#23 Lincoln (7-2) at #6 Erskine (7-2): Lincoln heads on the road is what should be a good matchup between two ranked teams. Lincoln’s losses have come to #2 Chaminade & #12 Cal Poly Pomona, while Erskine has lost to #14 Lander & #13 Bryant. Lincoln bombs away from outside, having made nearly as many three-pointers as opponents have attempted this season. Erskine’s press will have to deal with four guards averaging double-digits for Lincoln as they shoot 39% as a team from deep. Erskine’s trio of Booth, Ponder, & DeShields provide over 41 ppg as an inside-outside threat. Erskine favored by a point.
Lees-McRae (4-5) at Drury (6-3): Lees-McRae travels to Springfield, MO to take on a athletic defensive minded Drury team. Lees-McRae has balanced scoring amongst the starters, with leading scorer Anthony Crystal providing the punch off the bench with 10 ppg. Drury holds opponents to 41% shooting, with scoring courtesy of forwards William Knight & Gerald Campbell and their 10 ppg each. This one may be ugly, the type of game visiting coach bbunch of Longwood would enjoy. Drury by six.
Oklahoma Panhandle (6-3) at #8 Limestone (7-2): Both of these teams are probably a bit underrated, which is crazy when you consider one of them is a top ten team. OkPan has eight upperclassmen in their motion/press attack (Marvin Bonham and Raymond Coaxum combining for more than 20ppg) and lurks just outside the top 25. Limestone has two losses, a one point loss to Humboldt St and an OT loss at Wisconsin-Parkside. Oh and they are fresh off four straight wins in the Yarnell against Hillsdale, St Marys, Harding, and Cal, San Diego. Junior bigmen and leading scorers William Hussey & Steven Murphy are close to being undefeated. Did I mention that away from those two, they shoot 41% from deep as a team? Limestone favored by 4, but they are scary.
#20 Pfeiffer (8-1) at St Edwards (4-5): Bow2dacowz has ripped off 8 wins in a row with Pfeiffer outscoring opponents by more than 15ppg. They are accurate from deep, draining them at a 42% clip which is 2% better than opponents shoot from the floor. St Eds has 5 losses, but they are all to potential tournament teams and they boast the most athletic team (along with Drury) in all of D-II. They get points from Casey Letieller (13 ppg) and Robert Bunker (10 ppg). Don’t let the 8 point spread fool you, this is not a comfortable matchup for Pfeiffer.
#21 St Mary’s (6-3) at Longwood (6-3): How even can this be? Both teams are 6-3. The point spread is even. Bbunch and mducanhogs are 8-8 against each other. St Mary’s is looking to break a three game Yarnell-induced skid (by the way, when was the last time St Mary’s lost 3 in a row?). Aureilio Gallo, in seemingly his eighth year at the university is completing his Doctorate of Marksmanship, scoring over 19 ppg. Sidekicks Todd Abron & Tyronne Dorr kick in another 22 ppg. The trio shoots 46%(!) from three-point land. Since embracing ugly ball, bbunch has 6 straight wins, including wins over Incarnate Word and Northeastern State. The points aren’t frequent for Longwood, as they score less than 58 ppg, but they seem to get it done.