MBB: Landmark Conference

NEPAFAN · November 17, 2010, 04:49:26 PM

If I am coaching the Royals:

PG Marchman
G Ashworth
G Farrell/Hawk
F O'Connell
F Swaback.

Two more days gentlemen.

saratoga · November 19, 2010, 02:17:23 PM

Sorry NEPA: As much as we both realize & value the need for an actual point guard that averages more assists than turnovers...not in Royalland. According to their pre-game press release, the same old issue that has hampered them for the last 3 years will continue. Throw in the fact that they have been incapable of bringing in a post player that can actually play during the entire tenure of this current staff & the recipe for disaster has begun to brew.
Hopefully, one of their new guards will be getting serious playing time sooner rather than later.
It's also pretty sad in a way to see the writeup for this tourney play up the fact that the Royals are Radisson Invitational "Champs" in 2003 & 2005. My God, they've been playing this tournament for over 10 years...I would hope the host wins it every 3 1/2 years! The reality is the Royals haven't even been in the championship game half the time...hence, the Arcadia's & D'Youville's of the world.
Twenty busses coming up from Philly to see this one...get your tickets online & beat the wait outside the Long Center.

ronk · November 19, 2010, 07:04:11 PM

The Royals opponent tonite has no starter > 6'3"; good time for the 5-guard offense.

NEPAFAN · November 20, 2010, 09:26:00 AM

In the you can't make this stuff up department. Dan Hilferty has his best game as a Royal as Scranton cruises 81-53.

10 Dan Hilferty........ g 6-6 1-1 0-1 0 2 2 1 13 3 1 0 0 25

And for old time sake , this score jumped out at me:

Gallaudet 74 Wilkes 66 Final

ronk · November 22, 2010, 01:27:00 AM

Back from the Royals/Lady Royals road trip: got to see the Radisson championship game; ran into former teammate/classmate/Royal cager Bob Tardio at halftime and got to share rest of the game with him.
Royals struggled to get open in the half-court offense(like the Ladies;see comments on women's chat site), but, while not turning it over, still didn't get open shots. Once they zipped 6 passes around the perimeter, but, at the end, they didn't have any better shot than when they started.
Eventually, their most effective offense was getting the ball into Luke in the paint and then him driving to the hoop and passing off when Centenary collapsed on him. Luke picked up 6 assists this way and Matt and Andy shot 7-10 from 3-pt range to pull out the game. Travis continued to board well with 6 of each for a total of 12. Tommy Morgan was the only frosh to play, but was not a factor.
From the glass half-empty school: these were not stellar opponents(Arcadia was preseason pick for last place in the MAC Freedom) so we'll refrain from getting too excited about winning this years's Radisson.

cuabigdog · November 22, 2010, 08:13:14 PM

Cardinals claim Allegheny Invite crown; Banzhaf named MVP

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Senior Jason Banzhaf led four Cardinals in double figures with 19 points as CUA downed Allegheny 72-53 on Sunday afternoon to capture the Allegheny Invitational championship. Chris Kearney (11), Dan DiVietri (11) and Shawn Holmes (10) also hit for double digits as CUA improves to 2-0 following its opening weekend of action.

For the second straight game CUA shot the ball well, hitting on 49-percent from the field. The Cardinals did a good job of taking control of the ball as well, committing only 12 turnovers, as compared to 17 for the Gators.

Banzhaf sank 7 of 12 shots for his game-high 19 points as he earned the tournament Most Valuable Player award, while DiVietri pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Senior R.J. Dixon led the Cardinals with five assists and three steals, while also playing a CUA best 38 minutes.

D'Andre Corbin led two Allegheny players in double figures with 12 points, while James Ness sank 5 of 6 shots en route to 10 tallies. Donte Briscoe pulled down nine rebounds and as a team the Gators shot 40-percent from the field and 48-percent from downtown.

After Allegheny scored the game's first points, CUA ran off five straight to take a 5-2 lead. Several minutes later Dixon hit a three and the Cardinals were in front 8-4.

