ATLANTIC REGION polls, rankings and blah, blah, blah

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Classic cop out by the NCAA.

It's comical

[IUPbigINDIANS]

West Virginia State lost again.


R.I.P.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Kutztown takes down East Stroudsburg


Millersville gets a huge win

[Inkblot]

All in all, I'd say it's been a good day for Virginia State.

[Ship69]

Kutztown takes down East Stroudsburg


Millersville gets a huge win

It was a very bizarre night in Shippensburg. The Raiders played like zombies in the first half, down 37-26 at halftime and it could have been worse. Second time they've dug themselves into a hole against the 'Ville this year. Then they started the second half with a 9-0 run, finally got Rashon Johnson and Carlos Carter going, and it was nip-and-tuck the second half. With a little over a minute to go, Johnson gives the Raiders a 62-60 lead with two free throws. On the defensive possession they finally stop M-ville guard Jahme Ested from penetrating on them, as he had done much of the second half, so with time running down he tosses up a three that goes in for the lead. Johnson is fouled at the other end and makes one to tie the score with 19 seconds left. Millesville dribbles away much of the time and then Ested tried to penetrate again, is triple-teamed at the basket, tosses up a wild shot that goes completely over the cylinder and bounces off a couple of players hands straight up into the air and through the basket with 1.2 seconds left.

But the big story was Dom Sleva badly twisting his ankle in the first half. He came out for the second, but was in and out for much of the half and was noticeably hobbling and less effective than usual. That might have cost the Raiders the game tonight (gotta believe a 100 percent Sleva would have made 2-3 points difference in the half), and it well could cost them the division if he can't come back in effective fashion over the next three games. You can't lose a guy who leads Division II in rebounding and plays great defense without it affecting you.

It doubly hurts because now Millersville owns the tiebreaker, and there isn't a nickel's worth of difference between the two teams, but they got the wins and them's the breaks. And then you add in that East Stroud, who I think still rosters the most talent in the division, somehow manages to lose again. A win tonight really would have put Ship in the driver's seat.

To top it off, I arrived at the beginning of the second half of the women's game and Aerial Jones, the all-time women's scoring leader in the PSAC, sat on the bench in her uniform the whole second half, so apparently there was something going on for her as well. The women managed to pull out a win in their game, but obviously that changes the whole PSAC East women's narrative if something is going on with Jones.

I've had better nights as a Ship fan.

[jrshooter]

I was in the house. Pretty good crowd.

Jones texted a friend of ours afterwards, said she's fine. She went into the concussion protocol after bouncing her head off the floor on a collision midway though the first half. I would expect her back in action immediately. That was a huge win for the women, being able to knock off a contender without Ariel.

Sleva -- that could be a bit worse. The way he was hobbling, I had to seriously question Fite trying to give him minutes after halftime. He simply could not move.

The men were beaten off the dribble for the game's first 20 minutes, continuously. You're right, it could have been worse than a 11-point deficit.

Oh, yes, those bench points. Millersville 23, Shippensburg 0.

But hey, Kutztown raised up and popped ESU.

[Ship69]

I was in the house. Pretty good crowd.

Jones texted a friend of ours afterwards, said she's fine. She went into the concussion protocol after bouncing her head off the floor on a collision midway though the first half. I would expect her back in action immediately. That was a huge win for the women, being able to knock off a contender without Ariel.

Sleva -- that could be a bit worse. The way he was hobbling, I had to seriously question Fite trying to give him minutes after halftime. He simply could not move.

The men were beaten off the dribble for the game's first 20 minutes, continuously. You're right, it could have been worse than a 11-point deficit.

Glad to hear that about Jones. She appeared to be walking with no problem, so I figured it might be something like hitting her head.

The men — they can look so good at times and other times look as if they are unfamiliar with basketball. I thought they were way too slow to give Nedrow help with the Millersville bigs in the first half since they were obviously trying to clear out and wear Nedrow down with one-on-one post play. That's not the first opponent to pull that on us this year. I look for more of it against Shepherd next Wednesday. Fortunately, the M-ville bigs had some early success, started to get a superman complex, and then started to get out of control. And as you said, Ship was often beaten off the dribble in the first half and didn't get a lot of help. I'm not a fan of those sets where Nedrow switches off and ends up at the top of the key. He does not recover quickly and is in no position to rebound if a shot goes up. It also took way too long to get Johnson and Carter into the flow of the game. Started to run some plays for them in the second half to good effect. Chris Fite is by far the best basketball coach Ship has ever had, but I didn't think it was one of his better nights. Hurts to lose two close ones to Stitzel, who is very far from my favorite PSAC coach.

[jrshooter]

In no way do I think Luke Nedrow handling the ball out front is Ship's best look, and yet, he's out there so often.

