ODACcess: Another Side, Another Story (Bridgewater @ Emory and Henry)

Posted on February 15, 2014 by odaccess

EMORY, Va. — Sometimes, it’s just not your season. No matter how you try, things don’t seem to go your way. This is one of those seasons for the Emory and Henry Wasps.
Expectations were not very high for the Wasps, and they were picked eleventh of twelve in the ODAC preseason poll. They had lost six-year head coach Paul Russo, who had resigned at the end of the 2011-12 season, and replaced him with Hampden-Sydney alumnus and former Furman assistant coach David Willson. They retained 2011-12 All-ODAC third team guard Malcolm Green, and it seemed they would rely on his offensive prowess to compete in the conference.

Unfortunately, things don’t always work out the way you hope for first year coaches. After a strong performance to open the season, with two neutral-court wins in the Berry College Classic in Georgia, Emory and Henry suffered 18 straight losses leading up to their matchup with Bridgewater. On Senior Day
In a touching pregame ceremony, the seven graduating seniors on the Wasps basketball team (along with the senior cheerleaders) received plaques of recognition and presented their own gift to Coach Willson. The group came together for a tender moment between the first-year head coach and the players whom his predecessor had recruited. In that moment, it was easy to fall prey to narrative tropes, to believe that the emotional power of the day would carry the Wasps to victory.

E&H got a quick start, jumping out to a four point lead by the 12-minute mark. The early success put a spark in the crowd, especially a cadre of students across from the Wasps’ bench. These fans deserve special mention for the sheer creativity of their cheering and (mostly) heckling. They particularly focused on BC’s Ronnie Thomas, whose hair drew comparisons to former Baylor star Britney Griner. Every call the officials made was met with vocal objections, even ones which to our eyes were uncontestable. We had no choice but admire their commitment to their team in a lost season.

After the early impressive start, the Bridgewater shooters began to heat up. We’d already seen what BC was capable of, after their home victory over then-ranked Virginia Wesleyan. While the opposition here was not quite at the Marlin’s level, you wouldn’t know it from the way the Eagles’ players played, or the intensity of Coach Don Burgess and his assistants. At one point during the second half, Coach Burgess adamantly argued that a foul which had been called on Thomas rightly should have been called on Romie Powell, half-jokingly asking your correspondents if we had photo evidence. (We didn’t)

Emory and Henry's Malcolm Green blocks a shot by Bridgewater's Zach Hunter

Shortly after the ten-minute mark of the first half, Bridgewater took the lead on a fastbreak layup by Zach Walton, and never truly looked back. The Wasps’ inability to pull down an offensive board became hugely important when their shots stopped falling, and BC took advantage. The Eagles crafted an 18-8 run, powered by Tavis Stapleton on both defense and offense, to take a 10 point lead near the end of the half. While E&H cut into it over the last 3 minutes, they still trailed 34-28 by the break.

Stapleton and fellow Eagles star Ed Reddick continued Bridgewater’s sequence of dominance, scoring 10 of the Eagles first 23 points, and facilitating the scoring of the rest. In the process, BC opened up a 17 point lead over the first eleven minutes. E&H turnovers continued to be a problem, and the Wasps showed no aptitude for creating second-chance opportunities, or converting the few they created. Bridgewater never extended their lead beyond 17, but for a team that’s struggling like the Wasps, that might as well be 50. There might be some suffering in the future for the Wasps faithful in Southwest Virginia, with top scorers Malcolm Green and Charles Smith graduating. Coaching turnover is a difficult process, and Coach Willson has his work cut out for him.

—
• Final: Bridgewater Eagles (10-10, 5-7 ODAC) 76, Emory and Henry Wasps (2-19, 0-12 ODAC) 63
• Player of the Game: Tavis Stapleton (Bridgewater, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals)
• Relive the game from our seats: check out our photos on Flickr
• Mileage Tracker: 2420 miles
• Next Stop: Lynchburg at Shenandoah, February 15

NCAA regional rankings: Week 1

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Pat Coleman

The men’s and women’s regional rankings have been released.

Need to know more about the regional rankings process and what they mean? Need to know more about the NCAA Tournament? Check out our NCAA Tournament FAQ.

Through games of Sunday, Feb. 9.

The first record is Division III record, followed by overall.

