to gab about.

Last weekend Lynchburg's Eckles(sp?) showed that they have something to look forward to - he's a stud

[and1wasp]

E&H up 19 with 9 minutes to go over VWC

[and1wasp]

E&H 124 VWC 101 Final

[hasanova]

Final Guilford 76, RMC 65.  GC is now 14-2, 8-2 and RMC is 9-8, 4-6.

http://www.guilford.edu/athletics/mbball/releases/2006-07/RMC2.html

In surpassing last year's 13 win season, Guilford was led by Strong with 15, reserve Clay Henson with 14 (he hit four 3-pointers) and Eric Belkoski with a solid 12.  Macon was led by Carlson with 20 (all in the first half!) and Sutherland 17 (five 3-pointers).  The game was tied at 33 and then Guilford went on a 10-2 run to lead at the half 43-35.  Guilford started the second half strong and was leading 54-38.  RMC kept it close here and there with deadly 3-point shooting, but Guilford kept a steady lead and was never seriously threatened.  The Quakers actually led by 20 at 72-52, but the Jackets made the final margin much more respectable by hitting a couple of late threes.

I was very impressed by Sutherland and Carlson, but I don't know what happened to David after halftime.  He was shut out in the second half and eventually fouled out.  Somewhat of an off game for Jordan Snipes with 8 points, but he always finds ways to contribute.  My kudos today to Belkoski, freshman Henson (he was deadly behind the arc) and Strickland (8 off the bench).

Big game tomorrow.  Congratulations to E&H!  Not sure if it helps or hurts the Quakers that the Marlins fell today.  I'm sure they'll be looking to bounce back tomorrow, but Guilford wants this game also.  Should be a good one!

[hasanova]

E&H 124 VWC 101 Final

Congratulations to the Wasps!  It must have been raining three's today!   If my memory is correct, that snaps a remarkable 27-game ODAC winning streak for the Marlins.  Wow!

I realize E&H basketball is atypical, but here's something to consider:  E&H lost at VWC 128-84 and won at Emory 124-101.  That's a whopping 67 point swing!

[Llamaguy]

You nailed it Hasanova. If I heard correctly, E&H was 20 of 40 from behind the arc today. 

[Llamaguy]

Bridgewater defeats Hampden-Sydney    61 -58

EMU defeats Lynchburg   87 - 83

Roanoke defeats W&L  70-64

[wooscotsfan]

You nailed it Hasanova. If I heard correctly, E&H was 20 of 40 from behind the arc today. 

Yep, I checked the boxscore.  E&H was an incredible 20 of 40 while Va. Wes was 1 of 8 from behind the arc.

The other key stat appears to be turnovers as Va. Wes had 26 of them.  Very hard to win a game with that many turnovers!

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

EMU defeating LC, and obviously BC beating H-SC, helps out the Eagles for the eighth and final ODA tournament spot.  Another Bridgewater win tomorrow against the Hornets will put them in the drivers seat.

Here are the updated ODAC standings...

1 - Virginia Wesleyan (10-1)
2 - Guilford (8-2)
3 - Emory & Henry (7-4)
4 - Hampden-Sydney (6-5)
5 - Roanoke (6-5)
6 - Washington & Lee (5-5)
7 - Randolph-Macon (4-6)
8 - Lynchburg (3-8)
9 - Bridgewater (2-8)
10 - Eastern Mennonite (2-9)

[algernon]

EMU defeating LC, and obviously BC beating H-SC, helps out the Eagles for the eighth and final ODA tournament spot.  Another Bridgewater win tomorrow against the Hornets will put them in the drivers seat.

If the Eagles beat the Hornets tomorrow, they'll definitely be in the driver's seat.  In my opinion, they are better than their 2-8 record would indicate.  They have lost to HSC in overtime, to Randolph-Macon by 1, to Guilford by 4, and three other games by 5, 6, and 7 points.  I would expect them to finish the season with an ODAC record somewhere between 6-12 and 8-10.  That should put them in the 7th or 8th seeded spot for the tournament.

