PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, good for Sancomb for getting his players to believe it because it certainly worked to get his players fired up. I'm sure they are being told that Lombardi said that they will win by 40 and has scouts at the WC / Stroudsburg game.

The players didn't say Sancomb told them anything. They said THEY personally heard it from KJ. That's a big difference.

Maybe they are lying but idd Sancomb (as the coach) didn't interrupt them at all. Odd press conference.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

KJ got a technical halfway through the second half, maybe it has something to do with that. Does anyone know why ?

It was during live play. Must have been running his mouth pretty good.

The technical had awful timing. It was in one of GU's few runs in the game.

[ironmaniup]

Well, good for Sancomb for getting his players to believe it because it certainly worked to get his players fired up. I'm sure they are being told that Lombardi said that they will win by 40 and has scouts at the WC / Stroudsburg game.

KJ got a technical halfway through the second half, maybe it has something to do with that. Does anyone know why ?

[Golden89]

Extremely interesting comments made at the Cal post-game press conference last night. At the table was Danny Sancomb, Zyan Colins and Brent Pegram.

Pegram really called out GU coach Kelvin Jefferson. He said KJ said GU was supposed to beat Cal by 30 points and that they heard GU had already started prep work for IUP. Collins said KJ was disrespectful to Cal's players. Sancomb sat right beside them while they said this stuff and didn't say anything. It was real clear they all three had some serious animosity toward KJ.

Sancomb (paraphrase) said they are coming up to IUP to win the game tomorrow night and that they will be loose ... all the pressure is on IUP. He said they've played IUP very close both games and just haven't been able to finish. He complimented IUP's program saying that to beat them you really have to beat them ... they don't give any games to you.


It was a good press conference ... not the typical blah blah blah coach and player speak. It's not often you hear players take shots at an opposing coach. You can watch the full interview on Cal U Athletics Twitter.

Well, good for Sancomb for getting his players to believe it because it certainly worked to get his players fired up. I'm sure they are being told that Lombardi said that they will win by 40 and has scouts at the WC / Stroudsburg game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

More feisty comments from last night ...

This one from Slippery Rock AD Paul Lueken (via his Twitter page and re-Tweeted by Rock Rowdies):

"Hard to win in PSAC when they make it a foul shooting contest for one team. Good year @RockBasketball. Sometimes officiating in our league just leaves you scratching your head. And as officials say, stop fouling, and my reply, call it when Micah (Till) gets smacked, but not all year."




Inside the boxscore:

FT's
UPJ (25-27)
SRU (11-14)



Here's a little conspiracy theory for ya ... the head official from IUP vs. UPJ this past Saturday night took a two-hour smack-down on the court from Bob Rukavina during UPJ's loss to IUP. Guess who worked the UPJ game last night? And, guess who allegedly got all the calls? Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.


It is very poor official scheduling. They should NEVER work the same team twice in a row.

[CALUPA69]

Extremely interesting comments made at the Cal post-game press conference last night. At the table was Danny Sancomb, Zyan Colins and Brent Pegram.

Pegram really called out GU coach Kelvin Jefferson. He said KJ said GU was supposed to beat Cal by 30 points and that they heard GU had already started prep work for IUP. Collins said KJ was disrespectful to Cal's players. Sancomb sat right beside them while they said this stuff and didn't say anything. It was real clear they all three had some serious animosity toward KJ.

Sancomb (paraphrase) said they are coming up to IUP to win the game tomorrow night and that they will be loose ... all the pressure is on IUP. He said they've played IUP very close both games and just haven't been able to finish. He complimented IUP's program saying that to beat them you really have to beat them ... they don't give any games to you.


It was a good press conference ... not the typical blah blah blah coach and player speak. It's not often you hear players take shots at an opposing coach. You can watch the full interview on Cal U Athletics Twitter.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mrGmQjQEnkGy

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Extremely interesting comments made at the Cal post-game press conference last night. At the table was Danny Sancomb, Zyan Colins and Brent Pegram.

Pegram really called out GU coach Kelvin Jefferson. He said KJ said GU was supposed to beat Cal by 30 points and that they heard GU had already started prep work for IUP. Collins said KJ was disrespectful to Cal's players. Sancomb sat right beside them while they said this stuff and didn't say anything. It was real clear they all three had some serious animosity toward KJ.

Sancomb (paraphrase) said they are coming up to IUP to win the game tomorrow night and that they will be loose ... all the pressure is on IUP. He said they've played IUP very close both games and just haven't been able to finish. He complimented IUP's program saying that to beat them you really have to beat them ... they don't give any games to you.


It was a good press conference ... not the typical blah blah blah coach and player speak. It's not often you hear players take shots at an opposing coach. You can watch the full interview on Cal U Athletics Twitter.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Round 2 of the men's tournament has some intriguing match-ups.

Interesting stat regarding the 'home' and 'away' records: The 'home' teams tomorrow night are 49-8 combined on their floors. The 'away' teams tomorrow night are a combined 25-29 this season on the road. These hosts ... aren't very good hosts to visitors. Also, all four games tomorrow were 'sweeps' in the regular season. Third time is the charm, right? Sometimes. It's never easy beating a team three straight.