NCAA Division III men’s basketball championships handbook

Men’s rankings
Atlantic Region – NCAA data sheet
1 SUNY-Purchase 19-1 19-1
2 Richard Stockton 17-4 17-4
3 Rutgers-Newark 16-6 16-6
4 William Paterson 17-5 17-5
5 Staten Island 20-2 20-2
6 Mount St. Mary 16-5 16-5
East – NCAA data sheet
1 Brockport State 16-2 17-2
2 Geneseo State 15-3 16-3
3 Plattsburgh State 16-4 16-4
4 NYU 15-5 15-5
5 Hobart 17-5 17-5
6 Stevens 14-7 15-7
Great Lakes – NCAA data sheet
1 Wooster 17-2 18-3
2 Ohio Wesleyan 17-4 17-4
3 Mount Union 17-3 17-3
4 Marietta 16-4 17-4
5 Wittenberg 17-4 17-4
6 Hope 14-5 15-6
7 Bethany 17-4 18-4
Mid-Atlantic – NCAA data sheet
1 Cabrini 18-0 18-0
2 Scranton 18-3 18-3
3 Wesley 16-2 18-2
4 Messiah 17-3 17-3
5 Mary Washington 17-3 18-3
6 Dickinson 17-4 17-4
7 Alvernia 15-6 15-6
8 Hood 15-5 15-5
9 McDaniel 16-4 16-5
Midwest – NCAA data sheet
1 Washington U. 18-2 18-2
2 Illinois Wesleyan 18-3 18-3
3 Wheaton (Ill.) 16-6 16-6
4 Augustana 16-6 16-6
5 St. Norbert 17-1 18-1
6 Carthage 13-7 14-8
7 Rose-Hulman 17-4 17-4
8 Milwaukee School of Engineering 18-4 18-4
Northeast – NCAA data sheet
1 Amherst 20-2 20-3
2 Williams 18-3 19-3
3 Bowdoin 18-3 18-3
4 Babson 16-5 16-5
5 Eastern Connecticut 16-5 16-5
6 WPI 18-3 18-3
7 Springfield 15-5 16-5
8 Albertus Magnus 19-1 19-2
9 Rhode Island 14-7 14-7
10 Nichols 16-5 16-5
11 Middlebury 14-7 15-7
South – NCAA data sheet
1 Randolph-Macon 17-4 17-4
2 Texas-Dallas 19-2 19-2
3 Virgina Wesleyan 15-5 16-5
4 Centre 14-2 17-3
5 Guilford 16-5 16-5
6 Emory 13-7 13-7
7 Oglethorpe 15-4 17-4
8 Concordia (Texas) 15-5 16-5
West – NCAA data sheet
1 UW-Stevens Point 20-1 20-1
2 UW-Whitewater 19-3 19-3
3 St. Thomas 18-3 18-3
4 Dubuque 17-1 20-1
5 St. Olaf 17-4 17-4
6 Whitworth 17-4 17-4
7 Pomona-Pitzer 16-4 16-6
8 Colorado College 12-5 14-6
9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 13-3 15-5

Women’s

The first record is in-region record, followed by overall record.

NCAA Division III women’s basketball championships handbook
Atlantic
1 York (Pa.) 19-1 20-1
2 Montclair State 20-2 20-2
3 Christopher Newport 17-2 19-2
4 Staten Island 18-3 18-4
5 Catholic 16-4 16-4
6 TCNJ 15-6 15-6

Central
1 Washington U. 18-2 18-2
2 Carthage 18-2 19-2
3 UW-Whitewater 19-3 19-3
4 UW-Oshkosh 18-2 19-2
5 Wisconsin Lutheran 18-3 18-3
6 UW-Stevens Point 15-6 15-6
7 Illinois Wesleyan 15-6 16-6
8 Cornell 16-3 16-3

East
1 NYU 18-2 18-2
2 Ithaca 16-4 18-4
3 Vassar 16-4 16-4
4 Buffalo State 17-4 17-4
5 Plattsburgh State 16-4 16-4
6 Hartwick 17-4 18-4

Great Lakes
1 DePauw 22-0 22-0
2 Hope 21-0 21-0
3 Thomas More 21-0 21-0
4 John Carroll 16-2 17-2
5 Ohio Northern 17-4 17-4
6 Baldwin Wallace 16-5 16-5
7 Transylvania 18-2 19-2
8 Olivet 16-2 18-3
* The MIAA rep did not vote this week.

