PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

The West (lower level) race got real interesting yesterday.

UPJ's shocking loss at Clarion (and likely loss against IUP in a few days) mixes things up.

Edinboro got a huge win at Cal and is now in range of that final spot - just one game back. Cal had to win that game at home. It could be devastating for the Vulcans.

Seton Hill had a golden opportunity yesterday with Till sitting out and didn't cash it in.

Toss Gannon in there, too, and it's quite a race.

Some big games coming up in that tier this week.

Wednesday night will be highlighted by Mercyhurst visiting Slippery Rock.

IUP travels to UPJ, where the Mountain Cats are a perfect 11-0. Yet, they look like a glorified basement dweller on the road.

[IUPTrackMan]

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

EAST

West Chester (14-2, 18-5) - Rams have won 13 straight. Easy two ahead before Ship and ESU next week.
East Stroudsburg (12-3, 15-6) - Light week prior to WCU trip Feb. 23
Shippensburg (11-4, 17-6) - Tight loss at ESU. Pesky Millersville up next.
Millersville (9-6., 14-9) - NCAA hopes are gone but could be a tough out down the stretch.
Lock Haven (7-8, 10-10) - Bald Eagles having a nice season
Kutztown (7-9, 13-11) - What were close losses early in the season are becoming bigger losses
Bloomsburg (2-14, 5-16) - Huskies have lost 9 straight.
Mansfield (1-15, 4-19) - Almost over.

WEST

IUP (14-2, 21-2) - Hawks head to Johnstown for a quasi-home game and then get the weekend off.
Slippery Rock (13-3, 16-7) - Mercyhurst visits Morrow in two days. These two likely to play again in PSAC Tournament.
Mercyhurst (11-4, 16-4) - Not easy to win in Morrow ... should be quite the circus.
UPJ (8-8, 13-10) - Undefeated at home ... 3-10 away from home. IUP visit causes a lot of problems match-up wise.
Gannon (6-10, 8-15) - Knights travel to Cal and host Edinboro. They need both.
California (5-10, 7-14) - Gannon visit is essentially a playoff game for the Vulcans.
Seton Hill (5-11, 7-15) - Griffins heading north this week -- Edinboro and Mercyhurst. They have to go 1-1 to stay in it.
Edinboro (4-11, 7-13) - Scots have won two straight and could win two more this week (SH & GU). For now, anyway, the Boro is back in the conf. tournament race.
Clarion (3-13, 5-15) - Nice win for the Golden Eagles against UPJ. Still showing up.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

There's a pretty good slate of action tomorrow. There's a marquee game as well as several mid-tier match-ups between teams battling for their conference tournament lives.

Clarion at Salem -- Pretty even contest. Salem's record is better but they have a lot of soft wins. Clarion will compete in this game and should have a little pep after upsetting UPJ. The Golden Eagles get a rare road win. Clarion -3

IUP at UPJ -- Common theme: UPJ doesn't lose at home, and, IUP doesn't lose in Johnstown. The Mountain Cats shoot the lights out in Johnstown so they will find a way to keep this close for awhile. Several strong teams have fallen up there in the recent past. IUP is just too deep and too big. The Hawks will find a way to make them look like Golden State for the first 20 minutes, but UPJ doesn't have enough to go all 40 minutes. The first meeting was a blowout until the bench was emptied and the final score was made to look a little closer. Similar result tomorrow. IUP -13

Mansfield at West Chester -- A practice with uniforms on for WCU. Rams -28

Gannon at California -- The loser of this game finds itself in a world of hurt. For two teams on the conference tournament bubble, this is essentially a playoff game. It's also a very odd pairing. Cal can score. Gannon cannot. Gannon can defend. Cal cannot. With Darryl Porter recovering from an injury, the Knights just won't score enough points to win this game. Cal moves a step closer to the Little Dance. Vulcans -7

Seton Hill at Edinboro -- A month ago this appeared to be just another game for two struggling teams. Now, it has some significance. Edinboro's recent surge has put the Scots back in the race for the final tournament spot. Seton Hill really needs this one to stay in it. The Griffins are the better team, but Edinboro can be pretty tough in McComb. The difference tomorrow is Edinboro's defense is very, well, non-existent. The Griffins should put up a big number. Neither team has much on the bench so the zebra crew could play a big role. Seton Hill finds a way and pulls away late. Griffins -8

Cheyney at Bloomsburg -- The Huskies' 9-game losing streak ends here, right? It better. Bloomsburg -3

East Stroudsburg at Lock Haven -- Shippensburg fell asleep at the wheel in Lock Haven. Can it happen to another East heavyweight? Doubtful. ESU swarms the Bald Eagles. Warriors -14

Millersville at Shippensburg -- The Red Raiders won at Millersville. They'll win at home, too. Ship -10

