ODACcess Rapid Recap: Heard That? #2 Va. Wesleyan Bests #11 W&L to Reach ODAC Final

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SALEM, Va. — According to Dave McHugh, host of Hoopsville, Virginia Wesleyan’s chances at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament hinged on making the finals of the ODAC Tournament. The second-seeded Marlins needed at least 21 wins on the year to have a plausible argument for at-large consideration, McHugh reasoned, and they needed to take care of business against Bridgewater and Washington and Lee, both teams quite a ways down the ODAC regular-season standings from VWC, to get to those 21 victories.

Well take care of business they did, as the Marlins followed up a quarterfinal win over the BC Eagles with a semifinal victory over the #11 W&L Generals, 74-60, at Salem Civic Center on Saturday night.

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Of course, Va. Wesleyan would prefer not to have to wait until Monday to find out if they’re making the big tournament, and they can prevent that wait by cutting down the nets after tomorrow’s tussle with eighth-seeded Hampden-Sydney. The Tigers knocked off #5 EMU earlier Saturday to set up the championship matchup.

But tonight’s win, powered by Colby Heard’s double-double off the bench–23 points on 13 shots to go with 11 rebounds– and featuring important contributions from ODAC Player of the Year DJ Woodmore (23 points, 5-of-9 on three-point attempts, 7 rebounds) and Rookie of the Year Khory Moore (10 points–eight in the second half–and three steals), puts the Marlins firmly in the conversation for an at-large should the Tigers prevail tomorrow.

Heard said he loved coming off the bench. “When I come in, I have something of an advantage, because everybody’s kind of tired at that point, so I can just get up and down the floor easier.”

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Generals’ senior big man Drew Kimberly had another solid game, chipping in a team-high 19 points and collecting seven rebounds, but unlike the team’s upset wins over Randolph and third-seeded Guilford, his squad was unable to outmatch the Marlins physically. VWC managed to pull down nine offensive boards and used quick hands, particularly from Moore, to accumulate 11 steals, which turned into 19 points by the end of the night.

“We wanted to dig down on Kimberly,” Woodmore told us. “He’s an all-conference player. We knew that he could be effective if he got open looks so we wanted to dig down on him, force him into some tough shots, force some turnovers, and just be active on defense.”

Kimberly was nostalgic after the game. “I loved [playing for W&L]. No regrets. It’s a long road, a lot of ups and downs. We were able to make it as far as I’ve ever made it this year, so I’m happy that we made it this far.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s final, Wesleyan won both meetings with the Tigers this season. Most recently, on February 12th, VWC overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to protect their home court.

“We always look forward to playing Hampden-Sydney, and I know they look forward to playing us each time,” said Woodmore. “We got fortunate to beat them two times this year…. We know we’re going to have to work hard on Khobi Williamson, he was a beast today, and we’re going to have to cling to their shooters a little bit.”

The second seed featuring the conference Player of the Year versus the giant-slayer which took down top-seeded Randolph-Macon: tomorrow’s final will be worth watching. See you then.

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  • Final: #2 Va. Wesleyan Marlins 74, #11 Washington and Lee Generals 60
  • Player of the Game: Colby Heard (VWC) (23 points on 13 shots, 11 rebounds)

ODACcess Rapid Recap: #8 H-SC Blows Past #5 EMU

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SALEM, Va. — It would be hard to imagine a more complete victory than this. Eighth-seeded Hampden-Sydney dominated on both sides of the ball en route to a 104-80 rout of #5 Eastern Mennonite, securing a berth in the ODAC championship game for the first time since 2007.

We were convinced that this would be a battle between H-SC’s Khobi Williamson and EMU’s David Falk, two of the strongest and most athletically gifted players in the ODAC. And while Williamson certainly did his part, recording a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds (both game-highs), Falk got into foul trouble early and was unfortunately a non-factor for the Royals. A day after setting an ODAC record by grabbing 28 boards against Lynchburg, Falk managed to pull down just four this evening in a season-low 18 minutes of game time.

Williamson added a transition block and three dunks, including a rim-shaking slam after he got his own miss on a free-throw attempt, to his line on the evening. Despite a performance that dwarfed anyone else on the court, Williamson was deferential to the efforts of EMU. “It was a battle,” he took pains to note after the game.