Mid-Atlantic
1 FDU-Florham 20-0 21-0
2 Scranton 17-3 17-3
3 Haverford 16-3 17-3
4 Moravian 17-4 17-4
5 DeSales 17-4 17-4
6 Lebanon Valley 16-4 16-4
7 Cabrini 16-4 16-4
8 Elizabethtown 15-4 15-4

Northeast
1 Tufts 21-0 21-0
2 Amherst 21-2 21-2
3 Williams 19-3 19-3
4 Bowdoin 19-3 19-3
5 New England 19-2 19-2
6 Wheaton (Mass.) 18-4 18-4
7 Roger Williams 17-4 17-4
8 Rhode Island 15-6 15-6
9 Castleton 19-2 19-2
10 Eastern Connecticut State 15-6 15-6
11 Emmanuel 15-6 15-6
12 Wellesley 14-6 14-6

South
1 Ferrum 17-1 18-1
2 Emory 15-5 15-5
3 Texas-Tyler 18-3 18-3
4 Maryville 17-3 18-3
5 Randolph-Macon 16-4 16-5
6 Rhodes 17-3 17-3
7 Centre 14-6 14-7
8 Texas-Dallas 17-4 17-4
9 Eastern Mennonite 16-4 17-4

West
1 Whitman 16-0 21-0
2 George Fox 16-1 18-1
3 St. Thomas 18-3 18-3
4 Saint Mary’s (Minn.) 19-2 19-2
5 Concordia-Moorhead 16-4 17-4
6 Whitworth 13-3 16-5
7 Chapman 16-3 16-5
8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14-3 18-3

Regional score reporting forms (including SOS) below:
Atlantic | Central | East | Great Lakes | Mid-Atlantic | Northeast | South | West

Dave’s Top 25 ballot: Week 10

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Dave McHugh

To be honest, this week’s Top 25 ballot was a pain in the a$$. It wasn’t exactly carnage throughout, but the losses that did pile up caused me to have teams rise into spots in the poll I was just not comfortable with. I certainly could have left teams where they were and had others jump over them, but there wasn’t many arguments for teams behind to jump ahead. It caused for a long 24 hours of constantly plugging away, diving into data, and trying to listen to either my head or my gut… or ignore both.

So I want to publicly thank the following for making the Week 10 Top 25 a pain in the a$$: WPI and Wesley primarily. Couldn’t you guys take care of business? WPI, dropping one game to giant-killer Emerson or to a solid unit in Babson, but both?! Wesley, your performance against York (Pa.) was anything but inspired. It didn’t occur to you that you have to play every game?

Ok, tongue-in-cheek moment over with… those two teams alone caused plenty of chaos with my ballot, but it wasn’t the only challenge I faced. Heck, 24 voters had to reconsider who we thought was the top team in the country and I am sure everyone had a different point of view in how they made that determination. I actually thought about it for five days (thanks in part to UWSP losing on a Wednesday and both teams not playing the rest of the week).

What ended up happening this week was interesting. I made some difficult decisions, I followed by head in some spots and gut in others, and I also punted a few teams and introduced some teams I had been watching for months but didn’t feel deserved to be on my ballot. All in all it sets up for another crazy week and I am not sure I won’t be cursing out a few more teams next week.

As we get started, here is a reminder of last week’s ballot… and on we go:

1 – UW-Stevens Point (Unchanged)
I thought long and hard about this and it came down to two things: did I really think the Pointers would get through WIAC play unscathed and did I really think they could go into Whitewater and not lose. First item: no. I was actually pretty surprised that UWSP had gotten this far into the season without losing a game in conference. They have been playing better and better and had been taking care of business like it was their jobs. That gets me to the second item: no. I knew UWW would be ready for UWSP and considering the game was in Whitewater I knew weeks ago there was a very real chance the Pointers would lose. The game goes to overtime and the spread is five points. UWSP ends up being the second-t0-last undefeated team in Division III (see below) and they lost a game I pretty much expected they may lose, so I couldn’t really drop them from the top spot.

