Rock lost Till at IUP. Won 4 straight then dropped 2 in a row. Against Gannon they shot around 37% from the floor and only attempted 6 foul shots all game.
SRU has proven they can win games without Till, but they also can lose too. Wednesday night will be interesting for them.
IUP continues to get the job done. Wednesday night will probably be a nail biter as the stakes get higher.
Four games on tap tonight ... and, a couple of them should be entertaining.
Lock Haven at Shippensburg -- The Bald Eagles pulled one of the surprise upsets of the season back in mid-January by shocking Shippensburg. The Red Raiders didn't take too kind to it, though, and returned the favor by dropping a 30-point spanking on Lock Haven in the rematch. LHU has had a decent season -- especially when you consider Amir Hinton left town. Interesting note about this one: In the Lock Haven win, they held Ship to just 58 points. In the rematch, the Red Raiders scored 100 points. LHU's only hope is to slow this game down to a 5 mph pace. The odds aren't good of that happening. Take the Red Raiders in a run-away. Ship -21
Seton Hill at Mercyhurst -- It wasn't long ago that Seton Hill was a semi-hot team. That said, they've now lost 4 of their past 6 outings. The ugliest of the recent bunch? Yep, ... at Mercyhurst. The Lakers pummeled the Griffins two weeks ago to the tune of 82-58. The first meeting was closer (21 points) but not by much. Can Round 3 somehow be different? Not likely. Seton Hill just doesn't have the depth to handle Mercyhurst for 40 minutes. Or, even 30 minutes. One thing to keep in mind is Mercyhurst looked real bad last week in a loss at UPJ. Seton Hill and UPJ are very similar teams. The Griffins' star duo of Trevor Blondin and Nathan Davis will need career nights. Don't count on a third blowout but don't count on a Seton Hill win, either. Mercyhurst -11
Kutztown at Millersville -- If you have to pick a dead draw, this is it. Consider: Millersville won at Kutztown, 94-92. The rematch in Millersville? Marauders won 106-98 in 2OT. Games that close likely means Millersville had a little luck to get two wins. Can it continue? The Marauders are tough at home. Kutztown is due. Flip a coin on this one. Millersville -3
Gannon at UPJ -- The Mountain Cats lost a Hammermill Special in early January, 64-61, but then returned the favor in Johnstown, 76-65. This game is as simple as which team can control the tempo -- and would be a Vegas oddsmakers' nightmare. Gannon is very unpredictable. The Knights look good for one game and bad the next. They play great for 10 minutes and then awful the next. For GU to win the game it must set the pace from the opening tip-off. They can't run-n-gun with UPJ. They'll lose by 20 in that style game. They need to muck it up, get physical and score at least 68 points. The latter in that equation is far from guaranteed. The winner is heading to Indiana in 48 hours. Gannon may not need to unpack. That's right, boys and girls. Despite the 11-1 home record, the Golden Knights pull out a big (mild upset) road win tonight. Gannon -5 in a Hammermill Special.
Gannon getting trounced at halftime. Not going to win when you go 9/25 with 14 turnovers! UPJ went on a 33-8 run over the last 12:26. Enigmatic Knights back to their old selves.
Gannon whistled for 15 fouls, UPJ called for only 5. Should the halftime score be GAN 21 REFS 43?
Gannon getting trounced at halftime. Not going to win when you go 9/25 with 14 turnovers! UPJ went on a 33-8 run over the last 12:26. Enigmatic Knights back to their old selves.
Gannon whistled for 15 fouls, UPJ called for only 5. Should the halftime score be GAN 21 REFS 43?
One of my favorite examples of it actually happening was in 2003. The IUP men had lost to Cal both regular season games ... then went down to a jam-packed Hamer Hall and beat the Vulcans. Gary Edwards had a knack for such moments.
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