Friday, February 20
Cleveland St. - 66
Green Bay - 61
Friday night brought an overtime thriller between Cleveland St. and Green Bay. It was a battle for second place in the Horizon League - the winner would stay just a game behind Valparaiso, while the loser would be 2 back with 2 conference games left. The game did not disappoint. It was a back and forth game from the tip. Cleveland St. led by as many as 8 in the first half, but Green Bay fought back and went into the break up by 1. Green Bay led by 6 with 4:30 left, their biggest lead of the game, but were unable to put the game away. Cleveland St. went on an 11-2 run to go ahead 55-52. Green Bay got a basket with a minute left and trailed by just 1. Cleveland St. turned the ball over and then fouled Carrington Love to put him on the line with 30 seconds left and a chance to put his team ahead. He made one of two to tie the game, and Cleveland St. didn't get a shot off at the end of regulation.
Green Bay didn't score in the overtime period until there was just 59 seconds left. At that point, they were down by 3 at 60-57. The teams traded baskets, and then it was time for Green Bay to start fouling. Cleveland St. went 4 for 4 on their free throws down the stretch to put the game away. Trey Lewis and Anton Grady led the scoring for Cleveland St. with 21 and 20 points respectively. Greg Mays added 19 for the Phoenix.
A-10 Out of 10
Saturday, February 21
VCU - 78
UMass - 72
At times during VCU's win on Saturday it looked like the Rams were going to run UMass out of the building. Havoc was running in full force, without Briante Weber no less, and VCU looked like a team that could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Give the Minutemen credit, though. They never quit and fought back to within 5 at halftime. They even took the lead in the second half at 48-47. Jordan Burgess hit a 3 on VCU's next possession, though, and UMass never saw the lead again. It was a big shot for Burgess who finished with just 5 points on the day - the same day his brother's number was retired for VCU. The star on this night for the Rams was Treveon Graham who had 24 points and 10 rebounds. UMass played well, but did not get the signature win they needed to sure up their NCAA Tournament resume. They could not overcome 19 turnovers caused by VCU's famed Havoc defense. The Minutemen do not really have any opportunities left on the schedule for a big win, so they will have to settle for no bad losses from here on out. Their next game is against St. Joes. VCU remains in first place in the A-10 and faces a brutal schedule down the stretch. Away against rival Richmond, at home against Dayton, and on the road against Davidson await the Rams. If they are going to win the A-10 regular season, they're going to earn it.
C-USA: From Sea to Shining...Texas
Saturday, February 21
Old Dominion - 72
Louisiana Tech - 53
In our preview of the weekend games we called this matchup one of the most intriguing. Well, able us dumbfounded. Old Dominion thoroughly dominated first place Louisiana Tech on Saturday. They started the game on an 11-0 run, led by 18 at the half, and won by 19. Louisiana Tech shot just 31.6% and scored a season-low 53 points. Their leading scorer had just 10. The Monarchs were led by Trey Freeman's 27 points and 7 rebounds.
Old Dominion has struggled in Conference USA play and had lost 2 games in a row just 10 days ago. But this game showed that the Monarchs are still the cream of the crop in the conference. This looked much more like the team that beat LSU and VCU and much less like the team that lost to UTSA. If this is the Monarch team we're getting down the stretch, the rest of C-USA - and any potential NCAA Tournament opponent - should beware.
James Bond Returns In...Big Skyfall
Saturday, February 21
Northern Arizona - 73
Eastern Washington - 69
The Big Sky race has all of a sudden gotten a whole lot more interesting. Just 10 days ago Eastern Washington took down Sacramento St. in a game that put them up by 2 games in the Big Sky standings. They had just one conference loss in 11 games. In short, they were rolling. Since then, though, they have lost 2 of 3, including Saturday's loss to Northern Arizona. The Eagles are averaging 80.1 points per game but haven't topped 80 since January 31. In fact, in their 6 games since then they have scored 70 or more just half the time. Their latest loss drops Eastern Washington into just a tie for first with Sacramento St. and Montana. The Big Sky, suddenly, is up for grabs. The win puts Northern Arizona just a game back in the loss column and gives them life in the regular season championship race.