2 – Cabrini (Unchanged)
As for why I didn’t change number-one votes, that argument is probably better here with Cabrini. When I thought about the UW-Whitewater game I took into consideration whether I thought Cabrini would have won that same game. The answer was actually pretty simple: no. Considering the game was in Whitewater and Cabrini would have played the game either without or with a much hobbled Aaron Walton-Moss, I cannot say with any confidence Cabrini would have won that game, either. So if I can’t say they would have won that game, I can’t then move them ahead of UW-Stevens Point. The other challenge is the fact Cabrini ended up playing no games last week thanks to three postponements including one everyone was looking forward to seeing. The game against Wesley on Monday would have helped voters gauge how good Cabrini really was at this point in the season especially with an injured Walton-Moss. However, weather got in the way of that game a second time (and pretty much won’t be made up) and then got in the way twice of Cabrini’s game with Immaculata (power problems on Cabrini’s campus). Now the challenge for the Cavaliers is the fact they have to play four games in six days this week three of which will be on the road with back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday. Despite the competition not being that challenging, I will be impressed if Cabrini gets through this week unscathed… though Mother Nature may have another postponement looming for the Cavs: a major nor’easter is being forecast for their game against … wait for it … Immaculata. (Shaking my head.)

3 – Illinois Wesleyan (Up 1)

4 – Wash U (Up 1)
This is one of those teams I am not very comfortable with this high, but not sure I could default by moving other teams ahead of them – though I nearly did with UW-Whitewater. I was reluctant with the Bears earlier this season and kept them low and I may have ignored that feeling and went with the data a bit too much… we shall see.

5 – Wooster (Up 1)

6 – UW-Whitewater (Up 2)
After beating UW-Stevens Point, I nearly jumped the Warhawks up to fifth or fourth and even considered a move to third. However, the fact they had to have overtime to beat the Pointers at home gave me pause. That fact isn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t the defining argument I needed to make such a bold move. Had the game been at Stevens Point, I would have felt differently. Maybe the Warhawks should be higher, but I had my reasons for them being behind IWU, Wash U., and Wooster before the week began and the win over UW-Stevens Point didn’t change that opinion for me.

7 – Amherst (Up 2)

8 – St. Norbert (Up 2)
Here is another team I am not comfortable with in the Top 10. You know I think the Green Knights are a sleeper (despite their ranking) and depending on how the NCAA tournament gets bracketed could have a break-through post-season, but that doesn’t mean I think they are the eighth best team in the country. However, I need to put some team in this slot and I didn’t have an argument for anyone behind them to jump them. St. Norbert is steamrolling their way through the conference and right now that is the biggest determining factor for me. That have sometimes struggled in their conference, but they are taking care of business this year and doing so impressively. One person pointed out their loss to UW-Whitewater probably makes them at best the third-best team in the WIAC. I agree… and thus they are third on the list compared to those teams.

9 – St. Thomas (Up 2)

10 – Williams (Up 2)

11 – Wesley (Down 4)
I won’t repeat my tongue-and-cheek comment above, but wow did the Wolverines play completely uninspired basketball against now four-win York (Pa.) on Thursday night. I realize the game was delayed, but 48 points on 1-15 shooting late in the game is bad… just bad. I watched most of the last half and it just was bad. Wesley probably would have moved further down my ballot except for two major factors: they recovered to beat Christopher Newport on Saturday and the number of losses and adjustments below this point in the poll caused a bit of a pillow to break their fall. That being said, Wesley has got to learn to play better on the road because their NCAA tournament hopes will ride on it: they aren’t getting a home game at any point in the tournament.

12 – WPI (Down 9)
Emerson has now proven they can beat Top 5 teams. First it was then-number one Amherst and now then-number three WPI. But that should have been the wake-up call. Instead, the Engineers then lost to Babson two days later. Yes, Babson is a very good team this year and it was on the road, but the home loss to Emerson should have at least had WPI ready for Babson, instead they take their second loss in a row. As with Wesley, WPI would have fallen even further down my ballot except they also benefited from the pillow-effect.

13 – Mary Washington (Down 1)
The Eagles almost put St. Mary’s on life-support with their win earlier in the week, but followed it up with a loss to Salisbury at home by ten. Talk about another team apparently not ready for their opponent. Mary Washington has one of, if not the best team in program history, but the target on their back is very large. Salisbury is a good team despite their record, so I wasn’t shocked by the loss. However, the Eagles have to realize at this point in the season every game matters.

14 – Randolph-Macon (Up 3)

15 – Brockport State (Down 1)

16 – Texas-Dallas (Up 4)

17 – Ohio Wesleyan (Down 2)

18 – Whitworth (Up 3)

19 – Centre (Up 2)

20 – Purchase State (Unranked)
Here is the first of several teams I have been holding out of my Top 25 and make an appearance this week. The Panthers continue to play well and beat anyone in front of them. In fact, they only have one loss at it was on the road against Albertus Magnus. Their perceived SOS numbers are not that bad and they will probably be ranked number-one in the first regional rankings. I like what Coach Charney has put together at Purchase and there is no reason, anymore, they shouldn’t be in my Top 25.

