Go Pioneers!

At least, that’s the cry in four places this weekend. Elsewhere it’s Bears, Blue Devils, Cardinals, Choctaws, Cowgirls, Eagles, Ephs, Flying Dutchmen/Dutch, Huskies, Jumbos, Lions, Loggers, Lutes, Marlins, Polar Bears, Royals, Thunder, Tigers, Titans, Yellow Jackets and Yellowjackets.

Widener’s Pioneers are the ones I saw this weekend. Constantly kept both Catholic and York out of their game plan offensively, appeared to fluster both teams into taking ill-advised shots. I look forward to their matchup with William Paterson’s Pioneers. Kris Clarkson didn’t shoot well, but both teams gave him plenty of attention on defense. Clarkson still got his points both nights.

I was the last person out of Wolf Gym, as far as I could tell. Somehow that doesn’t seem appropriate. Hopefully there was someone else in the building after I left. For me to be the last one out on the last night of basketball just seems wrong. The new building looks fantastic, however.

The CCIW has two teams in the men’s Sweet 16, the UAA women and NESCAC women have two as well. But I was only at one game last night. You folks were presumably at the others.

We know one sectional host so far. Amherst is hosting the men’s sectional: Utica vs. St. John Fisher, Amherst vs. Tufts.

We’ll post the rest as we get them. Meanwhile, if you know where it is documented that a school is hosting a sectional, post it.

I’m going to start with the women’s side…Pat and others will fill in the men’s

First from the games I was at…Congrats to Baruch for getting the first NCAA Tourney win for the CUNYAC, a league that takes its fair share of knocks, and doing so on the road, showing nice poise after Mount St. Mary rallied from 17 down to take the lead.

Kudos also to Bridgewater for rallying from some early nerves, than battling back in OT to get a nice upset of Bates…and happy 21st birthday to 5-foot-4 point guard Katy Herr, who finished a hair shy of a triple-double.

I know they don’t hear it often, but my fellow broadcaster Paul and I thought both games were well reffed. Officials let the players decide the games at the end, which was fair both ways.

Medaille got rave reviews for its performance. No jitters for a VERY young team, going up against a W&J squad that started 5 seniors. The #25 ranking in this week’s poll appears legit.

It took all of about 5 minutes for Mary Washington to get back on track as the Eagles buried TCNJ early, taking out some frustration from last week’s defeat.

The NESCAC went 2-2…had figured on them getting 3 Opening Round wins, but Muhlenberg and Bridgewater were tough on neutral courts…UAA went 3-1…sets up a nice showdown Saturday for Bowdoin and Brandeis. Bowdoin has won 69 in a row at home. Brandeis has 30 straight non-league wins. Something has to give.

VERY tough way for NYU to go out, losing 5 straight to end the year after a promising beginning.

Based on reactions from a few I spoke to, one of the bigger upsets was Greensboro over Moravian. Greensboro’s 93 points were the high for the night. People in this part of the country (northeast) were also surprised that UW-Stout downed Concordia-Moorhead with ease.

Thumbs up as well to the NWC, which won 2 from the SCIAC. We’ll get an NWC title game rematch on Saturday (Puget-PLU) and an ASC pairing as well (Howard Payne-Hardin-Simmons). Hope-Capital and Messiah-Williams also figure to be games that are among the most worth checking out.

Hmm, a CCIW team out of the tournament already. Tough draw for North Central, playing a strong team on the road in a physical first-round game and the result is not all that surprising. After tonight, one has to think St. Thomas could win Saturday at Lawrence as well, though the Tommies fed off their crowd quite a bit and won’t have more than 350 in the house on Saturday.

For Occidental to score 22 points in the first half without Sam Betty in the game (three fouls early) is not too surprising. To allow 12 points is pretty good by any stretch. That has become a game, however.

Gotta feel for the Plattsburgh player who missed both free throws. The Hamilton student section was primarily under the opposite basket in the second half, but walked to the other end during the time out. That’s why higher seeds get home-court advantage … scratch that, why they used to get home-court advantage. We’ll see our first neutral-site games of this tournament tomorrow.

Second year in a row Ursinus goes one-and-out at home to an Atlantic Region team. It could signify the beginning of the end for the Centennial as a serious March competitor. This is three years out of four that the Bears have lost an NCAA Tournament opener. It’s the Skyline’s first playoff win since 2003.

Elms was held at arm’s length pretty much the whole night. And now the baby is awake so I have to wrap up. Comments appreciated.

The power of the pen, or in this case the keyboard, allows me the luxury of writing about some pretty fun stuff at this time of year. Unfortunately the situation is such that I can’t get to everything or everybody. There are 122 teams in this NCAA Tournament and they’re all story-worthy in some way, shape or form.

That’s where you, our loyal reader, comes in.

I’m throwing out a challenge within this blog. Let’s get to know all 122 NCAA Tournament teams. Here’s how you can help. Tell us, in 50-or-so words, the most interesting thing about the team or teams that you follow. Or to think of it another way: What’s “Division III” about your particular team? I’ll start us off with a few and hopefully that will get the ball rolling. The goal is to educate everyone about every team in the tourney.

Men’s

WPI: The old fogeys in the crowd will like the way senior guard Ryan Flynn plays. Flynn kicks his legs back when he shoots jump shots, ala Dick Barnett, who was a key contributor on those New York Knicks NBA championship teams from a few years ago. Only recruited by two Division III schools, Flynn was the team’s leading scorer in the NEWMAC semis and finals.

Amherst: Reserve forward Adolph Coulibaly is an artist with the basketball, literally. The Brown transfer was one of two students commissioned for an art exhibit that featured portraits of 25 of the most influential individuals in American sports history.

Baldwin Wallace: My arrival in Berea for a game earlier this season was greeted by a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer telling how Tori Davis, the likely All-American forward, hopes someday to work on ESPN’s basketball coverage. He may end up on ESPN’s highlights this season, the way things have played out for the OAC champs, as Davis has developed a knack for last-second heroics.

York (N.Y.) Kwesi Liverpool, who had played previously for three seasons, left the team earlier this season in an effort to find work, but returned midway through when he found he missed the game too much. In 17 games since his return, Liverpool is shooting 62 percent from the field and averaging better than 13 points-per-game.

Women’s

Baruch- Sophomore Chiresse Paradise didn’t intend to go to Baruch, but came on a visit when her friend Naesha Tyler-Moore decided to consider coming from the Chicago area. After some pickup play, several Baruch players went to head coach Machli Joseph and told him to recruit the “other” girl from Chicago. Paradise and Moore both came to the school and Paradise was CUNYAC Player of the Year on a team that won the league title for the first time.

Wesleyan- The Cardinals will make a return trip to Virginia for their first-round NCAA game, which is particularly convenient for the family of the school’s top player. Wesleyan’s season started in Arlington, the native city of its All-American candidate Hannah Stubbs (whose family was an annual listener to D3Hoops.com’s Wesleyan webcasts) and will now continue in Fredricksburg, on Mary Washington’s campus, against Muhlenberg.

That’s half a dozen for you. Help us put a checkmark next to the other 116 on our list.