Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS
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The you-know-what is about to hit the fan this weekend in the PSAC. There are some tremendous games to played inside our many undoubtedly empty gyms. In the not-so-long-ago days conference play didn't even start until the students were back. Of course, holiday break wasn't 6-7 weeks, either. And, the PSAC didn't have 378 members.
Regardless, there are some really big games this weekend. It's a shame so few will see them in person.
Marquee Match-Ups
California at West Chester - Cal tanked in its first 'we've arrived' moment. Call this a big second chance.
UPJ at Shippensburg - Two teams with NCAA hopes. Both enter with two losses. UPJ has had a long time to prepare for this game. Fairmont State may have exposed some things the other night. Rukavina doesn't miss much. Ship has a bad taste in its mouth ... this should be a great one.
IUP at Shippensburg - Likely the best East/West rivalry in the PSAC the past several years ... They don't play a lot, but when they do it's worth the price of admission (even at IUP). With the history of the coaches, there are no surprises in this game. Both teams play almost identical systems. Line up and play it out. IUP won a tight one last year in Indiana.
Slippery Rock at West Chester - Micah Till got his tune-up game last week. But, he's not playing Salem this time. With four early losses, SRU needs this one. Badly. WCU is one of the more difficult road venues to win a game inside.
Interesting Games
Gannon at Mansfield - Both have poor records (GU is 2-5 and Mansfield is 2-6), however, both are better than those marks. Regardless, this is a must-win game for both. Baby Shaq will cause all sorts of problems for Gannon, but the Knights are the more athletic team of the two. The Mounties traditionally play pretty well at home and should be fully healthy tomorrow.
Edinboro at East Stroudsburg - The Scots have better pure scorers in this one with Simpson and Coleman, but the Warriors have far more depth. Edinboro's very short bench will be physically tested messing with that press all night. This isn't the type of pace Trey Staunch will thrive in, either. Whichever team dictates the pace wins this one.
IUP at Shepherd - This is a sneaky bad match-up for IUP. Shepherd, like Mansfield, has some hulking post players. That is the one area IUP isn't built to handle well with its current roster limitations. This game has upset potential if Shepherd can somewhat handle IUP's elite guard play. IUP's post players are built to run. Not bang.
Slippery Rock at Kutztown - The Golden Bears are more up and down than most roller-coasters. But, they play really well at home.
Gannon at Bloomsburg - Which Huskies show up? Their past two games: clobbered UPJ at home, and got clobbered by Wilmington on the road. Bloomsburg can be a tough out. Sometimes.
UPJ at Lock Haven - The Bald Eagles may be the best team nobody knows about this year. At 4-3, LHU has three losses by a combined 14 points -- including very tight losses at Cal and at SRU. The other oddity here is UPJ will be coming off an emotional game Friday night at Shippensburg. This game has a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday. How will UPJ's legs hold up on short-rest?Leave a comment:
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Some MEN'S attendance numbers (average) for the PSAC:
1. IUP 1,159 2. East Stroudsburg 646 3. Gannon 567 4. Shepherd 531 5. Mercyhurst 442 6. Kutztown 422 7. Slippery Rock 389 8. West Chester 350 9. Bloomsburg 347 10. Edinboro 346 11. California 288 12. Mansfield 261 13. UPJ 218 14. Shippensburg 213 15. Millersville 179 16. Clarion 143 17. Seton Hill 132 18. Lock Haven 112 Leave a comment:
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UPDATED MEN'S STANDINGS (Thru games 12/15)
EAST PSAC OVERALL STREAK West Chester 3-0 9-0 W9 Shippensburg 3-0 7-1 W6 Bloomsburg 2-1 5-3 W3 Kutztown 2-1 4-5 L1 East Stroudsburg 1-2 5-3 W2 Lock Haven 1-2 4-3 W1 Shepherd 1-2 5-4 W2 Millersville 1-2 4-4 W1 Mansfield 1-2 2-6 L3 WEST PSAC OVERALL STREAK IUP 3-0 8-0 W8 UPJ 2-1 8-2 L1 California 2-1 5-3 L1 Mercyhurst 2-1 4-3 L2 Edinboro 1-2 4-3 L3 Slippery Rock 1-2 5-4 W1 Gannon 1-2 2-5 L3 Seton Hill 0-3 1-5 L4 Clarion 0-3 1-7 L2 Leave a comment:
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WEST PSAC OVERALL STREAK NOTES IUP 3-0 7-0 W7 Final tune-up this week UPJ 2-1 8-2 L1 Shocking road loss at Bloom Mercyhurst 2-1 4-2 L1 Le Moyne up next California 2-1 5-3 L1 Recover from yesterday Edinboro 1-2 4-3 L3 Scots are a tough out Slippery Rock 1-2 4-4 L1 Till set to rejoin team Gannon 1-2 2-4 L2 Deceiving record Seton Hill 0-3 1-5 L4 Blah Clarion 0-3 1-7 L2 Year 1 not going well for new coach EAST PSAC OVERALL STREAK NOTES West Chester 3-0 9-0 W9 Rams are rolling Shippensburg 3-0 7-1 W6 Fairmont, IUP and UPJ next three Bloomsburg 2-1 5-3 W3 Huge win yesterday Kutztown 2-1 4-4 W2 Coming back to life. East Stroudsburg 1-2 5-3 W2 Off until Edinboro visits Dec. 20 Lock Haven 1-2 4-3 W1 They WILL pull a big upset this year Millersville 1-2 4-4 W1 Rough start but talented team Shepherd 1-2 4-4 W1 Walk-off trey could ignite season Mansfield 1-2 2-6 L3 Better than 2-6 record Leave a comment:
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There's a pretty strong lineup of Crossover games this weekend.