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This one started out competitively enough, with six lead changes and two ties in the opening six minutes. The Royals looked like they would continue the strong play that led to their big quarterfinal win over the LC Hornets.

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But Williamson’s game-tying jumper at the 14:45 mark sparked a 17-7 run for the Tigers, and they never looked back.

The Royals sent Falk to the bench when he committed his second foul on a pump fake under the basket. “We told our guys, if you get around the basket, use your pump fakes, be wise, because [Falk] likes to block shots,” said H-SC head coach Dee Vick. “Fortunately we did that and he picked up a couple.”

“A loss is a loss. I’m not making any excuses,” Falk, who picked up quick fouls the other two times he entered the game, stated. “We expected to win the ODAC Tournament and advance to the NCAAs, and it didn’t happen, so we’ll get back to work and make it happen next year.”

The Tigers will have an opportunity to win that ODAC title, when they face off against the winner of tonight second semifinal between #2 Virginia Wesleyan and surprise semifinalist #11 Washington and Lee. H-SC knocked off top seed Randolph-Macon to advance to the semifinals.

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  • Final: #8 Hamden-Sydney Tigers 104, #5 Eastern Mennonite Royals 80
  • Player of the Game: Khobi Williamson (H-SC) (28 points, 11 rebounds)

ODACcess Rapid Recap: #11 W&L Pulls Another Upset, Downs #3 Guilford

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SALEM, Va. — We’ve told you about possibly the ODAC’s best story, Washington and Lee forward Jim Etling. We’ve told you about W&L’s surprising upset win over Randolph in the opening round of the ODAC Tournament. What’s left to say about the Generals’ even bigger upset, a 77-70 victory over #3 Guilford in Friday’s quarterfinals?

Not much. No General was particularly flashy in the win–Andrew Franz was his usual self, scoring points in bunches and finishing with 17 so quietly that barely anyone noticed, and ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Drew Kimberly paced all scorers with a neat 24 points on 17 shots–and although Guilford made it close several times late, the victor never seemed in much doubt to us, because the Generals were the superior squad.

There were a few moments that might’ve made a passionate W&L fan nervous, however. One such moment occurred at roughly the seven minute mark of the second half. A Trever Hyatt triple had just cut Guilford’s deficit to 5, the W&L fans behind us began to get anxious.

But then Kimberly made two buckets from underneath the basket, and when Kevin Gill picked Jake Hopkins’ pocket and drove the length of the floor himself, pushing the advantage back to double-digits, the Generals looked they could defeat anyone. Kimberly capped off the run with another contested shot in the paint to make put Washington and Lee up 13 once more, 65-52.

The Quakers made a few important baskets and kept things close thereafter, but never managed to get closer than within 4 from that point forward.

But Guilford made WLU earn it at the end. The Quakers switched to a full-court press with about two minutes left, and it was very effective, causing two jump balls and a WLU timeout in quick succession. But Generals Coach Hutchinson must have figured out the optimal strategy to break it: spring Kleinlein down the court on the inbounds. After embracing that strategy, his team started to break the press, hit their free-throws down the stretch, and came away with yet another upset win. Their path gets no easier from here: they will play #2 Va. Wesleyan tomorrow in the second semifinal. For now, though, they can rest on yet another upset victory.

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  • Final: #11 Washington and Lee 77, #3 Guilford 70
  • Player of the Game: Drew Kimberly (W&L) (24 points on 17 shots, 8 rebounds)

ODACcess Rapid Recap: #2 VWC Takes Care of Business

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SALEM, Va. — We just aren’t going to get a close ODAC tournament quarterfinal, are we? Well, at least this one was a little different–the higher-seeded squad won.

DJ Woodmore and Khory Moore combined for 45 points with Woodmore contributing 8 rebounds as the second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan Marlins trounced the seventh-seeded Bridgewater Eagles, 91-70, to advance to the ODAC Tournament semifinals on Friday night.

It was a showcase of the old and the new, as Woodmore, a senior and ODAC Player of the Year, worked with Moore, the conference’s Rookie of the Year, to take down the Eagles. “As soon as [Moore] stepped on campus, I knew he was a special player,” Woodmore said after the game. “I’ve just encouraged him to stay humble and stay hungry.”