21 – Messiah (Down 5)
Since going undefeated into mid-January, the Falcons have stumbled in places they shouldn’t be stumbling and struggling on the road. Messiah is a dangerous team, but the loss to Lycoming is inexcusable – not because Lyco isn’t a challenging team, but because if you are as good as I know Messiah to be… that is a game you put away. Big rematch with a struggling Stevenson squad looking to jump-start their season looms on Wednesday… that is going to be a major factor for my ballot next week.

22 – Albertus Magnus (Unranked)
Here is the second team I have been holding out on. I will be blunt: the loss to St. Joseph’s (Maine) is a nasty blemish on their record, but a lot of teams in my Top 25 have some questionable blemishes as well. The Falcons are once again heading down the road of maybe hosting the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and they have to take advantage of that opportunity. I think they have the capabilities to make the second weekend, but results like those against St. Joe’s and close games like that against Anna Maria this week make me nervous this team is just smoke and mirrors – thus why it has taken me this long to put them on my ballot.

23 – Bowdoin (Down 5)
Probably a bit of a harsh demotion for the Polar Bears for their loss to Middlebury, but I had trouble slotting them in any higher. I am certainly not faulting the team for how they lost to Middlebury, but I am faulting them for not beating the Panthers. Middlebury is not the fearsome team of the last few years and if Bowdoin is really that good a squad, that game should not have come down to a last-second three-pointer to tie it and then an unfortunate timeout call.

24 – Dubuque (Unranked)
For the second time this year, I am putting the Spartans into my Top 25 ballot. The simple fact is, no matter who they have played or the strength (or lack of) of their conference, Dubuque is 20-1. You have to be doing something right to get to this point in the season and only have one loss.

25 – Staten Island (Unranked)
Here is the final team I have been holding out on. Just like Purchase State and Albertus Magnus, I am not sure just how good Staten Island is. They are playing well with their last loss coming in the third game of the season – that’s 19 straight wins. The Dolphins could be a sleeper and will probably get a chance to host games in the NCAA tournament, but they may have to be ready to play on the road to prove anything.

Dropped out:

Virginia Wesleyan (Previously 19)
The yo-yo the Marlins had been doing for a few weeks finally broke. The loss at home against Eastern Mennonite was finally the last straw for me. I kept buying in to a team that in year’s past I was reluctant about. Now they are a few games out of first place in their conference and I can’t keep a five-loss team in the Top 25 when I don’t even have teams ahead of them in the conference on my ballot (except for Randolph-Macon). The Marlins could still be a dangerous squad come March, but they have to start putting some things together and get used to playing on the road.

Eastern Connecticut (Previously 23)
I may have bought into the Warriors a bit too much. Their loss early in the week against Wesleyan disappointed me. If they were as good as I thought the information and what I saw indicated, that isn’t even a game.

Oglethorpe (Previously 24)
As you know, I don’t treat a ranked team who losses to team ranked above them too harshly. However, the Stormy Petrels just didn’t have a lot of room to play with sitting 24th when they lost to Centre (season sweep). They got knocked a few spots like others would have, it just so happened that meant coming off my ballot.

Augustana (Previously 25)
As I have said, the Vikings probably shouldn’t have been in my Top 25 last week especially when I didn’t expect them to get through this past week unscathed. The loss to Illinois Wesleyan was an excuse I didn’t need to have, but to lose in such a non-competitive manner didn’t help the cause even if they did beat Carthage the next game.

Other ballots:
Week 9
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 3
Week 1

ODACcess: Jack Buck Wouldn’t Believe It (Roanoke @ Eastern Mennonite)

Posted on February 3, 2014 by odaccess

HARRISONBURG, Va. — During our discussions of the Project over the course of our everyday lives, we realized that, while we had seen excellent basketball, none of the games we had covered had been truly close. Plenty had been competitive, with one team within striking distance of the other for much the game, but that is not what we mean by close. A truly close game is exhilarating, hair-raising, and the buzz in the building is almost indescribable. This was one of those games.

Of all the schools in the ODAC, Eastern Mennonite was the only school we had yet to see in our travels, which meant we didn’t exactly know what to expect from the Royals. They’d beaten the teams they were supposed to, and lost to the teams they weren’t, and found themselves slotted into the middle of the pack with a 5-4 conference record.