Mercyhurst at Slippery Rock -- How times change. Back on Jan. 5, SRU left the MAC with a 92-91, (2) OT victory. Micah Till went bonkers -- scoring 35 points, grabbing 11 boards and handing out 5 assists. Fast forward 5 weeks and Mercyhurst is one of the hottest teams in the country. Till is injured and missed SRU's last game. His status for tomorrow is unknown. The Lakers are playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament. With 7 losses, the Rock is on life support. It should be quite a scene in Morrow tomorrow night. The students there show up for big games. Oddly, SRU had zero trouble with the famed Mercyhurst zone in the first go-around. With Till's status unknown, a prediction is meaningless. However, even with Till, SRU has faded in the past two weeks. The element of surprise is gone and it's well-know now how to beat them. Till, or no Till, Mercyhurst wins. Lakers -11

[PSACwatcher]

Re: PSAC WEST

Gotta feel for the kids at Mansfield. Their head coach bolts on them in mid-September, and they are battling through just a miserable season.

How does Cal U practice? They started the season with 6 guys playing big minutes, then frosh starter Jermaine Hall is injured and he has been out since mid-January. With a limited roster, Cal U plays a 2-3 zone most of the game. The irony is that 5 guys playing a 2-3 zone for 40 mins each against the Gannon offensive juggernaut is probably all they need.

Frosh 6'8" Big Turner Kurt is really coming on for Edinboro. He had back to back 17 pt games in last two wins v UPJ and Cal U. Edinboro was not getting that from him earlier in the season. Throw in the Trey Staunch enigma and a super-confident Simpson (rare triple double of 24/14/11 vs. UPJ) and you have to think they could win 3 out of their last 6 to somehow sneak into the playoffs. Give credit to Edinboro for hanging in.

Till is not expected to play.

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

Gotta feel for the kids at Mansfield. Their head coach bolts on them in mid-September, and they are battling through just a miserable season.

How does Cal U practice? They started the season with 6 guys playing big minutes, then frosh starter Jermaine Hall is injured and he has been out since mid-January. With a limited roster, Cal U plays a 2-3 zone most of the game. The irony is that 5 guys playing a 2-3 zone for 40 mins each against the Gannon offensive juggernaut is probably all they need.

Frosh 6'8" Big Turner Kurt is really coming on for Edinboro. He had back to back 17 pt games in last two wins v UPJ and Cal U. Edinboro was not getting that from him earlier in the season. Throw in the Trey Staunch enigma and a super-confident Simpson (rare triple double of 24/14/11 vs. UPJ) and you have to think they could win 3 out of their last 6 to somehow sneak into the playoffs. Give credit to Edinboro for hanging in.

Till is not expected to play.

Yeah, Edinboro is not good. I'll leave it at that!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

With no Till ... Mercyhurst will slaughter them. Oddly, Till has just crushed the Mercyhurst triangle in the past two seasons.

It's probably safe to assume these two will meet in the second round of the PSAC's.


It is still mind-boggling that Grady put Till back in the IUP game down 30+ with 10 minutes to play after he didn't come back out after halftime. I sure hope they weren't doing it for the stats. Seemed like a horrible decision when it happened -- and, even worse now being he hasn't played since.

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

With no Till ... Mercyhurst will slaughter them. Oddly, Till has just crushed the Mercyhurst triangle in the past two seasons.

It's probably safe to assume these two will meet in the second round of the PSAC's.


It is still mind-boggling that Grady put Till back in the IUP game down 30+ with 10 minutes to play after he didn't come back out after halftime. I sure hope they weren't doing it for the stats. Seemed like a horrible decision when it happened -- and, even worse now being he hasn't played since.

Could this team learn to play better without Till? I know it's a constant that he takes time off while on the court. Could this team work harder without him?

[PSAC76]

Re: PSAC WEST

Grady given the job at SRU, named Head Coach

https://rockathletics.com/news/2019/...ead-coach.aspx

[IUPTrackMan]

Re: PSAC WEST

Grady given the job at SRU, named Head Coach

https://rockathletics.com/news/2019/...ead-coach.aspx

This has been pretty predictable outcome that just kept gaining momentum game after game. He earned it.

[Golden89]

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Rock up 43-40. Half.

[IUPTrackMan]

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Scores

East Stroudsburg 77 Lock Haven 62

IUP 80 UPJ 67

Seton Hill 87 Edinboro 80

Slippery Rock 83 Mercyhurst 74

Shippensburg 81 Millersville 76

West Chester 91 Mansfield 56

Gannon 70 Cal 69 (OT)

Bloomsburg 80 Cheyney 64

Salem 93 Clarion 64

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

Gannon score was partial. Knights won 70-69 on a pair of Cisero free throws with 1.6 seconds left in OT to win at Cal.