MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

HSCfan · November 29, 2008, 09:34:44 PM

And let the topsy-turvy ODAC season begin: Eastern Mennonite 83, Virginia Wesleyan 72 (F-OT).

The Royals erase a 12-point second half deficit to force overtime and then outscore the Marlins 16-5 in the extra frame. This is why I picked EMU as my preseason #6...their style of play gives them a shot to win every game if they are hitting shots and forcing turnovers - the Royals forced 18 VWC giveaways.

The Fish will learn from this, no doubt about it, but the lack of experienced ball-handlers and bench players could hurt them early on. Having Fields and Hassell is great, but some other guys will need to step up and be consistent. I have no doubt that they will, but that is a tough loss to open ODAC play, especially since they had a double-digit second half lead in a tough place to play.

emufan · November 29, 2008, 10:11:07 PM

Looking at the box score real quick another interesting stat was that EMU only turned the ball over a total of 6 times.

Great win Coach Dean and EMU!

stillfamily · November 30, 2008, 12:10:33 AM

WOW TO EMU AND KIRBY DEAN & STAFF. THAT WAS AN AMAZING WIN. BOTH TEAMS PLAYED GOOD BASKETBALL, VWC IS A GREAT TEAM AND HAS A GREAT COACH. GREAT START AND NIGHT FOR THE EMU PROGRAM. THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT SEASON FOR THE ODAC..

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 01:10:39 AM

Quote from: stillfamily on November 30, 2008, 12:10:33 AM
WOW TO EMU AND KIRBY DEAN & STAFF. THAT WAS AN AMAZING WIN. BOTH TEAMS PLAYED GOOD BASKETBALL, VWC IS A GREAT TEAM AND HAS A GREAT COACH. GREAT START AND NIGHT FOR THE EMU PROGRAM. THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT SEASON FOR THE ODAC..

Great!

All kidding aside, congratulations to EMU. When's the last time the Royals beat VWC?

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 01:15:57 AM

Quote from: HSCfan on November 29, 2008, 09:34:44 PM
And let the topsy-turvy ODAC season begin: Eastern Mennonite 83, Virginia Wesleyan 72 (F-OT).

Bye bye Top 25, but truthfully I think VWC was already out after their two losses in Georgia. I could see EMU coming on strong last season and it looks as though they're going to be an ODAC contender! A nice win for the Royals to say the least.

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 01:24:31 AM

W&L tops E&H, 78-65. Is "the System" now completely gone for the Wasps?

emufan · November 30, 2008, 09:00:51 AM

The last win over the Marlins by EMU was on February 4, 2004, when the Royals invaded the Batten Center in Norfolk, Va., and came out with a 73-69 win.

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 11:26:49 AM

Quote from: emufan on November 30, 2008, 09:00:51 AM
The last win over the Marlins by EMU was on February 4, 2004, when the Royals invaded the Batten Center in Norfolk, Va., and came out with a 73-69 win.

Thanks .... I thought it had been four or five years. Watching EMU play last year, I could tell their program was greatly improved. This win puts an exclamation point on that observation!

BJ - DSU SID · November 30, 2008, 04:55:56 PM

For those interested

DeSales - 59
RMC - 57

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 07:44:48 PM

Quote from: BJ - DSU SID on November 30, 2008, 04:55:56 PM
For those interested

DeSales - 59
RMC - 57

Also for those interested: NCWC 84, HSC 82

With three losses for VWC and now two for RMC, I think the ODAC teams will have to earn their way back into the Top 25. EMU and Roanoke are off to good starts as is Guilford. Big game for the 4-1 Quakers on December 2nd as undefeated NCWC visits Greensboro. We'll see ...

HSCfan · November 30, 2008, 10:07:32 PM

Wow! What a game in Rocky Mount this afternoon between the Tigers and Bishops! NCWC sprinted out to a 15-point halftime lead and led by as much as 17 in the second half before H-SC put on a monster comeback effort and tied the game with 1:30 left. Tigers had a chance to tie with under 10 seconds, but it was not to be. Hampden-Sydney played awful in the first half, getting outrebounded by 15, but turned the tides in the second and almost pulled out the win.

Turner King had 27 and Matt Partsch has come on as of late...he had 14 after putting up 15 yesterday.

The Tigers have now lost their three games by a COMBINED four points!! They could very easily be 5-0, but that is just not the case...

Hasa...North Carolina Wesleyan is impressive to say the least. I was a bit skeptical about them looking at their schedule early on and their gaudy stats (they were averaging 98 points-per-game entering the H-SC game), but now I can see why they are undefeated. They are big, they are athletic, they are fast, they pressure the ball and they can get hot from deep. They are shooting over 50 percent as a team and it was evident today as they hit some tough, tough shots in big situations. They will be fun to follow throughout the year.

hasanova · November 30, 2008, 11:57:19 PM

HSCfan - I was already nervous about Tuesday's game, so you aren't helping! lol I tossed out the Roanoke Bible College game when evaluating the Bishops, but knew some of the others would be more legitimate tests. Guilford defeated NCWC by eleven or so in Rocky Mount last season, but, of course, that was with Strong, Belkoski and Kimbrough. I think the Quakers will have to bring their "A" game to beat NC Wesleyan, but it does help a bit that the Quakers get them at home ... and NCWC has only played once on the road this season (at RBC).

Speaking of Roanoke Bible College, unless they've dramatically improved their program since 5 or 6 years ago, they were undoubtedly the worst men's college team I think I had ever seen in my many years of watching the sport. The night I saw them at Guilford, for example, it was 50-19 at the half and the Quakers were a 14-12 team that season. The 2nd- and 3rd-stringers mopped up a 108-50 win (or something in that range). I believe GCQ played them 3 times over a 2 year span and the scores were always similar.

jdubyadubya · December 01, 2008, 09:49:52 AM

Oh, the humanity!

. I just heard that the Fish were devoured by the emus. And, they were leading and let that slip away and lost in OT. Yep, they are untested rookies who will learn how not to lose a lead and how to win in OT. I just bet you that Coach Macedo is working on those fundamentals in practice this week.

Re. NCWC....remember who the assistant coach is there. None other than Coach Doino! He's teaching those boys how to bang.

HSCfan · December 01, 2008, 11:08:57 AM

It's funny, but college basketball, like almost all other sports, is about match ups...and while some teams match up well with others, that same team may not match up well with another - and this may be the case with NCWC and Guilford.

While NCWC is bigger and more athletic than the Tigers, I don't know if that will be the case in Greensboro tomorrow night. The Bishops may have an edge athletically, but I think Sanborn on the inside will give NCWC a different look and certainly close the rebounding gap that they have enjoyed on their opponents to this point. Hasa, I like your chances tomorrow night, especially since you guys get the luxury of playing at home and pulling the Bishops out of their Rocky Mount comfort zone.

Go ODAC and let's steal this game against another USASC opponent!

Jacketlawyer · December 01, 2008, 11:28:04 AM

Quote from: BJ - DSU SID on November 30, 2008, 04:55:56 PM
For those interested

DeSales - 59
RMC - 57

Ummmmm. . . yeah. I saw that. R-MC is 1-3 thus far (we actually wanted 3-1 in the Macon camp).

However, we start ODAC play this Wednesday at Randolph College. This will be the first time I've been to see the Yellow Jackets play since R-MWC became Randolph. So I'll be going to that.

Hope we come in ready to play and not looking past these guys. No doubt they'll play hard.