Some unexpectedly tight games today. Illinois Wesleyan edged Chicago, Wooster got a last-second basket to beat Earlham. Even tighter, of course, was Carnegie Mellon’s win against Rochester. Mary Hardin-Baylor the same against Mississippi College. St. Thomas edged Macalester 72-68.
The good: Coast Guard rolled up a 29-0 run against Kings Point in the basketball equivalent of the Army/Navy game, winning 97-76. The Bears shot 69.7% from the floor. … Alma’s men beat D-II Lake Superior State. … Nice win for Clark’s women over Salem State. … Elmhurst men knocked off Hanover and Chris Martin wasn’t one of the top two scorers.
The bad: Don’t have any details on Dickinson/Washington College on the women’s side but at 49-43 can’t have been a great game.
The ugly: Curry’s men lost at Christopher Newport because it had six men on the floor with under 30 seconds left. The two CNU free throws allowed the Captains to take a 65-64 lead en route to a 68-65 win.
So what does this mean? Catholic women beat Scranton. Mary Washington beat Catholic. Catholic beat Marymount. This could mean Mary Washington is really good. We’ll see.
We’ll leave the rest to you.
Some thoughts on yesterday’s games, with this being my first time on this blog.
1.) I wish that I was able to register earlier and get the password right, so that I could add the Rochester v. Carnegie Mellon men’s game to the weekend warrior list of webcasts to watch.
2.) The 41 points scored by Nate Maurer in yesterday’s Rochester v. Carnegie Mellon UAA contest was 6 points shy of the UAA single game record 47 points scored by Charlie Borsheim of Washington University in a UAA contest against Emory University on Feb. 14, 1993.
3.) Carnegie Mellon now looks to be the slight early favorite to win the UAA men’s title as a result of yesterday’s contest. However, the UAA is a deep league this year on the men’s side, and to quote/paraphrase from Wash U coach Mark Edwards from his media guide: “Any one of the 8 UAA men’s basketball teams can make a run for the conference title.” I just hope that “Super Sleeper” Brandeis can become more consistent so that the Judges can make that run– Brandeis lost to Tufts in overtime yesterday. Right now, the Judges look the same as they did last year.
Little noticed on Saturday, but noticed.
Medaille was perfect last season 0-25, and had started this season the same way….. until Saturday
Medaille 80 LaRoche 76
That’s why they play the game!! Congrats!!
Hmm, yeah, well, that game is a big NO REPORT on our Web site, so if they want some run they need to post the score.
UMHB is a puzzlement. They were the narrow favorite in the pre-season poll to win the ASC-West. They almost defeated D1 McNeese State LA on the road, 65-68 on opening night. They lost at Ozarks the next weekend.
Of the top 5 teams in the ASC-West, they are the only one to catch Mississippi at home! In the 22-game conference schedule, that might make the difference in hosting the post-season tourney, which is on the West side this year for the men! UMHB has a new facility which is less than a season old.
The UMHB/UW-Platteville game in Belton on Dec 29th should be interesting. I hope the Platteville coach brought his golf clubs. There are several good courses in the Belton/ Salado/ Austin area! 🙂
I was at the Alvernia College and Wesley College game on Saturday, with Alvernia coming away with a 92-80 hard-fought victory. Alvernia is highly regarded and returns all five starters from the 2004-2005 season and was picked to finish first in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference.
Wesley College, under new head coach Jerry Kobasa, has a revamped roster and quite possibly one of the best freshman guards in the nation in Rashawn Johnson. Johnson, is currently averaging 29.5 points per game and shooting 50.5% from the field through 5 games. This kid is a legitimate player and was a lot of fun to watch.
The PAC has always been represented in the national tournament in past years, but this year the conference is a down as a whole. These two teams are two of the stronger one’s along with Eastern University. Alvernia’s leadership and experience showed in Saturday’s game and can go 7 player’s deep, without losing much. Coach Mike Miller has a strong team with Alvernia. Watch for them in the future, being led by Zach Straining, Chris Talley, Lamar Brickus, Mike Brock and sophomore Damon Bogan.
Basketballfan20:
I saw Alvernia a couple of times last year and thought they were solid for the most part. In last year’s PAC final they were reluctant to challenge Badou Gaye in the paint, instead settling for tons of outside shots. Gaye’s gone but other big men still lurk in D3. from what you saw — and maybe Wesley isn’t a good test — has that changed?
Wesley will probably be one of the most improved team’s in Division III when all is said and done. They were 6-18 and hired a new coach, Jerry Kobasa. From the way it looks, Coach Kobasa has a new roster and is starting 3 freshman, with 6-7 freshman seeing time. Rashawn Johnson is on his way to not only Rookie of the Year in the conference, but Player of the Year. Although 2-3 on the season, they have played a tough non-conference schedule, losing only by 2 to Penn State-Behrend, always a highly regarded team.
Look for this team to compete with Alvernia for the conference crown.