MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[d3hoopstories]

I watched the streams of both games simultaneously.

HS-C met a Swarthmore team that looked like it was focused on final exams. Yes, the Tiger defense is sound but many of Swat's 21 turnovers were absolutely unforced. Hampden-Sydney got 28 points from those turnovers and this game was over by halftime. Hubbard and Brazil were good on a night when the rest of the regulars seemed only average. For one game at least, this did not look like the top-ranked team in the nation.

Fantastic game at CNU. Both squads played hard from the start. This game was decided at the free throw line because CNU struggled to defend without fouling. They seemed a bit out of position and a step slow to rotate all night. Va Wesleyan converted 17 of 21 free throws in the second half. Hammad (CNU) battled foul trouble and with him on the bench, the Hines brothers showed a lack of discipline, taking bad shots early in the clock on multiple occasions. The offense has a tendency to stagnate late in games.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Thanks for those insights on both games. Definitely tough to play on the road against a good team, then have to return for exam week. H-SC was done with exams. I will note that H-SC is not the top-ranked team in the nation. They are #6 and did not receive any #1 votes in the most recent poll.

I'd seen VWU's two games vs Randolph-Macon, most of their game at Averett, and snippets of a couple of their other games. They looked better last night and, for the first time, I could see why some voters consider them a top 25 team.

[Macon]

Jackets dominate a .500 team by 36 points.   Freshmen got about 1/3 of minutes,  sophomores get another 1/3 minutes,  so this is a very young team.  Encouraged by the freshmen play. 

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Yes, a good win for the Jackets. There were times in the second half when there were four freshmen on the floor. Could even have been five at one point. I couldn't keep up with all the players going in and out. I do think, though, that the Jackets lack a consistent "go to" player right now. Jabril has been that player in a game or two. Nothing wrong with balance, however. The 2016-17 and 2017-18 teams were similar to this one in that regard.

Marywood's 5-5 record entering yesterday's game vs the Jackets is a bit deceptive. Two of their wins were over teams that compete in the USCAA, a level not as competitive as D3.

In other ODAC related action of the past two days, on Friday Ferrum defeated an NCCAA team (Carolina Christian) and Bridgewater lost to D1 Elon. Yesterday VWU downed Johnson & Wales (RI), Randolph beat Southern Virginia, and Averett lost to Belhaven.

Today's RMC game will be a much tougher challenge. York is 5-3 and has played some very good competition.

[Macon]

Agree on all comments,  no 'go to' and York will a much better indicator of how far the Jackets have come.

[y_jack_lok]

ODAC teams go 4-0 on the day. Averett and VWU switch opponents from yesterday and both win -- Averett 56-38 over Johnson & Wales and VWU 67-61 over Belhaven. Eastern Mennonite with a home win over Mary Baldwin 73-70. RMC gets a solid road win over a good York team 87-68. The Jackets had two players with 20 points -- sophomore Jabril Robinson and freshman Margad Choijilsuren. Daniel Mbangue pitched in with 16 points in spite of tough defense on him that forced him into several travels and an offensive foul or two.

[y_jack_lok]

A couple of non-conference games today. Ferrum wins at home 65-59 over Greensboro. Bridgewater loses at home to Mary Washington 69-52.

[Brian Hamilton]

HSC defeats John Carroll 85-67. 

[TigerFan11]

HSC taking down 2 top ranked teams before Christmas is a great feeling! Could only follow the score online but seemed like they were in pretty good control throughout.

[y_jack_lok]

In a game between ODAC unbeatens, Shenandoah downs #3 ranked Guilford at home 65-58. I have to admit I was unsure of the legitimacy of SU's 10-0 record going into this game. Apparently it is for real. Guilford had a slim lead early, but SU took the lead with about 8:30 left in the first half and held it the rest of the way.

While the above game was going on, I was watching the ODAC's other nationally ranked team, #6 H-SC, play at #1 ranked John Carroll. The Tigers shot an amazing 63% in the 2nd half (55% from beyond the arc) and extended a three-point halftime lead to an 85-67 win. In the early going John Carroll looked terrific. They had a nine-point lead with four minutes left in the first half. But the Tigers got hot to end the half and stayed hot until the end.

Since Guilford has a head-to-head win over H-SC it will be interesting to see where the Top 25 voters place Guilford, H-SC, and John Carroll when the next poll comes out after the end of the year. John Carroll plays twice before the poll, H-SC plays once (home vs Salisbury) and Guilford plays twice (both at home -- vs Southern Virginia and William Peace).

[y_jack_lok]

More ODAC teams in action this evening. Randolph (vs Marymount), Lynchburg (vs Centre), and Roanoke (vs Eastern) all get wins over their non-conference D3 competition. One day after losing at home to Mary Washington, Bridgewater travels to Fairfax for a game against D1 George Mason. Final: GM 84 - BC 60.

[thescottharris]

Maryville SID on Scots and W&L.

https://mcscots.com/news/2023/12/2/mens-basketball-overtime-delight.aspx

Good writeup. Nice to see an SID who writes a narrative article about a game. Having said that, I understand that SIDs have a lot on their plates and can't always do that -- as well as the fact that not all SIDs are trained writers.

It's a lost art, but also one that is largely unappreciated.

When you look at the data on how long someone actually spends on an article, it's apparent the average audience member doesn't really care either. When the average viewer is on an article for a minute or less, they obviously aren't reading much of it. That's when I changed how I was writing the recaps. Spending all this time and effort and it was largely for nothing other than self-satisfaction.

Same with the YouTube videos. I would do several minute long YouTube highlight videos when only a very small fraction of people who watched would watch more than a minute. At that point I'm just using up all this time and effort for largely nothing when I can make a short video that produces the same results and saves me time and energy.

Working 60-70 hours a week, yeah I'm "cutting corners" on something if people aren't invested in seeing the whole product.

But thankfully I smartened up and got out. Now I only work like 37ish significantly less stressful hours a week with no nights and weekends

[Seatfiller]

Unfortunately I've been pretty busy so checking on Roanoke and ODAC games has been hard.  Just looked Roanoke is struggling, last game I saw was them losing to Shenandoah.  Speaking of Shenandoah they're legit beating Guilford proved that.  Looks like this has been a great season so far, but Roanoke really needs to step it up or we won't even be in the ODAC tourney.  Looks like our main problem is we don't have consistent scoring. 

[y_jack_lok]

Unfortunately I've been pretty busy so checking on Roanoke and ODAC games has been hard.  Just looked Roanoke is struggling, last game I saw was them losing to Shenandoah.  Speaking of Shenandoah they're legit beating Guilford proved that.  Looks like this has been a great season so far, but Roanoke really needs to step it up or we won't even be in the ODAC tourney.  Looks like our main problem is we don't have consistent scoring.

I always enjoy your observations and comments about the Maroons. Hope you can catch some games and let us know what you think.

In today's games ODAC teams go 1-3. Randolph is the only winner, 74-65 over Centre at the Lynchburg tournament. Lynchburg loses to Marymount 73-71. In D.C., Roanoke falls to Catholic 99-72. In San Antonio, W&L loses to #22 Trinity (TX) 78-70.

[rmc1982]

REALLY GOOD to see the board back up again! I have missed the information I got from gleaning this every day and gaining info from the likes of Hasanova, Macon, and many others of you! Funny reading the posts from late December and how things have changed but remained the same since then! Looking forward to hearing from everyone and looking forward to the tournament(s) and the banter that goes along with it!! Nicely done D3Hoops!!