No change in the top nine of the rankings but the last undefeated team fell last night. It's ok though, everyone knows that four is the super cool number of losses to have this season.
Last Night
#1 Millsaps 63 #4 Emory 53
It was quite the battle in the first half of this one with the teams trading punches and Emory taking a slim 2 point lead into the break. In the second half, Millsaps delivered a "this is why the voters love us" performance as they took the lead a couple minutes in and then never looked back. They locked down the defense and outscored the home team 31-19 in the half to cruise to an impressive 10 point road win. Millsaps and brianxavier stayed in the #1 spot with the win and now trail Emory by just one game in the divisional standings. Emory and phalla will have to win their two remaining conference games to guarantee a division title.
Also considered: #7 Piedmont took down the final undefeated team in the country #3 Palm Beach Atlantic in a solid 77-66 road win, #13 Louisiana got two free throws with three seconds left to squeak by Southwestern 85-84, #12 Wooster looked downright sexy in a key 70-55 road victory at Wittenberg, Trinity edged Dallas 53-51, and #23 Merchant Marines cruised past Stevens Tech 78-63.
Sim blowout watch: Both margins were in the 30's so both teams covered: La Verne 52-89 to #2 Colorado and Nebraska Wesleyan 37-72 to #19 Simpson.
ITaLRbHAGotN: Manchester secured the season sweep of Defiance with a comfortable 79-66 road triumph. Defiance tried to recover from an 18 point halftime deficit but the hole was too deep and the second half rally fell short. Manchester and goldenboy are now two games clear in the divisional race with four games remaining.
GotN
#13 Louisiana (16-6)(discodave) at #11 Ozarks (20-4)(timmytfk)
We just can't get out of the University conference, so many good games over there. Ozarks won the first meeting between these two earlier in the season by 2 points on the road which helped them to a one game lead for the west division title. A home win here would clinch it. Louisiana wants to avenge the loss at the buzzer and force at least a share of the division, they're favored by 1 point on the road.
Also considered: #10 Texas Lutheran at #25 Austin, #15 Willamette at Whitworth, Washington MD at #18 Dickinson, and Steven Tech at #20 Mount St. Mary
Sim blowout watch: Nazareth is a 58 point home dog as they welcome #16 Vassar to town.
ITaLRbHAGotN
New England (19-4)(Sim AI) at Wentworth Tech (16-6)(chewchad)
These two teams are tied for the west division lead in the Commonwealth Coast conference, each with two losses. What's really at stake here is Wentworth Tech's current streak of 41 straight conference titles, none of these players involved were even close to being born the last time Wentworth didn't finish first in the standings. Wentworth won the first meeting between these two easily despite the odd-makers calling it an even pick and now they have the gall to make visiting New England a 1 point favorite on the road. Have they no respect for history!?!