A three-pointer by Holmes at the 14:11 mark gave CUA a 13-6 advantage, and Banzhaf's jumper a minute later made it a 15-8 game. Corbin answered with a trey for the Gators as the home team closed to within 15-11, but Banzhaf came down the other end, hit a short jumper, got fouled, and sank the ensuing free throw to push the Cardinals lead to 18-11 with 11:53 to play in the opening half.

Banzhaf's three-point play began a 9-0 run for CUA with Chris Kearney's jumper at the 8:02 mark increasing the Cardinals advantage to 24-11. James Ness finally put a stop to the CUA run with a basket at the 7:39 mark, but Dixon came right back and hit a jumper of his own to make it a 13-point game once again.

Allegheny was able to cut CUA's lead under double digits on several occasions as the half moved along, but each time the Cardinals had an answer, including when Holmes hit a three-pointer with 1:22 remaining to make the score 35-23. Spencer Reed then scored on a drive to the hoop with 48 ticks on the clock to send CUA into halftime with a commanding 37-23 advantage.

A DiVietri layup right out of the gate gave CUA a 39-23 lead just seven seconds into the second half, and that began a 9-0 run by the Cardinals that eventually put them in front by 23, 46-23.

Allegheny got the Cardinals lead down to 16 at the 16:14 mark, but three straight baskets by CUA made it a 22-point affair with 12:52 to play.

Freshman Pete Schramm got inside for a layup at the 9:44 mark to give CUA a 58-35 lead, but the Gators scored 11 of the next 13 points to cut the Cardinals advantage to 14 at 60-46.

As it did all weekend CUA had an answer as the Cardinals responded with four straight to go in front by 18 with 5:29 remaining. A Holmes jumper with only 10 seconds to go made it a 21-point game, but Corbin hit a jumper down the other end to set the final margin at 19, 72-53.

CUA will be back in action on Tuesday evening when the Cardinals open their home schedule with a game vs. Frostburg State. Tip-off from inside DuFour Gymnasium is set for 7:30.

NEPAFAN · November 22, 2010, 10:06:04 PM

Off Topic but Chaminade is beating Michigan State 35-29 with 6 minutes left in the 1st half.

Michigan State vs. Chaminade -- Operating expenses last year. MSU: $135,526/player, Chaminade: $5,069/player

ronk · November 22, 2010, 10:17:33 PM

Some of us remember Chaminade beating Ralph Sampson and Virginia in this tournament in the '80s.
While gazing around DeSales' gym yesterday while watching the Lady Royals, I saw a banner with their all-time scorers and #3 was Paul Hawk,class of 1981. Looked up Luke Hawk's bio and saw that his father's name is Paul.

Matt Letourneau · November 23, 2010, 09:24:41 PM

Catholic defeats Frostburg State 76-64 to improve to 3-0. Another impressive win for the Cardinals, who were led by Banzhaf's 23 points and 11 rebounds. Frostburg entered the game at 3-0, having just won the Pride of Maryland tournament by defeating #11 St. Mary's.

NEPAFAN · November 29, 2010, 08:51:18 PM

Congrats to Freshman Tommy Morgan-who is Royal Athlete of the Week. About the only thing to congrats the Royals on thus far.

Matt Letourneau · December 01, 2010, 11:40:01 PM

Catholic's off to a 5-0 start with a 52-50 nailbiter win at Carnegie Mellon. Monday night they beat Haverford on the road 52-40. Obviously they didn't shoot well in either game but apparently played excellent defense.

I haven't seen these guys in person yet but it is hard not to be encouraged. They've already beaten some quality teams and surviving a road test like they did tonight early in the season bodes well. Clearly the addition of Williams-transfer Dan DiVietri has given them another legit scoring option which they needed and he's also establishing himself as a force on the boards. Banzhaf is off to a very good start--and I think teams are going to have to start respecting him from behind the arc as he's 5-7 so far. He's always had that shot in him just as Morley did his last two years at Catholic.