We had, however, visited Roanoke for “Maroon Madness”, when they gave front-running Randolph-Macon a run for their money in front of a boisterous crowd. They had backed up that strong performance with a home victory over Washington and Lee, and were coming into Yoder Arena on something of a roll.

After a stop at Jess’ Quick Lunch in downtown Harrisonburg, we made our way (slightly delayed) to Yoder Arena. The game was already heated when we found seats in the visitors’ fan section behind the RC bench. Both teams were playing extremely quick basketball, and playing it efficiently: based on our hasty halftime calculation, they each possessed the ball approximately 45 times. The Royals, in particular, lived up to their “Runnin’” nickname, moving up the floor quickly, and making athletic moves to the basket, highlighted by David Falk and James Williams. Roanoke, on the other hand, employed their standard offense, taking advantage of center Daniel Eacho’s size to create high-percentage shots in the post. The two styles, and the speed of the game, made for an excellent and competitive first half, and the fans (both home and visitor) were appreciative as the teams went to break with RC holding a 44-43 lead.

The pace slowed slightly in the second half, but the level of play never slackened. For the course of the half, neither team opened more than a 6 point edge, and they traded shot for shot, layup for layup, and free throw for free throw. EMU jumped out in front early, but soon cooled off, allowing Julian Ramirez to score 6 points as part of a 15-6 Maroons run to take a 59-53 lead. It seemed that RC was set to take control, but EMU had other ideas. David Falk unleashed a tremendous dunk as part of the Royals’ response, followed up by a triple from Ryan Yates. At the 11:54 mark, they retook the lead from the Maroons by a score of 63-62.

The pace began to pick back up, and the teams continued to show off their ability to create acrobatic shots, and draw the fouls. Notably, Daniel Eacho and Julian Ramirez picked up four and three fouls respectively in the half, but countered that with 23 points between them.

No matter where the players shot from, they seemed able to find the net. They continued this high-paced, back-and-forth play, with the lead either way only once three points, and with 1:48 left, after Ryan Yates missed a three-pointer for the Royals, the Maroons had a 83-82 lead, and a chance to extend their lead.

That’s when the madness began. EMU’s played stout defense, knowing that they needed a stop, or it might be over. The shot clock hit six and Andrew Daniels realized he was short on time, and threw up a NBA-range three that banked in. 86-82 Maroons, with 1:06 on the clock, and EMU called time out to regroup. Out of the break, EMU moved with purpose the floor, and scored on a quick Marcel Crump layup. EMU’s defense set out to force a turnover, but the Maroons got it across the floor. But wait…a travel is called on ‘Noke’s Cameron Smith with 30 ticks left, keeping the Royals’ hopes alive!
Off the turnover, Crump had an attempt at a game-tying jumper, but Smith redeemed himself with a block and rebound. He was quickly fouled, and went to the line for a one-and-one to try and seal it for the Maroons with 15 seconds on the clock. The Maroons opted to play back instead of defending the front end, but nonetheless Marcel Crump was able to take the bounce off the front of the rim, run the floor and find RJ Sims for the open, go-ahead three. 87-86 Royals, nine seconds left. Time for RC to call its last timeout and draw up its last play.
Except the Maroons didn’t call timeout. Instead, they ran the floor and found John Fitchett, who had had an otherwise unremarkable day, in the paint, and he drained a half-floater, half-layup with 2.4 seconds, making the Maroons fans that surrounded us lose their minds.

John Fitchett (Roanoke, #25) hits a go-ahead jumper with 2.4 seconds left

The Quakers quickly inbounded, but then the clock stopped before the final shot, causing confusion around the gym. Did the clock operator forget to turn the clock on? Was the game over? Nearby Maroon fans certainly thought it was, but it turned out that the EMU bench managed to call a timeout before the inbounds, allowing Coach Kirby Dean to draw up a play.
It was only fitting for this game to end the way it did: by taking a turn for the surreal. Attempting to inbound the ball, EMU’s inbounder tried to pass to a teammate behind the baseline, to allow him to get a better read of the court before inbounding. Instead, the teammate caught the ball in midair milliseconds before landing out of bounds, resulting in an inbounds violation and a turnover and allowing the Maroons to run out the brief time left on the clock on their third conference win of the year.
When we spoke with Dave McHugh on his marathon session of Hoopsville, we mentioned that the level of play in the ODAC was incredibly high. This was the kind of game that exemplifies that, the kind of game that sticks with you, and the kind of game that makes you excited for the next one.

