Posted by davefilby on 4/14/2014 8:42:00 AM (view original):
Longwood (6-3) at St Mary's (5-4): It's a rare occurrence when these two teams are outside the top 25. Two of Longwood's three losses are to ranked teams but they own a victory over #7 S Dakota St. Scorers include SG Joseph Troxler (16.9 ppg), PF Claude Posey (15.2 ppg), and C Sterling Medeiros (11.8 ppg). St Mary's is fresh off a Yarnell appearance, with a loss to #4 Limestone, but a win over #5 Dominican. Four players put up virtually all the points for them: PF James Luberger (17.8 pg), PG Todd Abron (16.1 ppg), PG Tyrone Dorr (15.0 ppg), and PF Stephen Parrish (10.0 ppg). St Mary's favored by a point and the winner may jump back into the top 25.
#8 Incarnate Word (8-1) at Queens U (NC) (6-3): Young IW has exceeded expectations during non-con, with only blemish a loss to #5 Bellarmine. They lean on C Richard O'Leary (19.3 ppg) with help from Peter Brooks (12.8 ppg) and Matthew Weigand (10.6 ppg). Queens has split a pair of games versus ranked teams. Seniors Thomas Cloer (17.9 ppg) and Joseph Irby (10.3 ppg) get help from junior James Gladden (12.9 ppg). IW favored by 3.
#3 Limestone (8-1) at #4 St Edwards (9-0): Limestone is fresh off sweeping the Yarnell tournament. St Edwards boasts the best combination of athleticism & speed in D-II for a team not named Limestone. Limestone has 12 upperclassmen with scoring provided by 4 seniors: Dan Wilson (12.6 ppg), Eddie Graham (12.4 ppg), Neil Reynolds (12.0 ppg), and William Hussey (10.8 ppg). St Eds counters with 3 seniors of their own: Sean Blas (12.4 ppg), Casey Letellier (12.1 ppg) and Herman Camp 11.1 ppg). This could be a good one and oddsmakers agree, calling it a pick'em.
Longwood 70, St Mary's 67 (OT): This one was every bit as back-and-forth as the score indicates. Longwood's Claude Posey has the opportunity to add to a two point lead but misses the front end of a one-and-one with 0:11 remaining. St Mary's Tyrone Dorr coolly drains a jumper with 1 tick on the clock to send it to OT. Longwood scores on all but one possession in OT, but St Mary's still had 3 chances to hit a game-tying three, but Todd Abron clanked all three. The usual suspects di the scoring for both squads. Longwood's Medeiros, Troxler & Posey combined for 43. Dorr had 28 and Abron had 14 for St Mary's. St Mary's only shot 44% from the free throw line.
Queens U (NC) 65, Incarnate Word 61 (OT): Another OT game in the final night of the Challenge. IW's stud big man Richard O'Leary fouled out with 3:14 remaining, as IW clung to a 1 point lead. IW took a 5 point lead with 2:12 remaining, but didn't manage a shot attempt the rest of regulation, with Queens scoring enough to force OT. Without their leading scorer, IW only scored 5 points in the extra 5 minutes. Cloer (17), Gladden (15), and Irby (13) provided the punch for Queens.
Limestone 52, St Edward's 44: This one was closer than the final score indicated, as it was back & forth for the first 35 minutes. St Eds took a 44-43 lead with 5:38 remaining and would not score again, going 0-8 with 2 TOs. Stephen Hartzog & Henry Preston each had 14 for Limestone. Sean Blas & Herman Camp had 13 & 11 respectively for St Edwards. Limestone held St Eds to 34% shooting.
The CVAC left no doubt about it, 8-2. Congrats to the CVAC on this season's Challenge!