The Big Stage
Mercyhurst at West Chester - The Rams are ranked and have a fancy 8-0 record. The buzz-kill known as Mercyhurst is famous for spoiling parties. Lakers by 5.
Cal at Shippensburg - Are the Vulcans back? Here's their chance to prove it. Big test. Red Raiders by 3.
The Rest
Slippery Rock at Shepherd - SRU took the football game. Perhaps the Rams get a little payback on the hardwood. Neither team can afford to take another loss. Vegas says PICK 'EM
IUP at Mansfield - Fun Fact: Joe Lombardi doesn't have a losing record in many gyms, but, he does up at Mansfield. The King of the Redshirt is 1-2 up there in his career. IUP by double digits.
UPJ at Bloomsburg - Pitt-Johnstown is deadly at home, ... but they've historically been a little shaky on the road. Bloom has the size to match-up, but will they have the scoring? UPJ by 18
Seton Hill at Lock Haven - The Griffins need this one bad. The Bald Eagles are just a few baskets away from having a much better record. LH by 12
Gannon at Kutztown - Both teams enter under .500 ... and both need a W in this one. Should be a good one. GU by 5
Clarion at East Stroudsburg - The Golden Eagles typically hang around when they aren't supposed to do so. ESU will be too much for them. Warriors by 15
Edinboro at Millersville - Both on losing streaks ... something has to give. Marauders leading the BUST list so far this season. Scots by 5Leave a comment:
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Updated WOMEN'S Standings (thru games played 12/4)WEST PSAC OVERALL STREAK California 2-0 7-0 W7 Seton Hill 2-0 6-0 W6 IUP 2-0 7-1 W5 UPJ 2-0 7-1 W5 Gannon 2-0 5-2 L1 Mercyhurst 2-0 2-5 L1 Edinboro 1-1 2-3 L1 Slippery Rock 0-2 2-5 L3 Clarion 0-2 2-6 W1 EAST PSAC OVERALL STREAK Shepherd 1-1 7-1 W1 Lock Haven 1-1 3-3 W1 Shippensburg 1-1 4-4 W1 Kutztown 1-1 3-4 W1 West Chester 1-1 3-4 W1 East Stroudsburg 0-2 3-5 L1 Bloomsburg 0-2 2-3 W1 Mansfield 0-2 2-5 L4 Millersville 0-2 1-4 L2 Last edited by IUPbigINDIANS; 12-05-2019, 08:22 AM.Leave a comment:
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UPJ is 8-1 overall but the 3 games in Puerto Rico won't count towards playoffs. They aren't NCAA teams I don't think.Leave a comment:
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Amazing to think, but most PSAC schools have already played about 25% of their regular season schedule.
