MBB: Landmark Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

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.

Well... if he is there to see his son... he will get the treat of hearing me.
If he is there to hear me... he has the great opportunity to do it while watching his son!

I will keep an eye out for him!

[Matt Letourneau]

Catholic 73 Goucher 57

Cardinals were led by Banzhaf's 19 points/14 rebounds.  Struggled early and it was a sloppy first half, but Catholic played a much better 2nd half and pulled away.  Story of the night was junior Andy Ruell, who has barely played in his career so far, getting an opportunity and coming up with 12 points, including 3 three pointers.

Awful free throw shooting.  Catholic was 16-30 and Goucher 12-25. 

[NEPAFAN]

Can anyone at the Moravian game or watching online tell me who was running the point for the Royals? Ashworth or Morgan?


Thanks.

[ronk]

Nepa,
  I watched the videocast and there is not a PG position in this offense; it's 5 guys passing and cutting til someone is lazy enough on defense to allow an open jump shot; Luke works in the paint, and Zac will dribble drive 1 on 1, occasionally. They'll win games when they shoot decently; have trouble rebounding defensively and guarding quick teams, but there aren't any of those in the Landmark.

[Matt Letourneau]

I wouldn't neccessarily argue with you, but Holmes is probably the fastest guard in the Landmark and he's getting major playing time.   Dixon had a solid game against Goucher--those two are probably the fastest Catholic point guard combo I've seen.  Should be interesting when Catholic plays Scranton. 

Scranton sounds a lot like York back in the old CAC days.  Those guys could beat you when they got hot. 

If Catholic can continue to progress, they could really do some damage.  They are really well balanced--they have size, they have some quickness, they have some shooters and they play good defense.  The thing to remember is that they are starting 2 seniors who are the obvious team leaders, and then 3 sophomores.  So there's reason to believe we'll see improvement over the course of the year.

[saratoga]

NEPA: we got to the game in the 2nd. half & I would agree with Ronk's assessment. Essentially Ashworth would take the ball so far & pass to Farrell who would pass to Luke who would pass to Swaback in the corner & back to Zach for the bomb & on & on it went. This approach will be fine until they come up against: 1.) A quick team than will press & trap & take away their passing lanes so they become so disrupted in just getting the ball over half court that they become totally out of sync and 2.) A physisical team that just keeps pushing them & working them over & contesting every cut & keeps forcing 3 pointer after 3 pointer & allows no second chance shots.
The Morgan kid finally received considerable minutes & he certainly appears to be holding his own. The real drawback for the Royals is once again no post game to open things up for their shooters & no point to take the pressure off Ashworth & let him play his natural position. They'll probably beat the teams they should & lose to the teams that are more balanced.
Deja vu all over again.

[ronk]

  I agree that the CU backcourt is the quickest in the conference; interesting out-of-league games coming up for CU with DeSales, Gettysburg, and Richard Stockton. Gburg, especially important for regional rankings; wasn't listed as a videocast, however.

[Matt Letourneau]

  I agree that the CU backcourt is the quickest in the conference; interesting out-of-league games coming up for CU with DeSales, Gettysburg, and Richard Stockton. Gburg, especially important for regional rankings; wasn't listed as a videocast, however.

I believe all the Catholic homegames are...that one should be.

Yes, very challenging schedule early on for the Cardinals but it should have them in shape for conference play. 

[NEPAFAN]

Thanks guys I wasn't able to follow the game and saw that Morgan started for Hilferty.


Matt- I think this is Catholic's year to win the Conference.


By the way, I love the fact that almost every team in the conference has either Live Stats, Video, Audio, or all three.

[BJ - DSU SID]

Any Catholic fans who tuned into the DeSales/Catholic LIVE video feed...I'd be real curious to find out how it was.

It is the first year we are offering the service and I want to try to make it better and better.  Any feedback would be appreciated.

Good Luck to you the rest of the season.

[NEPAFAN]

Checking StubbHubb for the Scranton-PSU Hazleton game this Saturday and prices are insane! Probably just going to stay home and listen on the radio!

[cuabigdog]

The Cardinals bounced back from their first loss of the season with a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire 61-58 victory over Gettysburg (4-4) on Saturday afternoon.  CUA trailed by two with 1:11 remaining, but outscored the Bullets 5-0 down the stretch to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Seniors R.J. Dixon and Jason Banzhaf led CUA with 17 points apiece on the day, while Andy Roell and Shawn Holmes both scored six.  The Cardinals shot 44 percent overall, including a 47 percent showing from three-point range (7-15), and they sank 10 of 11 free throws.