California at IUP
- Crimson Hawks swept season series (86-69 at KCAC and 79-70 at Angelo Dome)
- The Vulcans blew an early 18-point lead in Indiana and ultimately lost by 17
- IUP is 15-0 at home this season. Cal is 9-7 away from Angelo's dome.
- The Hawks have all but officially clinched an NCAA bid. California is still technically alive but must keep winning.
- Both games this year - particularly the first one - have been pretty chippy
- Danny Sancomb is 0-4 career vs Joe Lombardi
- IUP has won the past 13 meetings in the series. Cal's last win was on Jan. 18, 2014.

UPJ at Mercyhurst
- Lakers swept the season series (82-74 in Johnstown and 73-64 in Erie)
- Last 15 meetings: Mercyhurst is 8-7 against UPJ
- In the earlier game inside the MAC, the Lakers hit 14-26 treys while UPJ hit just 6-18.
- UPJ has averaged just 69 ppg against the Lakers this season - 13 ppg below its season average of 82
- Lakers are 12-2 in the MAC this season. UPJ is 7-5 on the road.

Millersville at Shippensburg
- Raiders swept the season series (76-65 at Ship and 87-66 at Millersville)
- Neither meeting was very close. The Raiders blew out to a huge lead in the first one prior to the Marauders making it look a little better in the end).
- Shippensburg is 11-4 at home this year. Millersville is 3-11 on the road (and 11-3 at home).
- Millersville has lost 5 straight in the series

West Chester at East Stroudsburg
- ESU swept the season series (91-85 at WCU and 103-87 at ESU)
- The latest win was this past Saturday
- Warriors have won 3 straight in the series -- and 21 of the past 30 meetings
- ESU is still alive for an NCAA bid
- Warriors are 11-2 at home this season. WCU is 6-6 on the road.

[bballfan03]

Scorers. He has shooters, he needs scorers.

[bballfan03]

After gannon lost to UPJ and Hurst and both teams hit halftime buzzer shots, I marked down their record when that happened... finished season 0-5 when opposing team his a a shot to end half and 1-0 when gannon did so.

[Golden89]

Anybody know what time the Saturday games will be played this weekend?

[Golden89]

Cal hits 3 at buzzer for 37-27 halftime lead. Gannon is 0-4 this season when the opposing team hits a buzzer shot at half

[bballfan03]

Cal hits 3 at buzzer for 37-27 halftime lead. Gannon is 0-4 this season when the opposing team hits a buzzer shot at half

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Anybody know what time the Saturday games will be played this weekend?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Lock Haven at West Chester - The Bald Eagles lost their past three games and still found their way in to the mini-dance. Sometimes a foot in the door is all it takes. These teams split the regular season. West Chester won the second game about 10 days ago in convincing fashion, 98-83. Lock Haven has been scoring pretty consistently all year, but as of late its defense has been getting torched -- giving up 92 points or more in each of their past three outings. Being home -- and having a much deeper bench -- should make the difference for the Rams. WCU -7

Slippery Rock at UPJ - The Mountains Cats enter the PSAC Tournament stumbling a bit. UPJ has lost 3 of its past 5 games. One of those was against Slippery Rock. The regular season meetings were decided by a combined 6 points. Slippery Rock's physical style is a major concern for UPJ. The Rock has hammered the Mountain Cats on the glass in both games and has also held UPJ to just 72 and 75 points -- well below their 82 ppg average. For UPJ to win this game it has to speed up the pace -- they are at the their best in an up-tempo style. If SRU can slow the game down, rough things up and grind it out, UPJ will be in trouble. Tough call. This is a game Micah Till needs to take over. UPJ doesn't have an answer for him. SRU steals one late. Rock -3

Shepherd at Millersville - They've played twice. Total margin in the two games? Two points. Shepherd won both. Nobody knows which Millersville team will show up on a given night. Will it be the one that was recently hammered by 17 at West Chester or will it be the one that turned around and beat Lock Haven by 18 points? Shepherd's inconsistency is also well-documented. The Mauraders are likely a small favorite tonight being at home. The Rams are 11-4 at home this year and 3-10 on the road. That's probably the key stat tonight. The 'Ville pulls out a tight one. Marauders -2

Gannon at California - It's never easy to play the same team twice in 72 hours. These teams split the regular season -- with the visitor winning each game. In games this year against the top defensive teams in the West (IUP, Mercyhurst and Gannon), the Vulcans have struggled to score the basketball. In those six games, Cal scored just 69, 68, 69, 70, 56 and 71 points -- all well below its 81 ppg season average. That said, the Vulcans are due for a big shooting night. In its past two games, Cal has hit just 16 of 59 (27%) from outside. Gannon's mix of very athletic guards and solid post players can disrupt much of California's offensive flow. Very difficult game to pick. This time of year all comes down to match-ups -- and, Gannon has a favorable match-up. Knights pull out a single-digit win. GU -4