[Ship69]

Did have one bit of good news tonight. I went to grad school at Northwestern and they managed to beat Indiana (the Big 10 one, not IUP) for the second time this season. Get ready to cue up Hoosier fans *****ing about officiating online for the next few days in the same manner Purdue fans cried after NU upset the Boilers on Saturday. With social media, nobody ever just loses a damn ballgame these days.

[Scrub]

West Virginia State lost again.


R.I.P.

Now you've done it. They're gonna win the MEC tourney now--you've spoken it into existence. LOL

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Now you've done it. They're gonna win the MEC tourney now--you've spoken it into existence. LOL

The occasional fluke loss is one thing. They are beyond the occasional fluke loss. Something is up down there. Losing twice (close) to WL is understandable. They are losing to some league dregs they have no business losing to this season.

Maybe they get hot. The talent is there. If they want to keep playing they won't have a choice. I think they've played their way out of the at-large conversation.

What's funny is they are about identical, season-wise, to what East Stroudsburg is doing. Two odd teams to figure.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, a lot changed last night. The 'bubble' is one hell of a clump. Many teams need to pray there are no whacky conference tournament champions.


1-3 losses

IUP (25-1)
West Liberty (22-3)

4-5 losses

Mercyhurst (19-4)
Fairmont State (20-5)

6-7 losses

Virginia Union (21-6)
Claflin (18-6)
East Stroudsburg (19-7)
West Chester (18-7)
Pitt-Johnstown (18-7)

8-9 losses

Charleston (17-8)
West Virginia State (17-8)
Lock Haven (16-8)
Winston-Salem State (16-8)
Millersville (17-9)
Virginia State (17-9)
Notre Dame (16-9)
Shippensburg (16-9)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It was a very bizarre night in Shippensburg. The Raiders played like zombies in the first half, down 37-26 at halftime and it could have been worse. Second time they've dug themselves into a hole against the 'Ville this year. Then they started the second half with a 9-0 run, finally got Rashon Johnson and Carlos Carter going, and it was nip-and-tuck the second half. With a little over a minute to go, Johnson gives the Raiders a 62-60 lead with two free throws. On the defensive possession they finally stop M-ville guard Jahme Ested from penetrating on them, as he had done much of the second half, so with time running down he tosses up a three that goes in for the lead. Johnson is fouled at the other end and makes one to tie the score with 19 seconds left. Millesville dribbles away much of the time and then Ested tried to penetrate again, is triple-teamed at the basket, tosses up a wild shot that goes completely over the cylinder and bounces off a couple of players hands straight up into the air and through the basket with 1.2 seconds left.

But the big story was Dom Sleva badly twisting his ankle in the first half. He came out for the second, but was in and out for much of the half and was noticeably hobbling and less effective than usual. That might have cost the Raiders the game tonight (gotta believe a 100 percent Sleva would have made 2-3 points difference in the half), and it well could cost them the division if he can't come back in effective fashion over the next three games. You can't lose a guy who leads Division II in rebounding and plays great defense without it affecting you.

It doubly hurts because now Millersville owns the tiebreaker, and there isn't a nickel's worth of difference between the two teams, but they got the wins and them's the breaks. And then you add in that East Stroud, who I think still rosters the most talent in the division, somehow manages to lose again. A win tonight really would have put Ship in the driver's seat.

To top it off, I arrived at the beginning of the second half of the women's game and Aerial Jones, the all-time women's scoring leader in the PSAC, sat on the bench in her uniform the whole second half, so apparently there was something going on for her as well. The women managed to pull out a win in their game, but obviously that changes the whole PSAC East women's narrative if something is going on with Jones.

I've had better nights as a Ship fan.

ESU was up 16 at half and somehow lost last night.

It sure wouldn't break my heart that Kutztown isn't in the conference tournament.

[IUPalum]

ESU was up 16 at half and somehow lost last night.

It sure wouldn't break my heart that Kutztown isn't in the conference tournament.

Millersville is the PSAC team that should have people worried. They are starting to click on all cylinders.

[Chuck Norris]

Well, a lot changed last night. The 'bubble' is one hell of a clump. Many teams need to pray there are no whacky conference tournament champions.


1-3 losses

IUP (25-1)
West Liberty (22-3)

4-5 losses

Mercyhurst (19-4)
Fairmont State (20-5)

6-7 losses

Virginia Union (21-6)
Claflin (18-6)
East Stroudsburg (19-7)
West Chester (18-7)
Pitt-Johnstown (18-7)

8-9 losses

Charleston (17-8)
West Virginia State (17-8)
Lock Haven (16-8)
Winston-Salem State (16-8)
Millersville (17-9)
Virginia State (17-9)
Notre Dame (16-9)
Shippensburg (16-9)

Claflin has dropped two straight at home since the big win at WSSU. The computers already didn’t like them so I’d say they’re at large chances are sunk. Unless Fairmont collapses I’d say those top four are locks. Virginia Union might be as well, a win on Saturday probably removes any doubt. The fight for those last three spots is going to be wild.