PSAC EAST

[Ship69]

I don't see them getting through the meat-grinder that will be the PSAC tournament.

I do see them getting through this week unscathed, frankly. I thought Bloomsburg played its best game Saturday. And I thought Figueroa's performance was more impressive than that. He made some money plays.

Well, I hope you're right. Daniel McClain-Corley and Aidan Hughley were big matchup problems for Ship when they played Shepherd the first time, and I don't see that improving with Sleva out. Firgueroa did a nice job, but he has a tendency to flail and pick up fouls quickly (although I thought he was hit was a couple of nickel-dimers on Saturday) One of the keys Saturday was the offense from the backcourt by Crespo and Recchia. I've told anyone who'd listen to me (and apparently not a lot have) that I'd like to see Recchia get more shots. He was 3-for-4 from outside Saturday and is usually on target. The problem with both him and Crespo is that big guards such as McClain-Corley can take them inside. Satchel Ball does a better job with the big guards as he has more length, but he needs to work on his offense this summer. And McClain-Corley also is a good outside shooter, which compounds the problem. Is it me or does it seem that a lot of teams have been hot against Ship from the three-point line this season? Probably just imagining that.

[WarriorVoice]

ESU's best hope is to beat Lock Haven and somehow finish in a tie for 1st with either Shippensburg or Millersville...

[Ship69]

ESU's best hope is to beat Lock Haven and somehow finish in a tie for 1st with either Shippensburg or Millersville...

Your chances to beat out Ship improved markedly with the injury to Sleva. Not as sure about Millersville. ESU has done its best to avoid winning the division this season, but might just snag it yet.

[WarriorVoice]

Your chances to beat out Ship improved markedly with the injury to Sleva. Not as sure about Millersville. ESU has done its best to avoid winning the division this season, but might just snag it yet.

That just flat out short sells almost every other team on the East. I don't buy it. ESU is very good, but they're not the team I thought they were in December.

[Ship69]

That just flat out short sells almost every other team on the East. I don't buy it. ESU is very good, but they're not the team I thought they were in December.

They have the deepest team in the division. They have been very erratic at times, as have several of the teams in the division. There is balance this season, but there's no way that team should have two more losses than Ship going into tonight.

[jrshooter]

Shepherd 60, Ship 55. Ship69 was as right as one can be; the absence of Dom Sleva turned this game. The Raiders could not get a key rebound to save their lives.

Great work down the stretch by Shepherd's Dan McClain-Corley (23 points), including five straight and a steal with four minutes left that gave the Rams the lead for good.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Shepherd 60, Ship 55. Ship69 was as right as one can be; the absence of Dom Sleva turned this game. The Raiders could not get a key rebound to save their lives.

Great work down the stretch by Shepherd's Dan McClain-Corley (23 points), including five straight and a steal with four minutes left that gave the Rams the lead for good.

When they said Preston was out I thought you guys were going to win. DMC is tough. He took over there at the end. Never know ... those two could play again Monday.

[Ship69]

Shepherd 60, Ship 55. Ship69 was as right as one can be; the absence of Dom Sleva turned this game. The Raiders could not get a key rebound to save their lives.

Great work down the stretch by Shepherd's Dan McClain-Corley (23 points), including five straight and a steal with four minutes left that gave the Rams the lead for good.

I haven't seen a couple of the Western teams, including IUP, play too much this year, but McClain-Corley is about as good a guard as I've seen in the league. I think he's a junior and I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some Division I interest in him after this season. The Raiders would certainly be happy to see him go.

Rashon Johnson has had a good year, but not a great one (he hasn't been able to get his three-ball going consistently this season). Of the Raiders, I think he has suffered most from the graduation of Jake Biss and Kiyon Hardy from last year's team. A combined 12 points out of Johnson and Luke Nedrow are not going to get it done with Sleva out. Carlos Carter has been by far the most consistent offensive player of the four upperclassmen this year and should make the PSAC East All-Star team, but even he had a bad night at the three-point line Wednesday. The Raiders have had several games the past two seasons in which they've held teams to 65 points or fewer, but still lost because of their own offensive funks (last year's 52-44 PSAC semifinal loss to IUP, and some of the recent losses to Millersville and ESU come readily to mind).

The Raiders still have a chance to snatch the division Saturday with Lock Haven slumping recently (although LH has been playing good teams), but it's hard to be overly confident. If Sleva isn't back in somewhat healthy fashion next week, Ship's stay in the conference tourney will likely be a short one.

As has been noted before, Chris Fite has a helluva recruiting job ahead of him following this season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Two seeds got locked up last night. Kutztown's late surge to make the conference tournament came to a halt despite another win.