For Moore, everything comes down to his coaching. “[Coach Macedo] expects perfection,” said Moore, and it was clear that the quest for perfection was a driving force in Moore’s game. “He was always in my ear, encouraging to play to my potential, be the best player I can be.” Moore noted that Macedo inspired his rookie to expand beyond his role as a shooter, and get involved in all facets of the game.

It was a true wire-to-wire victory for the Marlins, who needed this win to stay in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they fail to cut down the nets after Sunday’s conference tournament final. Sedric Nady opened the evening’s scoring with one of the team’s 14 three-pointers and his team never looked back.

It was also an all-around victory. The Marlins were dominant from inside the arc and, particularly, outside it (14-for-28 on three-point attempts), on the glass (+15 rebounding differential; VWC had almost as many offensive boards (18) as the Eagles had defensive boards (19)), at the line (86%), and in ball distribution (15 assists to BC’s 8). Pretty much the only stat category the Marlins didn’t win was turnovers, as they were narrowly edged, 13-10, in that department.

As with Hampden-Sydney’s win over Randolph-Macon and Eastern Mennonite’s besting of Lynchburg, this was sweet revenge for a regular-season defeat for Va. Wesleyan. Bridgewater quite unexpectedly took down then-D3hoops.com-#15 VWC in January, in a game the Marlins really should have won. The fans who traveled to Salem all the way from Virginia Beach to support their Marlins on this night were a small contingent, but they were passionate and creative. They were rewarded with an emphatic message from their squad: we may have fallen out of the national rankings several weeks ago, but we aren’t about to go away quietly.

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For their efforts, the Marlins move on to the semifinals, where they will face the winner of tonight’s final game between #3 Guilford and #11 Washington and Lee tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m.

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  • Final: #2 Virginia Wesleyan Marlins 91, #7 Bridgewater Eagles 70
  • Co-Players of the Game: Khory Moore (25 points) and DJ Woodmore (20 points, 8 rebounds)

ODACcess Rapid Recap: Falk Sets Rebounding Record As EMU Advances

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SALEM, Va. — The only time Lynchburg and Eastern Mennonite faced off the in regular season, way back on November 23, LC’s Manny Hernandez scored 28 points en route to a 107-87 rout of the Royals. EMU returned the favor in the ODAC Tournament quarterfinals.

David Falk led the way with an ODAC-record 28 rebounds to go with 16 points and two blocks, Ryan Yates paced all scorers with 34 points on 17 shots, and Marcel Crump chipped in 16 points of his own as the fifth-seeded Royals knocked off the fourth-seeded Hornets, 93-81, in the second Friday quarterfinal at Salem Civic Center.

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“I had a chip on my shoulder,” Yates said. “I’m as good a player as anyone in the conference, and I didn’t feel like we were getting the recognition we deserved.”

With the exception of a 2-2 tie, the Royals led wire-to-wire. EMU bought itself some early breathing room from the 12:40 mark on, using a 19-2 run to go out in front 30-11. Lynchburg went off for 10 straight after that point, but the Royals immediately responded. Falk threw down a dunk, beginning a spurt where the fifth seed scored 11 of the half’s final 13 points.

The game was more notable for its rarities than for its competitiveness (which it lacked). Falk produced a beautiful, clean block in the second half after being called for goaltending on a similar play in the first; Crump took advantage of LC confusion in transition to rise and slam a thunderous alley-oop; we saw our first blocked three-point attempt of the year, as EMU’s Woody Furbrush turned away a Daniel Rowe try; and in one of the more odd stats of the day, three free-throw attempts were airballed, with one failing to even touch the net.

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One of those failures from the line belonged to Falk, but it didn’t matter. He was a machine on the defensive glass, not letting Lynchburg get second-chance opportunities. On a night where the Hornets shot just 36% from the floor, that alone made the difference. Thanks to his efforts, Eastern Mennonite advances to tomorrow’s semifinal against #8 Hampden-Sydney.

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  • Final: #5 Eastern Mennonite Royals 93, #4 Lynchburg Hornets 81
  • Player of the Game: David Falk (EMU) (ODAC-record 28 rebounds, 16 points, 2 blocks)