MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[rmc1982]

Guilford beats vwc 75-67 rmc over E&H 123-97 Jackets finally get out of their offensive slump-now somebody's gotta beat the quakers !It's theirs to lose or win........

[narch]

big weekend for the quakers

i have a friend who worked in development for a LONG time...he used to say that about 90% of the people who vowed to "never give another dime" for [insert reason], never had previously...ever...not once - i'm certain the lc development office isn't sweating lynchburgcollege's vow

[hasanova]

big weekend for the quakers

Yes, it has been!  The RMC/VWC road trip is always tough, but it had special meaning this weekend because all three teams had two conference losses at tip-off.  I cannot tell you how happy I am the Quakers won both games - I was hoping they would, but would not have been surprised if they'd split or dropped both. 

"Big players make big plays in big games."  With 21 yesterday against RMC and 30 today against VWC, I have to think Ben Strong has solidified his hold on ODAC POY.  It doesn't get any easier, however, as the surprising Generals come to Ragan-Brown Wednesday night for another key match-up.  I agree with rmc1982, I think the ODAC crown is now Guilford's to win or lose starting with the W&L game.  I'll be there! 

[lynchburgcollege]

Rest assured LC is going to be missing out on the $5k+ i've been donating every year since I graduated in 1982, especially considering they are still trying to pay off their newest academic building and the renovations that took place on Shellenberger field and are now making the students have to pay for some of the renovations to Shellenberger. I know of several basketball alumni who have already stopped donating. LC is already expensive enough as it is and they made it more expensive by making students have to pay for the field because they couldn't raise enough money to cover the costs of the academic building and the field. LC can't afford to be losing donors at this point unless they want students to start having to pay more. A change needs to be made.

If LC hires a good basketball coach who can win games here, LC will most likely find their donations to increase because people won't be embarrassed to admit being a fan of the men's basketball team. With the popularity of basketball as a sport here, the basketball team here could very well challenge men's lacrosse for the most popular sport on campus, and LC should find that to be very beneficial when trying to get donations for their next project. Also, an athlete is more likely to donate the better their collegiate athletic experience is from what I can tell. You don't find many basketball alumni who had a good collegiate basketball experience, and thus most of the ones I know don't donate at all to LC. If you bring in a coach who can change the climate of the basketball team, it will only help the efforts of development to raise money.

[algernon]

Eastern Mennonite defeats HSC in Harrisonburg, 86-75.

UPDATED STANDINGS 
 
1)  Guilford                  9    2   
2)  Washington & Lee    8    2   
     Virginia Wesleyan    9    3   
4)  Randolph-Macon      8    3 
     Roanoke                 8    3   
6)  Bridgewater            5     6   
7)  Hampden-Sydney     4    8   
8 ) Eastern Mennonite   3     9 
     Emory & Henry        2    10   
10) Lynchburg             1    11

[mybleedinghands]

tehre's still five minutes left in the EMU game with HSC down 13...

[donho]

 Having seen Guilford twice this weekend IMHO they have a very nice team and are well coached!  MR. Strong today played like a man.( I felt he played rather soft yesterday) but not today! They did a nice job playing under control the entire game. I am not a Guilford fan but that was a nice weekend for them and I enjoyed watching them play as a team.

[donho]

  Much needed good win for the Jackets today. Hope it gets them back in the groove. Keep working hard Jackets!

[Jacketlawyer]

  Much needed good win for the Jackets today. Hope it gets them back in the groove. Keep working hard Jackets!

My thoughts exactly.  GO JACKETS. 8)

[algernon]

I've checked on the history of ODAC conference record and seeding, going backa to when the ODAC expanded to 10 teams in 1992.  Thought that some of you might be interested .....

18-0: Seeded #1
17-1: Seeded #1 - #2
16-2: Seeded #1
15-3: Seeded #2
14-4: Seeded #1 - #2
13-5: Seeded #1 - #4
12-6: Seeded #2 - #5
11-7: Seeded #3 - #5
10-8: Seeded #3 - #6
  9-9: Seeded #5 - #6
8-10: Seeded #5 - #8
=====================
7-11: Seeded #6 - Not in tournament (#9)
6-12: Seeded #6 - Not in tournament (#9)
5-13: Seeded #7 - Not in tournament (#9)
4-14: Seeded #8 - Not in tournament (#9 - #10)
=====================
3-15: Not in tournament (#9 - #10)
2-16: Not in tournament (#10)
1-17: Not in tournament (#10)
0-18: Not in tournament (#10)

So, if history is any guide, 8 wins will definitely get you in the tournament .... and 4 wins might be enough to get you in.

[emufan]

No, its  a final.  EMU wins 86-75. 

Huge win for EMU.  Coach Dean and his staff work so hard and it is great for them to get a much earned win. 

Man, the ODAC is so stinking tough.  Top tier teams, coaches and players. 

[algernon]

Looks like the Tigers, while conceivably doing well enough in the next 6 games to be seeded #5 -- or poor enough to be seeded #8 -- are fairly likely to be seeded #6 or #7. 

Tiger seeding for the past 16 years:
 
1992: 1 (won)
1993: 6
1994: 2
1995: 1 (won)
1996: 4
1997: 5 (won)
1998: 1 (won)
1999: 1 (won)
2000: 1
2001: 2 (won)
2002: 3 (won)
2003: 2
2004: 2 (won)
2005: 4
2006: 3
2007: 5 (won)

[donho]

  Interestingly with 33 seconds to play and Strong shooting free throws the VWC student section put Mr. Strong in his place by Chanting OVER RATED! Come on your team is ranked 14th Guilford is ranked 23rd Ben drops 30 on your head, and all you can come up with is OVER RATED??

[FortyFour]

The VWC-GC game today was a good game, one of those games where a couple of ball bounces go another way, and the outcome may have been different.  You could tell that both of the teams really know each other all-too-well, and it made for a good game.  I could sense it wasn't the Marlins day on several occasions, however.  The team would force a turnover, or get out on a break, and couldn't put points on the board.  When you don't score off turnovers against a really solid basketball team, it's tough to win.  It looks there is going to be a shootout for the ODAC this year, but I think GC has solidified itself as the favorite to win the conference.  Congrats to the Quakers on a great weekend and completing the sweep of the Marlins this year.

On a side note, Balenga put up 45 points (including 22 of those in the 2nd half against E&H) and grabbed 17 boards this weekend.  Not too shabby.

[Pat Coleman]

Well, I know the 30 points is the fewest he'd scored in the Batten Center in a while but I'm sure he's pretty good.

Or were they chanting at their own team?