N Alabama at Pfeiffer: Ragizzy and N Alabama go to Misenheimer, NC to battle bow2dacowz and Pfeiffer.

N Alabama is led by SR SG Jason Hopkins and his 22+ ppg. Ray Black comes off the bench and chips in12.5ppg. Ragizzy is 0-3 versus top 100 teams but looks to get over the hump vs bow & Pfeiffer.

Veteran coach bow2dacowz relies on a trio of senior scorers: Willie Bohler, Colby Schumacher, and Lawrence Cottone. They average 45 of the team's 83 ppg. Pfeiffer is 1-3 versus top 100 teams, with the victory coming over Ranked Pittsburg St.

Erskine at Incarnate Word: Fillthelane and Erskine look to fill it up against davefilby and Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

Living in the past Dave?  I'm fairly certain those games were played last night, with Pfeiffer and IW winning.

St. Mary's TX and W. Alabama will need to win by a combined 30 points tonight for the Heartland to pull this out.  Not likely to happen, but I guess anything is possible.

St Mary's (TX) beat Longwood last night, but Belmont Abbey beat W Alabama to clinch another win for the CVAC. Congrats to the CVAC once again!

CVAC 7 Heartland 5! The CVAC retains the crown!

Recaps (for the sake of posterity)

 Week 9

Pfieffer 75, N. Alabama 68 – In this strange game, N. Alabama’s slowdown attack and bizarre sagging 3-2 defense gave Pfieffer fits for a half as they rose to a 7 point lead, thanks to Jason Hopkins 13 1^st half points. The tables turned in the 2^nd half,  with Pfieffer forcing tons of turnovers and N. Alabama basically hacking them nearly every time down the court – Pfieffer happily made 18 2^nd half free throws en route to a victory. Pfieffer had very balanced scoring, and while Jason Hopkins played well for N. Alabama, their 4 other starters stunk it up, going a combined 6 of 21 from the field for 18 total points.

  

Incarnate Word 71, Erksine 59 – two traditional powers that are seeming to have down years met with the intent of changing their season’s momentum. The first half was completely ugly basketball, with bad shooting by both teams, and quite a few turnovers. IW finally looked like the powerhouse they often are in the 2^nd half, hitting  7 2^nd half 3 pointers and gradually pulling away from Erksine due to balanced scoring in the starting lineup.

 

From this point, the series was 6-4 in the CVAC’s favor.

 

Week 10

St. Mary’s 59, Longwood 43. Longwood wanted to keep this one ugly and doubleteam their archnemesis, Terry Coombs (who  basically singlehandedly ended Longwood’s potential title run last season). While the double team was somewhat successful, and the game was truly as ugly as Longwood wanted, the Lancers' new crop of youngins couldn’t make a shot, nor could they pass the ball to one another without the ball being stolen. St. Mary’s took advantage of Longwood’s impressive offensive ineptitude and grinded out a 59-43 win. While Longwood played solid defense as they always do, St. Mary’s was patient, taking the open three only when it was available (and shooting 47% from beyond the arc)

 

Belmont Abbey 73, West Alabama 59  - W. Alabama needed to win by about 14 for the Heartland to take the tourney title, and they lost by that much. Bad tourney for the directional Alabama schools.  West Alabama’s shooting was horrific the entire game. When they weren’t missing shots, center Joseph Anderson was repeatedly throwing passes out of bounds or having the ball stolen from him. Hixson and Freels kept them in the game with some 3’s, but Bel Abbey really dominated this one,helping the CVAC win another crown, 7 to 5

 

CVAC - Heartland Challenge fun facts

Total Series Won - CVAC 6, Heartland 1
Total Games Won - CVAC 52, Heartland 30

Belmont Abbey is currently the only team never to lose in the CVAC - Heartland Challenge. I believe 4 of those wins were vs. Incarnate Word.
Rockhurst is the only team never to have won in the CVAC - Heartland Challenge. 4 or 5 of their losses are to Limestone. 

In the standings below, teams are sorted by Record and then by average rank. 

The top four CVAC schools in the tourney have been 

#1 Belmont Abbey - 7-0 with an average seed of 2.4
#2 Queens (NC) - 6-1 with an average seed of 6.7
#3  Barton  - 6-1 with an average seed of 6.3
#4 Longwood - 5-2 with an average seed of 2.3

Anderson has been the lowest-performing school in the CVAC, with a tourney record of 2-4 and an average seed of 10.2

The top four Heartland schools in the tourney have been

#1. St. Mary's (TX) - 6-1 with an average seed of 1.4 (the best average seed among all schools)
#2. St. Edwards  - 4-3 with an average seed of 5.9
#3 Drury  4-3 with an average seed of 7.4
#4 N. Alabama 3-4 with an average seed of  6.7

Rockhurst has struggled the most in the tourney, going 0-7 with an average seed of  4.1

Series 1 - CVAC 6, Heartland 6 - CVAC wins on Tiebreaker
Series 2 - CVAC 10, Heartland 2
Series 3 - CVAC 8, Heartland 4
Series 4 - Heartland 6, CVAC 6 - Heartland wins on Tiebreaker. 
Series 5 - CVAC 6 Heartland 5
Series 6 - CVAC 9 Heartland 2
Series 7  - CVAC 7 Heartland 5

Stats for performances in Tourney Games 

CVAC Team Stats     W-L          Average Team Rank
Belmont Abbey              7-0          2.4
Queens (NC)                 6-1          6.7
 Barton                           6-1          6.3
 Longwood                     5-2          2.3
Pfieffer                           5-2          3.6
Limestone                      5-2           4.4
Coker                            4-3         8.0
Mt. Olive                       3-3           9.0
Erksine                         3-4           4.1
Lees-Mcrae                  3-4          9.9
St. Andrews Pres         3-4          10.6
Anderson                      2-4         10.2

Heartland Team Stats
St. Mary's (TX)               6-1           1.4
St. Edwards                   4-3             5.9
Drury                              4-3             7.4
N. Alabama                    3-4            6.7
Montevallo                     3-4              8.6
Lincoln                           3-4            10.9
W. Florida                      2-4            10
Incarnate Word             2-5           2.4
W. Alabama                  2-5            5.9
Oklahoma Pan St.         1-5            7.8
Valdosta St.                  1-6            6.6
Rockhurst                      0-7              4.1