MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Kenleen]

Guilford falls in OT 62-61

If Guilford had hit some free throws at the end, they should have won - 11 of 20 is not good enough!  Also, from a shooting standpoint, Gabriel Lowder had one of his worst games in a long time.  With all that said, however, congratulations to EMU.

Thanks for the congrats.  EMU probably needed a win more than Guilford given our young team and number of losses at the buzzer this season.  Pittman had a last second shot that bounced off the rim.  If he had made it, it would have been at least the fifth last-second loss by EMU this season.  At EMU's Yoder Area I watched RMC hit a game-clinching bucket guarded and back of the key so I didn't take this one for granted until the buzzer sounded!  The end result, we get to host Bridgewater for the rubber match between rivals where regular season records mean nothing. It should be a good one with the chance to meet 2nd seed RMC to see if they can beat us three times again this season as they did last season when we both had more experienced teams that could compete at the national level.  Go Royals!

[hasanova]

Live by the 3 and die by the three - when not falling and the game plans surround it, it happens.
As for foul shooting, H-SC would have won at VWC if their foul shooting had been up to par. Just shows how - rebounds, shooting percentages, defense, etc all have to be up in win in the ODAC. That what is so great about our conference.  Interesting to see who brings their A game in all areas to Salem this week.  Four teams have the advantage but several others have surprized the top teams this year and can do it again.

Guilford's an enigma to me this season - the Quakers were 3-1 against the other three top four teams (VWC, RMC and HSC), but lost four other ODAC games to BC, LC, Randolph and EMU.  Faulty free throw shooting was part of it, but we weren't nearly as good on the road as we were at home - the lone loss at Ragan Brown was a puzzling early season butt kicking by the BC Eagles, a team we handled with ease on the road.  Go figure, right? 

[tigerfanalso]

Good atmosphere at Fleet this past Saturday. Hopefully the fans will travel to Salem. HSC has a very difficult draw but hopefully they can find away to win. I don't know how long it has been since we won the ODAC tourney but sure would great to pull one out this year. I really think the Tigers can make some noise in the NCAA tourney if they get there.

Good luck to all and lets hope the ODAC tourney in a huge success.

[tigerfanalso]

Opinion: If VWC wins the ODAC tourney will any other team receive a bid ?

[donho]

  Only other possibility would be and should be R-MC. But only if they win at least one ODAC tourny game.

[WooHoopsntrack01]

LET'S GO WLU!!!!!!!

[algernon]

  Only other possibility would be and should be R-MC. But only if they win at least one ODAC tourny game.

Yes, I agree.

To put things in perspective, VWC lost to Randolph in the semifinals last year and DID get a bid, with a 23-4 record.   On the other hand, EMU lost to RMC in the semifinals and failed to get a bid last year, even though they had a 22-5 record!!

This year, with a 6th loss in the tournament, RMC would definitely be on the bubble. It would depend upon how many favored teams across DIII lost their tournaments and moved into the Pool C competition. RMC losing to EMU or BC in the quarters would not help their cause. They'd have a better chance if they got to the semis and lost to Guilford ... or an even better chance if they won that game before losing  the tournament championship game on Sunday.  No guarantees, however, for any team with 6 losses.

HSC's next loss would be its 8th, and Guilford's next would be its 9th, so neither has a shot at a  a Pool C bid.

[78rmc]

  Only other possibility would be and should be R-MC. But only if they win at least one ODAC tourny game.

I think RMC needs to get to the championship game to be safely in. Plus, if they're not playing the Virginians for the championship, RMC needs to win that game as well.

[donho]

 78 and algernon,  after reading your posts it probably will take at least two wins in the ODAC for R-MC to get to the dance. Hope they win it that way no worries.
I keep forgetting saturdays L.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

SOS was key for EMU last year... and if memory serves, they were stuck behind Emory - though I could have that wrong.

RMC's SOS last year was much stronger. I think, based on last week's regional rankings, RMC is good if they do at least win one or two games... that will help bolster their SOS a bit instead of taking another loss and not getting the chance to improve their record.

[HSCDad]

Final National Rankings VWC  7th just as last week  RMC dropped from 23rd to 30th  Shame ODAC does not have more but the conference is so balanced.

[algernon]

SOS was key for EMU last year... and if memory serves, they were stuck behind Emory - though I could have that wrong.

RMC's SOS last year was much stronger. I think, based on last week's regional rankings, RMC is good if they do at least win one or two games... that will help bolster their SOS a bit instead of taking another loss and not getting the chance to improve their record.

It looks to me like RMC could drop to #4 in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow, below Birmingham Southern.  How they do in the ODAC tournament will probably be key to whether they remain above, and "come to the table" before Emory, which has finished its season with a 19-5 regional record.  They will presumably stay above CNU (18-4 regional), regardless of what happens.

I'd give the Marlins a 30-40% chance of winning the conference tournament, and I'd give no other team better than a 20-25% chance.  There's a chance that Randolph, Lynchburg, and EMU could get hot and pull a surprise.  So it's good for the Yellow Jackets that they have a shot at a Pool C.

[onetinsoldier]

i recently ran some efficiency matrices and was surprised to find hampden-sydney in the top 5 in the nation.  Is there any chance they get a Pool C bid, because if they did they would be scary for any non-Southern team in an NCAA game? 

[donho]

  Scary! Scary would be playing Patrich Henry again.

[donho]

i recently ran some efficiency matrices and was surprised to find hampden-sydney in the top 5 in the nation.  Is there any chance they get a Pool C bid, because if they did they would be scary for any non-Southern team in an NCAA game? 

And just what makes them scary?