NCAA Tournament

[gordonmann]

So much for the Kean upset of Mary Washington as Messiah handles them easily in the first round.  Thanks, Gordon for at least trying to pick an upset or two. 

Yeah. Sure got that right. And Willy P winning on the road.  I should just stay away from the NJAC.

I sort of called York's win over Juniata. Sort of.

[sumfun]

Would love to see that Lewis and Clark shot again.   Too bad replay isn't available at this level.

[gordonmann]

I said the exact same thing. I couldn't tell from the GFU broadcast.  Did you get any kind of look?

[BlueZoneBruin]

Sumfun and Gordon...

I've already seen one video shot form the stands that clearly shows the shot was after the buzzer. I'll post it on here when I get home. Amazing game between two great teams. They know each other so well that all four games have been really intense. None more than this one though.

BlueZoneBruin

[BlueZoneBruin]

Wow! It was a crazy game in Miller Gymnasium tonight. The Bruins and Pioneers had one of their most epic battles to date, and they have had many over the past few years. In the end, the Bruins emerged 52-50 after a three-pointer that was shot just after the buzzer banked in.

As someone mentioned already, as soon as the shot left the player's hand, the official closest to the play immediately began waving it off. After a short conference between the three game officials, and the official at the desk, the final call was made. Bruins win! (Cue the crowd.)

Here are two videos of that final moment. The first is from an alumnus high in the stands. You get a pretty good view of the red light illuminating before the ball leaves the Lewis & Clark player's hand. The second is from the student section. The angle isn't as good, but you get a better feel for the intensity and the officials' conference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAvv13uurNI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ULM2MkYS0

It's hard to see at full speed, but the Lewis & Clark player who took the shot had a fairly flagrant travel as she brought the ball up the court that went uncalled. You can hear plenty of chatter about it in the second video, however. Luckily these two schools are 12 miles away from each other, so no can make a hometown officiating crew argument. In fact, this was an officiating crew that I don't think I have ever seen in the Northwest Confernce before. To be honest, I think both teams would say it was one of the poorest officiated games in recent memory.

Overall, it was an epic finish to a very tough fought game by both teams. I only wish that this game would have happened in the Elite 8 where it belongs. Lewis & Clark is a darn good team, and they would still be playing if it wasn't for a fourth loss to George Fox, the only team to beat them this year.

Go Bruins!

[BlueZoneBruin]

Hosting decisions are in...George Fox is off to Mary Washington for the sectionals.

[gordonmann]

Luckily these two schools are 12 miles away from each other, so no can make a hometown officiating crew argument. In fact, this was an officiating crew that I don't think I have ever seen in the Northwest Confernce before.

The NCAA assigns neutral referees to tournament games. NWC refs can't do games with NWC teams.

[NE Hoop Guy]

What is amazing, is that the NCAA bent the rules to allow Amherst women to host this past weekend, where they really should not have.  Now they host again, with the weakest group of sweet sixteen teams you could find in a region.  Not one team going to Amherst is in the Top 25 or have even received votes.  Amherst essentially won the sectional last night when they beat back Babson, and all the other hosts lost.  The rich get richer with a little help from the NCAA.  Amherst is potentially vulnerable, but not to this group of teams I do not think,

[Maine 1]

Very exciting first round of the NCAA's.  Lots of close games and lots of surprises.  Also, perfect examples of what can happen in a one game tournament.  King's win over William Patterson was fueled by a career night from a player that is a career 33% three point shooter, but hits 9-15.  Not sure that means that King's belonged in the tournament, but they are certainly making the most of the opportunity

[7express]

What is amazing, is that the NCAA bent the rules to allow Amherst women to host this past weekend, where they really should not have.  Now they host again, with the weakest group of sweet sixteen teams you could find in a region.  Not one team going to Amherst is in the Top 25 or have even received votes.  Amherst essentially won the sectional last night when they beat back Babson, and all the other hosts lost.  The rich get richer with a little help from the NCAA.  Amherst is potentially vulnerable, but not to this group of teams I do not think,

Is it Amherst's fault RIC, Junaita & William Paterson lost to teams worse then they were, 2 of them playing at home??  That's what makes the NCAA tournament so fun there's no tomorrow, you have a bad shooting day and an even worse defensive day your going home.  It probably won't happen, but who's to say Amherst won't shoot 20% in 1 of the 2 games this weekend and the opponent shoots 60+% and they lose??  Just because York, Emmanuel, and King's aren't reciving votes their not gonna roll over and play dead just because they play Amherst, their gonna play just as hard if not harder then the Jeffs are.  I know comparing RIC to Amherst is comparing apple's to orange's, but RIC was undefeated at the Murray Center until Emmanuel came in there and beat them last night.

Also, the NCAA didn't break the rules.  Amherst men got the bye which they rightly deserved and with them not having to play Friday, it allowed them women to play the 2 games on Friday.  It's not like the Amherst men finished 14-13 and won the NESCAC tournament as the 6th seed and were allowed to host.

[Pat Coleman]

What is amazing, is that the NCAA bent the rules to allow Amherst women to host this past weekend, where they really should not have.

Not true. The actual rules say you can't have two four-team groups at the same site. Since Amherst men got the first-round bye, they only had two teams and this was not an issue. You could play two games on Friday and two on Saturday.

This used to happen more often but since there are so few byes anymore, it's less common.

[NE Hoop Guy]

I understand, that is why I wrote "bent" as opposed to "break".  The fact that Amherst men of all people got the bye was because the Women's committee wanted to have Amherst host.  I believe if that was not in place the other considerations for the bye would have come in and Amherst would not have got it.   So "bent" not "break" Pat.

[Pat Coleman]

Amherst men were the No. 1 team in their region. Perfectly acceptable for them to have a bye and the top team in the Northeast has gotten a bye before.

My point is these are not "bent" rules at all. This is 100% within the rules.

[ronk]

  The NCAA bracket indicated that Cabrini should host instead of Middlebury; so why was Middlebury chosen? Isn't seeding the primary criteria and rotation a secondary? And is one year hosting enough to cause rotation and does it continue indefinitely into future hosting decisions. Questions for the NCAA chair.

[BruinFan]

Luckily these two schools are 12 miles away from each other, so no can make a hometown officiating crew argument. In fact, this was an officiating crew that I don't think I have ever seen in the Northwest Confernce before.

The NCAA assigns neutral referees to tournament games. NWC refs can't do games with NWC teams.

That has not been my experience. I went back and checked box scores. The three referees for the round 1 NCAA game between Lewis and Clark and Concordia (Texas) had all previously done at least one regular season game earlier this year at George Fox. In addition, one of them was on the court for the NWC Championship game and another officiated a NWC semi-final game.

The round 1 game between George Fox and Cal Lutheran had 1 official previously at George Fox. The round 2 thriller between George Fox and Lewis and Clark had one official who had earlier done a conference game at George Fox.

I don't know if this plays a part in it, but at least out West, referees tend to work a variety of levels and conferences. You would have to travel well over 500 miles to find another D3 school outside the 9 NW Conference schools. Some of the officials we see also do D1 and some do high school.