Thx Dave, we need some old D2 Yarnell vets to make it back to D2, where coaching and roster building still matter and things aren't SOOO random. Wait, did I say that last part out loud? (kidding, kidding...not really). By the way, it looks like RPI and SOS of Yarnell teams is lower than expected for now, but I think this is in large part due to all teams beating each other up, and once teams start to collect victories in conference play these will rise.
At the two-third's mark of this Yarnell marathon, we still have five teams within a game of each other. Last night Longwood was able to pull off the road victory against Northeastern St to stay in contention. Seattle also is keeping pace with Northeastern St and Longwood just a game behind the leaders, Wayne St. and Kennessaw St., although Wayne St. for the second time in three nights barely survived. This time, Dominican led until the last 15 seconds of the game.
Tonight, #17 Northeastern St. has another big game scheduled at co-leader #3 Kennesaw St., who is a 4-point favorite. Where this game becomes particularly critical for Northeastern St is that it would not only be very hard to make up a 2 game deficit with just two games, but they would also lose the tie-breaker to Kennesaw St, so this is essentially a do-or-die game for Northeastern St. #14 Seattle and #10 Longwood look to keep pace on the road against Central Arkansas and Gannon respectively. Wayne St., who has made a habit of barely escaping with a win, will host a Concord team looking to be a spoiler. A victory by either Wayne St. or Kennesaw St. tonight would eliminate Bellarmine, although they would still have a chance to finish fairly high at 6-3.
Tie-breakers start to become more meaningful at this point (or perhaps less meaningful if you read the following and end up confused). Wayne St. would lose a tie-breaker to Longwood, and Kennesaw St. would lose to Seattle. When Kennesaw St hosts Wayne St. tomorrow night, we already know that will likely cause one or more of the 2-loss teams to at least draw even with the loser of that game. If either team falters in the the other two games each plays, the door is wide open for teams currently one game back. Interestingly, to a certain extent, Northeastern St controls their destiny given that they still play both Kennesaw St. and Wayne St and can thus beat both in tie-breakers. However, Longwood would own the tie-breaker against NSU if both win out. However...Seattle would own the tie-breaker against Longwood in the instance if all 3 won out...although that would mean we quite possibly would have at least 4 teams in a tie.
STANDINGS
Wayne St. 5-1
Kennesaw St. 5-1
Northeastern St. 4-2
Longwood 4-2
Seattle 4-2
Bellarmine 3-3
Central Arkansas 2-4
Concord 2-4
Dominican 1-5
Gannon 0-6
ROUND SEVEN
#17 Northeastern St (5-2) +4 @ #3 Kennesaw St (6-1)
#10 Longwood (5-2) -21 @ Gannon (1-6)
Concord (2-5) +13 @ #5 Wayne St (6-1)
#14 Seattle (5-2) -5 @ Central Arkansas (3-4)
Dominican (2-5) +3 @ Bellarmine (4-3)
ROUND SIX RESULTS
Longwood 55 @ Northeastern St 45
LU - J Gaytan 12 (POG), P Lass 12
NSU - N Smith 16, R Tellis 8
Kennesaw St 78 @ Concord 66
KSU - S Kinchen 18 (POG), M Deck 13
CC - G Montgomery 12, R Kerns 12
Seattle 71 @ Gannon 56
SU - T Johnson 15/2blk (POG), A Davis 12/7R
GU - D Mitchell 12/5A, D Roan 12
Wayne St 78 @ Dominican 75
WSC - R Coleman 26/8 (POG), W Cole 7/3A/3S
DC - J Garner 18, W Adkisson 14
Central Arkansas 68 @ Bellarmine 78
BU - M Lis 13 (POG), W Chen 10/4A
UCA- A Bello 17, D Pulliam 11