Updated Men's EAST Standings:

-

TEAM	PSAC	OVERALL	STREAK
West Chester *	15-6	20-7	W4
Shippensburg *	15-6	17-10	L1
East Stroudsburg *	15-7	21-7	W2
Millersville *	14-7	17-10	L1
Lock Haven *(5)	12-9	16-10	L4
Shepherd *(6)	11-10	14-13	W1
Kutztown	9-12	10-17	W5
Mansfield	5-16	6-19	L1
Bloomsburg	1-20	1-24	L8

-

Saturday's EAST games:

Mansfield at Millersville
Lock Haven at Shippensburg
Shepherd at Kutztown
West Chester at Bloomsburg

[Ship69]

Two seeds got locked up last night. Kutztown's late surge to make the conference tournament came to a halt despite another win.

Updated Men's EAST Standings:

-

TEAM	PSAC	OVERALL	STREAK
West Chester *	15-6	20-7	W4
Shippensburg *	15-6	17-10	L1
East Stroudsburg *	15-7	21-7	W2
Millersville *	14-7	17-10	L1
Lock Haven *(5)	12-9	16-10	L4
Shepherd *(6)	11-10	14-13	W1
Kutztown	9-12	10-17	W5
Mansfield	5-16	6-19	L1
Bloomsburg	1-20	1-24	L8

-

Saturday's EAST games:

Mansfield at Millersville
Lock Haven at Shippensburg
Shepherd at Kutztown
West Chester at Bloomsburg

Ship caught a break with Millersville losing as West Chester is the one team of the top three contenders that they hold the tiebreaker against. Whether they can take advantage of it at this stage is another matter. Too late for Kutztown, but it speaks to the balance of the division this year that the sixth- and seventh-place teams are not ones you want to run into in an opening tournament game.

[WarriorVoice]

Lock Haven's Eli Washington hurt a knee at West Chester and was not a factor last night. That turned Lock Haven into almost a one-man team. Jayy Davis was incredible, but couldn't do all of the scoring. Shoats was good off the bench but Washington is their second leading scorer, and scored 1 point last night. ESU becomes a Haven fan on Saturday. If Ship loses, ESU wins the EAST!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Lock Haven's Eli Washington hurt a knee at West Chester and was not a factor last night. That turned Lock Haven into almost a one-man team. Jayy Davis was incredible, but couldn't do all of the scoring. Shoats was good off the bench but Washington is their second leading scorer, and scored 1 point last night. ESU becomes a Haven fan on Saturday. If Ship loses, ESU wins the EAST!!

Wouldn't a West Chester win paired with a Ship loss ... win them the East?

[Horror Child]

Wouldn't a West Chester win paired with a Ship loss ... win them the East?

I think....

Shippensburg win =
1. Shippensburg
2. West Chester
3. East Stroudsburg
4. Millersville

Shippensburg loss + West Chester win
1. West Chester
2. East Stroudsburg
3. Millersville (if they win)
4. Shippensburg

Shippensburg loss + West Chester loss + Millersville loss
1. East Stroudsburg
2. Shippensburg
3. West Chester
4. Millersville

Shippensburg loss + West Chester loss + Millersville win
1. East Stroudsburg
2. West Chester
3. Millersville
4. Shippensburg

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think....

Shippensburg win =
1. Shippensburg
2. West Chester
3. East Stroudsburg
4. Millersville

Shippensburg loss + West Chester win
1. West Chester
2. East Stroudsburg
3. Millersville (if they win)
4. Shippensburg

Shippensburg loss + West Chester loss + Millersville loss
1. East Stroudsburg
2. Shippensburg
3. West Chester
4. Millersville

Shippensburg loss + West Chester loss + Millersville win
1. East Stroudsburg
2. West Chester
3. Millersville
4. Shippensburg

I'd surely think West Chester and Millersville are heavy favorites to win. Ship vs LH should be a good one. It's been quite the entertaining race to watch.

It's wild to have so much at stake for so many teams on the final Saturday.

With the way the East has gone that Monday bye is massive.

[Ship69]

I'd surely think West Chester and Millersville are heavy favorites to win. Ship vs LH should be a good one. It's been quite the entertaining race to watch.

It's wild to have so much at stake for so many teams on the final Saturday.

With the way the East has gone that Monday bye is massive.

It is interesting. Ship could finish anywhere from first to fourth. With how the teams are matched this year, I'm not sure where you're seeded makes that much of a difference. Obviously, the good thing about grabbing one of the top two spots is the first-round bye, which could give the injured players some time to get better.