—
• Final: Roanoke Maroons (9-9, 3-7 ODAC) 88, Eastern Mennonite Royals (10-9, 5-5 ODAC) 87
• Player of the Game: Daniel Eacho (Roanoke, 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks)
• Honorable Mention: David Falk (EMU, 22 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal)
• Relive the game from our seats: check out our photos on Flickr and our @ODACcess livestream on Storify
• Mileage Tracker: 1864 miles
• Next Stop: Randolph-Macon at Emory and Henry, February 8

Dave’s Top 25 ballot: Week 9

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Dave McHugh

The carnage continues… or at least those who I don’t expect to be losing games are still losing. It was another week of head-scratching games and plenty of questions who should be in the Top 25. It also raised questions about teams I was pretty confident in or had moved up recently due to other data. It has been a wacky year to be sure with plenty of good teams to consider. Usually by this point in time you have a pretty good handle on who should be in the Top 25 and have a few that are just on the outside. However, this year I think the bottom half is a pick ’em and there are a number of teams I am considering that aren’t on my ballot.

If you will remember, last week I blew up my ballot and practically started over. I am certainly not doing that this week, but three teams dropped out of my poll with two more giving me plenty of reasons to drop them as well. That meant three new teams with one making a significant jump when I looked at their data and what they had been doing recently. I would say I am looking forward to things settling down, but the way things are shaping up, the next three weeks are going to be anything but settled.

Here is my ballot for this week’s Top 25:

1 – UW-Stevens Point (Unchanged)

2 – Cabrini (Unchanged)
They got a good win against Gwynedd-Mercy and then rallied against an improved Rosemount squad while playing without one of the best players this season: Aaron Walton-Moss. Unfortunately, their game against Wesley for Monday was postponed due to weather for the second time this season and it is not looking good that it can be rescheduled. That will mean both teams and plenty of Division III fans will be missing out on one of the best games of the regular season.

3 – WPI (Up 1)

4 – Illinois Wesleyan (Up 1)

5 – Wash U. (Up 2)

6 – Wooster (Down 1)
The Scots are struggling it seems right now, though their only loss this past week was to a surging Ohio Wesleyan squad. I still think Wooster is one of the best teams in the country, but they have to get things tidied up in the coming weeks so they can position themselves well for the NCAA tournament.

7 – Wesley (Up 1)
The Wolverines are taking on all comers and winning the games they need to. Unfortunately, their game against Cabrini was once again postponed. I think they will do their best to find a date that works since it is an important game for SOS, vRRO, and other factors for both teams. However, even if they don’t get the game rescheduled, Wesley has a tough challenge ahead. They have Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, and St. Mary’s still to play in their final six conference games (only Mary Washington is on the road), so they have to take care of business in one of the toughest finishes in the country.

8 – UW-Whitewater (Up 1)
The Warhawks are quietly playing very, very good basketball. Wednesday’s rematch with UW-Stevens Point looms large, especially since coach Pat Miller will be off the bench due to surgery and former Pointer great Nick Bennett will coach UWW against his former team. I will have the chips and beer ready for Wednesday night!

9 – Amherst (Down 6)
Could the Lord Jeffs been looking ahead to their game against Bowdoin when they lost to Colby on Friday night? Who knows, but it was not a good result for a team who many claim is on track to another national title. As one Amherst alum put it to me, it was their worst loss in four years. Hats off to the Mules for pulling off the upset, but Amherst showed a lot of problems in that game and then scratched out a win against Bowdoin. I wonder if the Colby game (along with Emerson earlier this season) reveals more issues at Amherst then even their fans want to admit.

10 – St. Norbert (Unchanged)

11 – St. Thomas (Unchanged)

12 – Mary Washington (Unchanged)

13 – Williams (Up 1)

14 – Brockport State (Up 1)

15 – Ohio Wesleyan (Up 5)
I think the Battling Bishops are making a statement at the perfect time of the year. When I talked to coach Mike DeWitt at the beginning of the season, he indicated he didn’t think his team was the third best in the conference (as voted on by the coaches in the preseason poll) at the time. Now they look like they may be the best team in the conference. Big win over Wooster, but they have to stay focused with a struggling, but dangerous, Wittenberg squad next and DePauw in the last game of the season.

