MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[algernon]

#16 Eastern Mennonite (17-4) 81, Bridgewater (6-16) 64.  Final.
Guilford (15-7) 68, Washington and Lee (13-9) 57.  Final.
Hampden-Sydney (13-8) 87, #19 Ferrum (19-3) 83.  Final.
Lynchburg (11-12) 90, Randolph (15-7) 84, in OT.  Final.
#6 Virginia Wesleyan (20-1) 51, #51 Randolph-Macon (19-4) 50.  Final.
Roanoke (9-13) 75, Emory & Henry (4-18) 74.   Final.

[donho]

 Congrats to VWC basketball team. Game was sloppy,and both baskets had lids.
Coach Macedo should be  COY in the ODAC, hands down no questions no if's and's or but's!!

[Mr. Ypsi]

algernon, according to livestats VaWes won 53-50, not 51-50.  Were they wrong?

[DollFin]

No, I was at the game.  The final score was 53-50.  Close from start to finish.

[hsctigers2002]

Tigers get a big W over Ferrum, on the road no less and we have not been particularly good on the road in the Dee Vick era thus far. Ferrum is ranked 3rd in the region and 19th on D3hoops.

The young Tigers are starting to gel together and put together 40 minutes (or very near to 40 minutes) of basketball on a consistent basis after two tight losses against R-MC and LC where H-SC just didn't play very well at all for very long stretches that got them in too big of a hole to overcome. Four straight Ws now and peaking at the right time!

Harrison struggled shooting, but got 10 boards, 4 assists, and made all 8 free throws while Colin O'Neill has another big game with 16 points. Ru White posted another strong scoring game with 17 and Ben Jessee finally got out of his offensive slump to provide 14 points and even had five steals! The second-half defense was not good (gave up 55 points!) but we did just enough to hang on for the win, so can't complain much.

[FISHTANKFAN]

 Unless you refreshed the score after 51-50 that was the score, but after the technical foul because RMC had no more time outs yet called one, 2 free throws were made and the final was 53-50.  A close game all the way, neither team was able to shoot well, especially VWC, but great defense by the Marlins when it counted.  Gonna be one giant war come tournament time.   The ODAC teams just get better and better.  I agree with donho on Macedo.  If the Marlins continue winning ..Macedo should be COY without a doubt.  For such a young team they are quite remarkable and very talented.  One of the announcers  tonight said Macedo's players would walk into a brick wall for him. He knows how to recruit and coach.  He's  been doing it even before there was a Batten Center, when they practiced in a bubble and played at a local high school for 2 years.  The guy is good.

[rmc1982]

Just got home from the Fish Tank, driving thru the driving snow.... ....Great Atmosphere, great crowd, especially enjoyed sitting with old friends and my buddy DonHo!Especially enjoyed the VWC student section with President Billy Greer as the head cheerleader.Also liked the little gymnastical girl who cheered with the VWC cheerleaders(the next Mary Lou Retton).....The game, however, I didn't enjoy so much..... .....Not so much because my beloved Jackets lost, but more because, after all the hype, this should have been called "The Game NOBODY wanted to win"!!We did all of the things we needed to do-we kept it in the 50's, we didn't let them run, we played good defense.The referees, although to the usual SORRY ODAC standards, didn't decide the game either way.VWC even CHOKED the front end of THREE one and ones in a row down the stretch-still.....we couldn't finish and the shots didn't drop.Congrats to the Marlins, although I know the ones of you who are VWC fans couldn't have come out of this with any kind of different impression that we did.They are extremely athletic, quick, and play good perimeter defense.They are not ,however, world beaters. I came out of the Batten Center less impressed with them than I went in, although if they are very good.We shot our own selves in the foot, and they did ,too.If there was one axiom to put on this i would agree with DonHo-Macedo is a great coach.We were out-coached by alot and outplayed by a little, if at all.I'm certainly not belittling VWC and my Marlin friends should not take it that way-they certainly did come away victorious on this day of the "Game nobody seemed to want" and they are indeed the ODAC regular season Champions(barring a complete collapse) and deserve to be-tonite they were a bit better!I also have to say that I agree with DonHo on the subject of the liberal substitutions-nobody ever seems to get in a rhythym before they are replaced.In a game where it is a track meet-maybe.In a game against a lesser opponent it doesen't seem to hurt.....against a team like VWC it does, plain and simple.Macedo should be COY-he won it tonight! Congrats to the Marlins-you were also gracious hosts tonight-we had a great time, except the outcome, of course

[2RMCFans]

Have never before seen a coach call a TO they don't have.  Wow. What a tough loss for R-MC but all credit to VWC on a BIG win.  The shooting was just "off" on both ends as noted above so it became the battle of the defenders & both were pretty good at it.

Maybe it's H-SC who is the "world beater" in this conference, congrats to them on their win over Ferrum.

Surprised to see Randolph take that loss. 

We completely agree that Macedo should be COY.

GO JACKETS!!!!

[jdubyadubya]

Shades of the Michigan Fab 5 team calling a TO when you don't have one! Please, somebody who was there describe the last 7 seconds. The broadcast didn't do it justice. I'd like to hear from someone who was actually in the Batten Center. Thanks.

