MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[2RMCFans]

R-MC at Guilford tied at 64 all with about 1.40 to go.  Quakers have the ball.

[2RMCFans]

Guilford wins by 5 (71-66) in a very tense final minute of the game.  Congrats to them; they obviously played some awesome defense!

Tough loss on the road for the Jackets but we still love them!  Hoping to regroup for Roanoke at home on Wednesday.

[HSCfan]

Wow! What a day so far! I think of all the results, the most surprising was VWC falling to Emory. Just goes to show that you can't make the highs too high and the lows too low in the ODAC because anything can happen. The Marlins looked to be hitting their stride and that 'ol Emory trap game jumped up to bite! I fear for the Marlins' next opponent though...

And how about Randolph? I must admit that it makes me feel a little better to see them get another win, and W@L, with the ball control style the Generals play, was probably a decent match up for the Wildcats. Unreal day at the gym so far...hopefully my Tigers can keep the trend going with an upset in a couple hours!

[HSCDad]

EMC 34 H-SC 28 at half -  EMC started at 10-2 but then several ties during first half - H-SC turned ball over 15 times vs 9 for EMC  so that was difference - King with 9 and Jesse with 6 (2 from 2 from 3 point)  -

[HSCDad]

Sad   for H-SC     EMC 85  H-SC 55  Nothing would fall plus turnovers continued!!!!

[HSCDad]

EMC  71% from 3 pt in 2nd half plus 62% from floor in 2nd half - outstanding - had 38 rebounds vs 36 for H-SC total- really well played game by EMC as leading scorers did not do as well as normal - whole team contributed - 23 turnovers for H-SC - King had 9 points in 1st half  and had 0 in 2nd  - 0 for 1 in 2nd half - Jesse had 12 and Payne with 9 and a number of rebounds and quite a defensive effort on his part - had a great dunk that even EMC fans clapped for - H -SC shot only 25% in 2nd half as defense of EMC was good -    oh well - now some home games for H-SC - one way - UP!!  WHITE OUT against Guilford on Wednesday night - wear WHITE to the game

[sludge]

Wow!  It's hard to convey the excitement of that game Guilford won over Randolph-Macon 71-66.  It was a very dynamic back and forth game with a big crowd.  Randolph Macon was up by something like 7 with about 7 minutes left, and things didn't look good.  There was no quit, however, and the rims were kind when they needed to be.  

For Guilford, it was a guard's game, because R-MC did a fine job of gumming up the paint.  Tyler Sanborn was huge on the boards but not in scoring.  Henson and Bonner were respectable shooting the long ball, and were remarkably good at free throws.  Guilford was 80% from the line as a team, and the scoring margin (and more!) came at the line.  I think R-MC is coached be play aggressively (they are well coached) and they do foul quite alot.  (Clutchy graby stuff, not elbow-in-your-eye stuff) Anyway, they paid big time.

Tyler Sanborn didn't make it to the line.  I guess he wasn't fouled, ha-ha.

Muckraker points out that RMC always seems to have a plan, with some lovely picks and screens.  Guilford was a little less precise but might actually have better athletes.  The 6th man was huge for Guilford, with the crowd helping the team to play their hearts out.

The aftergame ceremony was enjoyable with Guilford stars Dan Kuzma, Bob Kaufman, M.L. Carr and World B. Free helping to retire their jerseys.  In a Guilford classic, jersey number were switched for Carr and Free;  nobody was greatly upset.  The Quaker tradition is not totally comfortable with show and symbols, anyway.   The substance was the people, and the warmth, and that was shining there.

The Quakers went all out all the time, and they were tremendous from the line.  That will win a lot of games!

Dangerous road game against H-SC coming up.

[sludge]

So, Randolph shows that they can not only win ODAC games, but an OT game!  Hmm.
VWC takes a whack from Emory &Henry.
HSC is still trying to find a flow.
Guilford's "rebuilding year" (after losing three good starters including 1 star) is taking shape just fine.  Lots of road games left though.
Lynchburg looking for wins and Roanoke is dangerous as ever.

[rmc1982]

So, Randolph shows that they can not only win ODAC games, but an OT game!  Hmm.
VWC takes a whack from Emory &Henry.
HSC is still trying to find a flow.
Guilford's "rebuilding year" (after losing three good starters including 1 star) is taking shape just fine.  Lots of road games left though.
Lynchburg looking for wins and Roanoke is dangerous as ever.

Sludge and Hasa-I only was able to watch the 2nd half yesterday but you hit the nail on the head-Jackets just can't seem to get over the hump and the Quakers are DEADLY from the line.The outcome might have been different if they miss at least 1 or 2 more but they didn't and come away with the victory..That crowd was also a big factor...I can't understand leaving Billy Campion in at the end-he really struggles from the foul line-I saw it at VWC and I saw it yesterday.He's a good post player but in any pressure situation at the end he's the guy to foul and Polumbo did so and the Jackets paid-he missed BOTH. Not to take anything away from Guilford though-they played a great game and are now in sole possession of first place by virtue of the tiebreaker.They are now in the ODAC drivers seat-it's theirs to lose now......Congrats to you guys and your team on a great game yesterday!!