Roell led the home team with seven boards, while Dixon handed out a team-best five helpers and also recorded three steals.  CUA turned the ball over only 10 times and got 11 points from its bench, to just four by the Bullets.

Four Gettysburg players hit for double figures, including Andrew Powers (17), Stephen Poarch (13), Kevin Kennedy (10) and Alex Zurn (10).  The Bullets shot an even 50 percent from the floor, but struggled mightily at the foul line, sinking only 13 of 23 attempts (56.5%).  Powers pulled down seven rebounds to lead the visitors and Poarch was the team leader in assists with six.

As would be the case all afternoon, the teams were nearly even during the early going, with CUA grabbing a 6-5 lead following a Banzhaf layup with 16:37 on the first half clock.  The lead grew to 11-5 after Roell nailed a three-pointer, prompting Gettysburg to call a timeout.

Following the stoppage, the Bullets ran off six straight to tie things at 11, but CUA scored eight of the next 10, including a three from freshman Billy Donovan at the 9:54 mark to go in front 19-13.

Poarch's jumper at the 4:23 mark pulled Gettysburg to within two at 21-19, but Roell answered down the other end with a trifecta to put the Cardinals in front by five.

A Christian Bors layup followed by a pair of Powers free throws made it a one-point game at 24-23 with 2:03 remaining in the half, but CUA scored three straight to take a late four-point lead.  Zurn drilled a three just as time expired though, and the teams headed for the locker room with CUA up just one, 27-26.

A Zurn layup right out of the blocks in the second half put the visitors up by one, but Banzhaf answered with a bucket of his own to give the lead back to the Cardinals.

With the score tied at 35 with 13:59 to play CUA reeled off seven straight, including back-to-back threes from Dixon, which forced Gettysburg to call a timeout.  The Bullets then came back and got to within two on a three-point play by Zurn with 11:23 to play.

A three from Nate Koenig followed by two Banzhaf free throws with 8:50 remaining gave CUA a seven-point cushion, but again the Bullets came back, pulling to within three at 51-48 with 7:17 to play.

Powers' jumper with just over three to go made it a two-point game, 56-54, while Poarch's layup a little over a minute later tied things at 56, setting up an exciting finish.

With 1:11 remaining Poarch stepped to the foul line and sank a pair to put the Bullets in front 58-56, but that would prove to be Gettysburg's final points.

CUA came down the other end and following a missed jumper by Dixon, Banzhaf grabbed the rebound, made the putback, got fouled and hit the ensuing free throw to give the Cardinals a 59-58 advantage.

Following a defensive stop by CUA, Holmes got fouled and after he hit a pair the Cardinals were up by three, 61-58.  Gettysburg had one final chance to try and force overtime, but CUA's defense stood tall, forcing a turnover as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

In all the game was tied six times, there were nine lead changes and neither team was able to open up more than a seven-point lead.

The Cardinals return to action on Monday, December 13 when they play host to Stockton College inside DuFour Gymnasium.  Tip-off is set for 7:30.  The game was originally slated to begin at 7:00, but recently got moved to 7:30.

[Reserved Seat]

Gettysburg has now lost 3 games in a row after going cold in the closing minutes.  The worst one being their game against Haverford, when the Fords closed out the game on a 20-2 run to win by 10.

[saratoga]

NEPA: Totally agree. I realize the game was being played at the Hazledome but...$85.00 for mid-court seating seating is crazy. I had a "Dean" day myself.

[ronk]

  Landmark splits with the NJAC as Scranton holds on 94 - 90 @ Kean and CUA loses @ home to Richard Stockton 54 - 53, despite 26 from Jason B(on 11-12 shooting). Rest of team was 1-15 on 3-pt shooting and frosh with chance to tie in final seconds, could only make 1 of 2 from foul line.
  Royals had 17 point lead midway in 2nd half, but turnovers and missed foul shots made it close at the end. They'll have to find away of getting the ball in the hands of their best foul shooters(Ashworth,Farrell) in the last 3 minutes.
  Luke with 31, Zac, Travis with double-doubles(25 pts,10/11 rebs) and Travis added 5 each steals and assists.