Neither the Yellow Jackets (4-6 in the ODAC) nor the Tigers (6-5) are necessarily going to end the season with a winning ODAC record.  We might even have a final game where the Yellow Jackets and Tigers are both 9-8 and fighting for the right to claim a winning (10-8) ODAC record.  I hope that's not the case for the Tigers!

The Virginia Wesleyan Marlins' loss to the Wasps means that they will not be the first team since the 2000 Tigers to finish with an 18-0 ODAC record.  However, I wouldn't be shocked to see them finish at 17-1.  So there are 2 teams that can breathe a sigh of relief in having already played them twice .... the Wasps and the Tigers.

Toughest schedule for the rest of the season?
1) Guilford has a game against the Marlins and 5 of the other 7 on the road ...
2) Lynchburg has to play both Guilford and the Marlins, plus 3 of their other 5 on the road ....

Best schedules?  Maybe those of E&H, W&L, and HSC.

[algernon]

In my mind, I had already given the Marlins the #1 seed in the ODAC tournament.  However, I now realize that the Quakers only need to beat the Marlins today to put themselves in a great position to finish the season with the #1 seed in the tourney.

If the Quakers win today and IF both teams win out and finish at 16-2, the Quakers' second loss against Roanoke and the Marlins' second loss against Emory & Henry would mean that the position of those two teams at the end of the season would determine whether Guilford or VWC would win the point-system tie-breaker.  If Emory & Henry finished ahead of Roanoke, then Guilford would win the tie-breaker.  If Roanoke finished ahead of Emory & Henry, then VWC would win the tie-breaker.

On the other hand, if VWC wins today, then they've pretty much sewn up the #1 seed in the ODAC tournament.

[algernon]

My take on likely seeding for the ODAC tournament in a few weeks:

1 - Virginia Wesleyan (11-1) - 1st
2 - Guilford (8-3) - between #2 and #6
3 - Emory & Henry (7-5) - between #2 and #7
3 - Hampden-Sydney (7-5) - between #2 and #7
5 - Roanoke (6-5) - between #2 and #7
6 - Washington & Lee (5-5) - between #2 and #7
7 - Randolph-Macon (5-6) - between #3 and #8
9 - Bridgewater (3-8) - from #7 to not making the tournament
8 - Lynchburg (3-9) - from #8 to not making the tournament
10 - Eastern Mennonite (2-10) - from #8 to not making the tournament

And, this is my WAY EARLY Prediction (just for the fun of it) .... :

#1 Virginia Wesleyan (17-1) v. #8 Bridgewater (4-14)
#2 Guilford (14-4) v. #7 Washington & Lee (7-11)
#3 Hampden-Sydney (12-6) v. #6 Randolph-Macon (9-9)
#4 Emory & Henry (12-6) v. #5 Roanoke (10-8)

[hasanova]

You nailed it Hasanova. If I heard correctly, E&H was 20 of 40 from behind the arc today. 

Hey, llamaguy.  Nice to hear from you!  Wow, fifty percent from behind the arc with that many attempts will win a lot of games.  I'll be at Ragan-Brown later today, so we'll see how this loss has affected the Marlins.

If the weather cooperates, I'm seriously considering an overnight trip when the Quakers travel to BC/EMU.  I've never seen either campus and I've really enjoyed following GC's team this year.  I'll let you know later, but it would be great if some of the BC or EMU posters were at the games.

[FISHTANKFAN]

I read on the VWC website that Tyler Fantin did not play yesterday for personal reasons.  I think that may have been a  factor for the Marlins losing, but E&H did a great job and deserve the win.  Hitting 20 of 40 3's is impressive but I wonder what might have been the outcome if all five starters had been playing.  Congrats to E&H for a great game.  Let's hope the Marlins can rebound today and have everyone back.  It's going to be a battleground I think...Good luck to the Marlins and Guilford.