[hasanova]

So, Randolph shows that they can not only win ODAC games, but an OT game!  Hmm.
VWC takes a whack from Emory &Henry.
HSC is still trying to find a flow.
Guilford's "rebuilding year" (after losing three good starters including 1 star) is taking shape just fine.  Lots of road games left though.
Lynchburg looking for wins and Roanoke is dangerous as ever.

Sludge and Hasa-I only was able to watch the 2nd half yesterday but you hit the nail on the head-Jackets just can't seem to get over the hump and the Quakers are DEADLY from the line.The outcome might have been different if they miss at least 1 or 2 more but they didn't and come away with the victory..That crowd was also a big factor...I can't understand leaving Billy Campion in at the end-he really struggles from the foul line-I saw it at VWC and I saw it yesterday.He's a good post player but in any pressure situation at the end he's the guy to foul and Polumbo did so and the Jackets paid-he missed BOTH. Not to take anything away from Guilford though-they played a great game and are now in sole possession of first place by virtue of the tiebreaker.They are now in the ODAC drivers seat-it's theirs to lose now......Congrats to you guys and your team on a great game yesterday!!

Thanks, rmc1982.  Yesterday was a good day for Guilford basketball.  In addition to the retired jerseys and court dedication, the team played a great, tough competitor and pulled out a close come from behind (18 lead changes and 12 ties!) win.  For a long-time Quaker fan like me, it brought back so many memories of the exciting and pressure-packed games in old alumni gym.  I saw Free and Carr play there in person, and I know it's hard to believe now, but the students waited in line for hours just to make sure they got seats!

I think this game was well-played and hard-fought and I would not have been crushed if Guilford had lost ... either team was worthy of winning.   The difference in the end, however, proved to be GC's ability to make FT's down the stretch and some misses by RMC.  Our guard play was super ... Henson with 27 and Bonner 23 ... as both hit clutch shots and were a combined 18 of 22 from the line.  The Jackets confronted us inside, however, and Sanborn was held to 8, but he was stellar off the boards with 13.  When it was 60-53 Macon, I wasn't sure how it was going to end, but an 8-0 run by the Quakers and a total 18-6 finish sealed the game.  It was 64-all with 1:40 to go, so the tension in the building was palpable!  In one of the key inbound plays, Guilford failed to see a wide-open Lowder to the right of the basket.  Instead of going up 69-64, GC used one of its last time-outs.  I think everyone in the arena except the inbounder and the five RMC players on the court saw him open!

Short's a fine player ... one of my friends who was with me (who's not a basketball expert) simply commented "he's good."  With the ODAC tournament, I have a feeling this will not be the only match-up of the year between the very good Quakers and the equally good Yellow Jackets.  I wish all of you could have been there ... it was a great game that truly lived up to the hype and the occasion!

[hasanova]

Tyler Sanborn didn't make it to the line.  I guess he wasn't fouled, ha-ha.

Yeah, like on the missed dunk!  He was fouled.

Sludge, in another key play involving Sanborn, have you ever seen a goal-tending call on a FT? 

[sludge]

Tyler Sanborn didn't make it to the line.  I guess he wasn't fouled, ha-ha.

Yeah, like on the missed dunk!  He was fouled.

Sludge, in another key play involving Sanborn, have you ever seen a goal-tending call on a FT? 

Ha, [Alleged] goal tending on a FT is a completely new phenomenon for me!  It was unusual how long that ball hung up there on the rim. But in my book, Sanborn waited for it to fall off before he grabbed it.   It was Air Sanborn there.

On that weird inbounds play, maybe RMC had so many bodies packed in that both the inbounder and the coach couldn't see Lowder.  You know Lowder - if he had gotten the ball, it was money and would have made for a less intense ending for the game.

[sludge]

I really enjoyed watching RMC play.  You could almost detect an intelligence guiding the play on the court.  [Cue some weird music.]
And the all-outness of their play is fun to watch.  Good thing Guilford matched it.  One thing for sure:  to beat RMC, you must hit foul shots.  If you don't you are toast.

The modest scoring in that game was due to the defenses.  There weren't many open shots for either team and just about no fast breaks available, so it felt like lot of clock was used on each posession.  Strangely, even the large number of offensive rebounds in the game didn't result in a lot of open shots.

As for the Short - King thing, I'm  kind of on the fence.  Probably Short.  I'd like to let the season finish though.  More talent can emerge for consideration, who knows from where...

[sludge]

> > not one player from Guilford, W&L, Roanoke or VWC is anywhere on King's level...

I'm not quite buying that one yet.

not buying that quite yet? who would you recommend? 19.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 52 percent. im not saying other teams dont have good players...im just saying that they dont have players that are on that level...

Tyler Sanborn is on that level.  14 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 50%.   And 51 blocks...
And Henson is doing very well also.
Its not like Turner King is on some whole other level.  Still not buying it.

[hasanova]

Here's some food for thought regarding points and current records (overall, ODAC, head-to-head) in last week's d3hoops Top 25:

Roanoke 40    (16-4, 8-3, 1-3)
Randolph-Macon 3  (14-5, 8-2, 1-2)
Washington and Lee 3  (12-6, 5-4, 1-2)
Virginia Wesleyan 1   (12-8, 6-5, 3-2)
Guilford 0   (15-4, 8-2, 4-1)