16 – Messiah (Unchanged)

17 – Randolph-Macon (Unranked)
Here come the Yellow Jackets once again, only this time they are on top of the ODAC. Remember how RMC made the NCAA tournament thanks in part to the best SOS numbers in the country and a ton (almost all) of their games featured those who had been regionally ranked (maybe one of the reasons the “once ranked, always ranked” rule was changed). Coach Nathan Davis once again has his team rolling and with wins over Virginia-Wesleyan, Hampden-Sydney, and Guilford in the last four games (did you see the Guilford score? 103-58!!!). The last time the Yellow-Jackets lost was on December 18 in a close game at Cabrini. I am not sure why I have been sleeping on this squad for so long.

18 – Bowdoin (Unchanged)
Unlike some voters, I don’t knock teams if they lose to teams I have ranked ahead of them. Isn’t that what my ranking indicates would happen? If #18 losses to then #3, then I shouldn’t demote #18 for the loss. Bowdoin dropped their game to Amherst, but by just three points. The Polar Bears are positioning themselves to host at least the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament and that could make them dangerous.

19 – Virginia Wesleyan (Up 4)
I am going to start calling the Marlins the Yo-Yos. They keep going up and down my ballot as a rough week is followed by a good week. A convincing win over Lynchburg was a very nice outcome and keeps them near the top with Hampden-Sydney and Guilford still to play in the regular season.

20 – Texas-Dallas (Down 3)
Welcome to my Top 25… and now lose. Not what I had hoped from the Comets thanks to a loss to Hardin-Simmons, but it is only their second loss of the season, so I am not willing to drop them completely from my ballot. They are controlling the ASC by three games and just need to play consistently good basketball the rest of the way.

21 – Whitworth (Up 4)

22 – Centre (Unranked)
I have been watching the Colonels for a few weeks as they have been playing better and better basketball, probably living up to some of the preseason expectations. Nine straight wins and an SOS that looks pretty solid has me jumping on the bandwagon. Of course as luck would have it, they have a game against Oglethorpe coming up on Friday. I know they beat the Stormy Petrels nearly two weeks ago, but that result will probably have no bearing on this game.

23 – Eastern Connecticut (Unranked)
Here is another team I have been watching for a few weeks. The Warriors have won eight of their nine games in 2014 (only loss to Amherst) and have a surprisingly good SOS number. They are in control of their own destiny in the Little East and probably on track to make a reappearance in the NCAA tournament.

24 – Oglethorpe (Down 5)
This drop is probably a bit steeper than I normally would have for a single loss in a week, but their loss to Birmingham-Southern put them in a tie for second place with BSC, two games behind Centre. Also, I was going to move them down and because they lost at home earlier this season to Centre, I had to move them somewhere behind the Colonels.

25 – Augustana (Down 12)
I seriously considered dropping the Vikings completely from my Top 25. They have lost three straight, albeit one of them to Wheaton (Ill.). However, the other two are to teams behind them in the CCIW and now Augustana finds itself two games back of the conference leaders two of those top dogs (Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage) to play in the next two games. If the Vikings don’t turn the ship around quickly, they could be out of the CCIW playoff race and thus out of consideration for the NCAA tournament.

Dropped out:

St. Mary’s (Md.) (Previously 21)
The newly revamped CAC has caused major problems for the Seahawks. Normally a loss to Salisbury late in the season wouldn’t be a big deal, but now SMC has five losses on the season with three of those losses coming to conference opponents. The Seahawks have Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, and Wesley in their final six games and cannot afford another loss if they still want to make the NCAA tournament. If SMC doesn’t win the automatic qualifier for the conference, that means they have taken at least one more loss in the conference tournament assuming they haven’t dropped at least one game against the previously mentioned three teams. The Seahawks are on very thin ice which could have a perennial favorite to make deep runs in the NCAA tournament watching 62 others teams play basketball.

DePauw (Previously 22)
The Tigers were surging until they apparently forgot they were playing Denison and Oberlin this past week. They barely got past Denison and then dropped their game against Oberlin. DePauw has proven they can beat Wittenberg and Wooster, but they have to play everyone well or they aren’t a Top 25 team.

Dickinson (Previously 24)
The Red Devils have found the worst time of the year to pick up conference losses. Their second in as many weeks was to Muhlenberg leaving them just a game ahead of McDaniel and Franklin & Marshall when they had been in control of the Centennial Conference. The conference is more competitive at the top than expected, but that may have more to do with Dickinson coming back to the group leaving the chance of an extra bid from this conference looking doubtful.

Other ballots:
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 3
Week 1

* – SOS numbers are from information sent to me by our friend KnightSlappy (alias on the D3boards).