Eastern Washington led in the game 69-68 with 3:15 left, but they would not score again in the game as Northern Arizona took control of the game. The Lumberjacks were led by Aaseem Dixon's 23 points, and Eastern Washington was led by 22 points from Tyler Harvey.
Sweet Tea in the Big South
Saturday, February 21
Radford - 75
UNC Asheville - 68
UNC Asheville has lost 4 of 6 and 3 in a row to fall all the way to 6th place in the Big South. Radford, however, will stay just a game out of first place after the win. A win which took considerable effort. Radford led for the entire game, but UNC Asheville rallied and took their first lead of the game at 55-54. The game went back and forth from that point until Radford retook the lead for good with just over 2 minutes left. They were led by Ya Ya Anderson who had 22 points. Radford has 2 winnable games left and stands a decent chance at sneaking into first place before the regular season is up.
Poison Ivy League
Saturday, February 21
Harvard - 63
Princeton - 55
It was quite an eventful weekend for the Crimson. At the same time that they were trailing Princeton, Yale - tied with Harvard for first in the Ivy League - was trailing Columbia. Dual losses would have been a wash for both teams who still play on March 6. Harvard, however, orchestrated a furious rally to pull closer to the Tigers. Yale could mount no such comeback and would drop their game. Harvard was down by 8 at halftime, 37-29. They finally tied the game with less than 12 minutes to play at 44-44. The game went back and forth until the Crimson surged ahead 57-53 with less than 2 minutes left. Harvard got the comeback win they needed, while Yale did not. The Crimson are now alone in first place and can effectively win the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when they play Yale in early March.
Crack is WAC
Saturday, February 21
New Mexico St. - 72
Grand Canyon - 55
It will be no worse than the NIT for New Mexico St. as they clinched the regular season WAC title with their win over Grand Canyon on Saturday night. Grand Canyon jumped out to an early 16-6 lead, but it would not hold. New Mexico St. took the lead and kept it, never letting the Antelopes to within 8 points for the rest of the game. The Aggies have won 14 of 15 and are the overwhelming favorite to win the WAC Tournament. If they should slip up, they can at least take solace in the fact that they are guaranteed a spot in the NIT.
West Coast in the Best Coast
Saturday, February 21
Gonzaga - 70
St. Mary's - 60
The Gaels had to be thinking they had it. They went into halftime up by 11. They led by 10 with 10 minutes to go. They led by 9 with 6:30 to go. This link shows the win probability throughout the game. http://www.predictionmachine.
MAAC Ataack
Sunday, February 22
Iona - 69
Monmouth - 68
The Gaels got all they could handle from Monmouth on Sunday. They trailed 68-66 with under a minute to play, after trailing by 14 at halftime. A.J. English would not let Iona lose, though. He posted up on Iona's last possession, made his jumper, and drew a foul. He converted the free throw, his 16th point of the game, to put his team ahead. Monmouth couldn't get a bucket on their next possession and time expired. It was the 10th win in a row for Iona who clinched the regular season championship in the MAAC with the win. They will be guaranteed a spot in the NIT, but this is a team who could do damage in the NCAA Tournament if they take care of business and win the MAAC Tournament as well.
I'm Feeling Very Colonial Today. Powdered Wigs for All!
Sunday, February 22
William & Mary - 80
Hofstra - 78
With the game tied and just 3 seconds left, William & Mary's Marcus Thornton was fouled. He would make both of his free throws to give his team an 80-78 advantage. Hofstra had fought hard to tie the game. They were down 77-71 with less than 2 minutes to go. Their rally came up just short, though, and they fell to 9-7 in the conference. William & Mary remains in the four-way tie for first. Their final 2 conference games are against inferior opponents, so the Tribe have as good a hope as any of winning the regular season crown.
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