Landmark opener Saturday afternoon at Goucher.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · December 02, 2010, 03:45:25 PM

Matt - not to be too critical of your Cardinals... but who have they really beaten?

I took a good look at them in the past week and to be honest a close win over Carnegie Mellon didn't make me take them more seriously. Their one significant win in my eyes is Frostburg who was coming off a win over SMC and are 5-1 (though, SMC is right now their only significant win). However, I can't say Frostburg wasn't having a bit of a let down or not... otherwise the Cardinals are 5-0 against a combined record of 13-15... Frostburg their only above .500 victory (5-1) making the rest of the opponents record 8-14.

Yes... I am happy to see (yes, I said happy) the Cardinals are off to a good start as I have had my eye on them since the pre-season expecting maybe a pretty solid season this year. However, really haven't beaten quality teams just yet.

I will obviously get the chance to change my mind on Saturday when they take on the Gophers at DuFour Center North. I am not expecting a Gopher win, but considering Goucher is playing their best defense in years, it will help me assess the Cardinals overall more then in years past.

By the way, halftime of the Goucher game will give fans the opportunity to tip their hats to the Goucher Men's Lacrosse team as they get their rings from their Landmark Championship and first NCAA appearance last year. It will also give fans a chance to see if I keep from screwing up more names!

Matt Letourneau · December 02, 2010, 04:56:37 PM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on December 02, 2010, 03:45:25 PM
Matt - not to be too critical of your Cardinals... but who have they really beaten?

I took a good look at them in the past week and to be honest a close win over Carnegie Mellon didn't make me take them more seriously. Their one significant win in my eyes is Frostburg who was coming off a win over SMC and are 5-1 (though, SMC is right now their only significant win). However, I can't say Frostburg wasn't having a bit of a let down or not... otherwise the Cardinals are 5-0 against a combined record of 13-15... Frostburg their only above .500 victory (5-1) making the rest of the opponents record 8-14.

Yes... I am happy to see (yes, I said happy) the Cardinals are off to a good start as I have had my eye on them since the pre-season expecting maybe a pretty solid season this year. However, really haven't beaten quality teams just yet.

I will obviously get the chance to change my mind on Saturday when they take on the Gophers at DuFour Center North. I am not expecting a Gopher win, but considering Goucher is playing their best defense in years, it will help me assess the Cardinals overall more then in years past.

By the way, halftime of the Goucher game will give fans the opportunity to tip their hats to the Goucher Men's Lacrosse team as they get their rings from their Landmark Championship and first NCAA appearance last year. It will also give fans a chance to see if I keep from screwing up more names!

Well, its early...they're playing the teams on their schedule and it is of course difficult at this juncture to know exactly how good each of those teams is. But I think you are underselling CMU. I would certainly call that a significant win. They are a quality team and Catholic was on the road. The combined record of the teams that CMU has lost to, including Catholic, is 21-0. That's right--they have 4 losses and every one of the teams that beat them is undefeated. Now, you can come back and say that CMU has not beaten great teams, either, but my bet is that by the end of the year that will look like a good win. Or at least a "significant" one. Plus, CUA has a bunch of tough games coming up--DeSales, Gettysburg and Stockton are all good teams that will be a test.

ronk · December 03, 2010, 06:33:20 PM

dmac,
There's speculation that Florida coach Billy Donovan will be in attendance tomorrow for the Catholic-Goucher game to check you out as a PA man; either that or he wants to see his son who plays for CUA while he's in town for the BB&T Classic on Sunday.

ronk · December 03, 2010, 11:36:08 PM

Landmark conference openers tomorrow with a travel-pairs game. This year, for the 1st half of the conference schedule, the men will play the early game(tomorrow: 2pm for Drew, Moravian sites, 5:30 for Susquehanna, Goucher sites. Drew is listed as joining the sites which videocast home games so you can follow your favorite team at every opponent except Goucher and Scranton.