[bigrips77]

I'm half-n-half with regard to the 7th TO R-MC called with two seconds to go last night.  On one hand, Davis clearly knew the point of continuation rule when it comes to him getting a technical for call a TO he didn't have.  And, yes, it did allow the Jackets to run their in-bounds play.  On the other hand, they had to still go 94' with two seconds remaining (essentially a catch-n-shoot situation) and against a 3-point lead as opposed to a 1-point lead.  So, not only are you taking away a chance to win the game in regulation by putting your opponent on the free throw line, but you're also asking your team, who has made 1-for-11 from the outside up to that point, to try and knock down a three to tie it?  I just dunno if most coaches would've taken a similar approach in that instance - especially since Giggetts did a good job getting the ball to the outlet.

Still, it was a great game for the conference and D3 basketball.  Two teams who really play fundamentally sound man-to-man defense in their own ways - no easy points except at the line.  R-MC defends the half-court offense in a man-to-man as well as anyone in the country (they did a heck of a job pinning down Woodmore for most of the night - he had no room to shoot), and clearly their goal was to extend each possession and shorten the game, which is fine and dandy on most nights.  Problem is, they didn't shoot as well as usual because Macedo also coaches up his team defensively very well in a man-to-man, especially at the perimeter.  Plus, VWC did a tremendous job of protecting the basketball on offense for much of the second half, shooting the ball better and, more importantly, not committing a turnover the final 16+ minutes of the game. 

[bigrips77]

Shades of the Michigan Fab 5 team calling a TO when you don't have one! Please, somebody who was there describe the last 7 seconds. The broadcast didn't do it justice. I'd like to hear from someone who was actually in the Batten Center. Thanks.

There were a few confusing points, jww... one - why a timeout was called when they were out was baffling enough.  two - there had been an inadvertent whistle blown just a little earlier so that had people on edge.  three - the clock was stopped at 1.2 but was reset with little warning to 2.0 after the technical.  and four - the point of continuation rule with a coach technical is still a pretty new phenomenon that you just don't see often in basketball.  To my knowledge, college is the only scholastic level that does it.

[rmc1982]

JWW -Bigrips makes an extremely accurate description of events-the defense was outstanding on both ends and there wasn't ANYTHING easy.The shooting was very poor on both ends, partly because of the defense but also because of, well, it was just POOR!Except for that kid #12 ,I think, for VWC, nobody shot well!The reason, mainly, I said we got out-coached is two-fold.Dave Macedo is a master of having the right personnel on the floor at the right time.Nathan Davis, on the other hand, seems  to over-coach at times.He subs at a fast-pace, too fast sometimes for kids to get into sync with each other, and he seems confused-I.E-DonHo and I watched him send kids to the table to check in numerous times only to call them back, like he was unsure(and he was) of the people he had in there.He seems to over-coach at times.For instance, in the Guilford game when he calls like 4 or 5 timeouts in the last 15 seconds only to get a 3pointer that was rushed.Almost went in-and if it had we'd probably be saying what a great strategist he was -but it didn't-don't think he needed to do that.Last night, at times in the end when VWC had missed the front end of 1&1 he gets the rebound and calls timeout-there are times when its better to play on instead of giving the defense time to reset. Let me say this-I'm NOT anti-Nathan Davis.....I just think sometimes he over-thinks things instead of just letting his kids play......and last night, plain and simple, he got out-foxed by the wiliest fox of all-Dave Macedo!

[stillfamily]

It's really kind of ridiculous that North Carolina Wesleyan (15-6, 10-4) is ranked #8 in the regional rankings while EMU (16-4, 10-4) is unranked.  What are those who are doing the ranking thinking???

And here's the record of these two teams against common opponents:
VS Hampden-Sydney ... NCW lost by 14 ... EMU won by 16
VS Guilford ... NCW lost by 17 ... EMU won by 12
VS Shenandoah ... NCW won by 19 and won by 14 ... EMU won by 14
VS Averett ... NCW won by 17 ... EMU won by 8
VS Ferrum ... NCW lost by 6 ... EMU won by 6

EMU has fewer losses, the same record in regional games (10-4), and in games against 5 common opponents, EMU is 5-0 while NCW is 3-3.

WOW, this is great stuff!!! How can EMU not be ranked at 17-4 and 11-4???

[algernon]

It's really kind of ridiculous that North Carolina Wesleyan (15-6, 10-4) is ranked #8 in the regional rankings while EMU (16-4, 10-4) is unranked.  What are those who are doing the ranking thinking???

And here's the record of these two teams against common opponents:
VS Hampden-Sydney ... NCW lost by 14 ... EMU won by 16
VS Guilford ... NCW lost by 17 ... EMU won by 12
VS Shenandoah ... NCW won by 19 and won by 14 ... EMU won by 14
VS Averett ... NCW won by 17 ... EMU won by 8
VS Ferrum ... NCW lost by 6 ... EMU won by 6

EMU has fewer losses, the same record in regional games (10-4), and in games against 5 common opponents, EMU is 5-0 while NCW is 3-3.

WOW, this is great stuff!!! How can EMU not be ranked at 17-4 and 11-4???

NCW's 4 regional losses are to:
Hampden-Sydney, by 14
Guilford, by 17
#6 Virginia Wesleyan, by 12
#19 Ferrum, by 6

EMU has beaten Hampden-Sydney (by 16), Guilford (by 12), and Ferrum (by 6), but hasn't played Va. Wesleyan.

EMU's 4 regional losses are to 3 teams that NCW hasn't played (Randolph-Macon X2, W&L, and Randolph).  All of their losses were by 5 points or less.

[jdubyadubya]

Bigrips/rmc1982 - thanks. sounded fairly chaotic at the end with VWC hoping the clock would show 00 in a hurry and RMC hoping that the world slowed down enough to get a last minute 3 pointer and send it to OT. Must have been crazy in the Batten Center.