The early West Report Card:
IUP (6-0): The Crimson Hawks are off to a 6-0 start and have been piling up blowout victories. Some of the shine certainly came off with Tommy Demo's season-ending injury. However, they are still a really strong team (with a really light bench). Grade: A+
UPJ (8-1): Minus the opening-night slip-up against Concord, UPJ has been rolling. With a healthy, deep (by UPJ standards) roster, the Mountain Cats are perhaps now the favorites to win the West. Grade: A
Mercyhurst (4-1): New year. (Mostly) New roster. Same results. The Lakers' only blemish is a two-point loss at nationally ranked Daemen -- a game they had won. Grade: A
California (5-2): The Vulcans have two losses by a combined three points. Both came on opening weekend. They haven't lost since. There was a stretch of fairly light games over the past couple weeks, but winning at Glenville State -- and shutting them down -- was impressive. Grade: A-
Edinboro (4-2): The Scots came out of the blocks on fire -- racing to a 4-0 start. However, their past two outings haven't been pretty -- two blowout losses at home. Edinboro starts a BRUTAL 8-game run this Saturday at Millersville. It's hard to see many (any) wins over these next 8 outings. Pivotal stretch. Grade: B-
Slippery Rock (4-3): The Rock is off to a 4-3 start after a big road win at U-DC in its last outing. Star forward Micah Till also returns in less than two weeks. Having not practiced with the team all season, there will likely be an adjustment period. It's still tough to have three losses by Dec. 3, but things could have been worse. If Till can blend in with his new team rather than his new team having to blend in with him, SRU could be a force in the second half. We'll see how that dynamic works out. Grade: C+
Gannon (2-3): The Knights are a tough out. Despite a 2-3 record, they've been in every game and are a scrappy bunch. They'e also played, overall, likely the toughest schedule of any West team up to this point. If they stay healthy (not a real deep team) they will be a pretty formidable team throughout the season. Grade: C
Seton Hill (1-4): This is going to be a long year in Greensburg. The Griffins are playing a ton of true freshmen. They should improve as the year rolls along -- similar to last season. But, wins are going to be few and far between. Grade: D
Clarion (1-5): The Golden Eagles started the season with 5 straight double-digit losses. Then, oddly, beat a solid Lake Erie team this past weekend. One thing of note is Mason Mraz, who is one of their top players, has not played yet this season. He would be a huge addition if/when he returns. Grade: D
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Never a fan of woulda, coulda, shoulda but DS VULCANS are literally two shots, one miss and one make, from 7-0. Don't know if GSC has replays available but the game on Sunday was the first time his team seemed to be playing as a unit. They have four legit scoring threats in PEGRAM, COLLINS, ALEXANDER and HOUSE so a complete shutdown seems unlikely. But it only counts if they do it on the court so getting to the New Year at 7-4 or 8-3, it will be time to give their spot on the calendar serious prep unlike recent years. Time will tell.Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View PostLeave a comment:
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The Week Ahead:
Best Games
Mercyhurst (2-0, 4-1) at West Chester (2-0, 8-0)
- When a high-scoring team meets a shutdown defensive team -- something has to give. The Rams are tough at home. But, defense travels well. West Chester is putting up 88.6 ppg during its hot start. Mercyhurst (shocker) is giving up just 65.4 ppg. Two very good coaches get a week each to prepare for this marquee match-up. The Lakers have played a tougher schedule to this point.
California (2-0, 5-2) at Shippensburg (2-0, 6-1)
- The Danny Sancomb rebuild didn't take very long. Both teams have won five straight. The Chris Fite Show keeps on rolling. This is the start of a brutal 5-game stretch for the Red Raiders. Ship's next five: Cal, at Fairmont, UPJ, IUP, Millersville. The Vulcans also start a grueling month. After the trip to Shippensburg, Cal takes a short trip to Carlow before a weekend set at West Chester and MIllersville, followed by UPJ, at SRU and Shepherd. With the schedules looming for both teams, it makes this one all the more important. Sancomb vs. Fite is really a battle of two excellent X's and O's coaches.
Under the Radar Games
Shepherd at Virginia Union - Two historically strong programs both off to somewhat shaky starts.
East Stroudsburg at Queens College - ESU has had its ups and downs. Queens College may be better than its deceiving 3-5 record.
Gannon at Kutztown - The Golden Bears are just 2-4 without star forward Moe Williams, but they are coming off a strong showing in a close loss at UPJ. Gannon was a couple seconds from knocking off No. 11 Ashland.
Slippery Rock at Shepherd - Second game of a tough week for the Rams. This is SRU's last game without Micah Till.
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UPDATED MEN'S STANDINGS - 12/2/19EAST PSAC OVERALL STREAK West Chester 2-0 8-0 W8 Shippensburg 2-0 6-1 W5 Bloomsburg 1-1 3-3 W1 Kutztown 1-1 2-4 L1 Mansfield 1-1 2-4 L1 East Stroudsburg 0-2 3-3 L2 Lock Haven 0-2 3-3 L3 Millersville 0-2 3-3 L2 Shepherd 0-2 3-3 L2 WEST PSAC OVERALL STREAK IUP 2-0 6-0 W6 UPJ 2-0 8-1 W8 Mercyhurst 2-0 4-1 W3 California 2-0 5-2 W5 Edinboro 1-1 4-2 L2 Slippery Rock 1-1 4-3 W2 Gannon 1-1 2-3 L1 Seton Hill 0-2 1-4 L3 Clarion 0-2 1-5 W1 Leave a comment:
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Good summary. And Ship has a tricky little stretch coming up with California on Dec. 7, a West Virginia trip to Fairmont on the 17th, and then back-to-backers at home with UPJ and IUP on the 20th and 21st. Even at home, I wouldn't be too unhappy with a 1-1 split for the UPJ-IUP weekend.Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View PostLeave a comment:
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