In the three non-conference games today, all ODAC teams lost.

W&L trailed by 10 at the half at Guilford, but caught up midway through the second half an held on for a 90-88 win.

In Ashland, RMC's 25 point win over Lynchburg (85-60) felt more like a five point win. The Jackets had a six point halftime lead and slowly, methodically stretched it out. Lynchburg's Jamarcus Brown was on fire in the first half with 18 points but, as Coach Merkle said in the post-game interview, the Jackets were able to successfully limit Brown's touches in the second half. Lynchburg seemed to run out of steam late.

Yesterday Randolph got a win over William Peace, 82-72. Today there are two conference games -- Lynchburg at RMC and W&L at Guilford. Bridgewater, EMU, and VWU all have non-conference games. Starting Wednesday it's pretty much all ODAC action until the end, with the exception of RMC vs Mary Washington on 2/7. Perhaps there are some other non-conference games in there that I didn't notice.

Just checked the Webster at Illinois College score. Gorloks get a 70-64 win, despite going 1 for 13 from three compared to 6 made threes for IC. That's a 15 point differential. But Webster had nine more made two pointers and three more made free throws to give them the six point win. Justin Ugo and Ethan Chartrand do not appear in the box score for Webster. Hope they are okay. The win, in spite of their absence, suggests Webster has some depth. Gorloks are now 9-2. No more non-conference games.

After giving up a total of just 52 points in the first three halves of play yesterday and today, RMC gave up 54 to Salisbury in the second half this afternoon. But the Jackets scored 50 of their own points in that second half. So, with a 41-16 halftime lead, their lead was never threatened. Still, Salisbury showed that RMC has vulnerabilities, especially against teams with height. Final score was RMC 91, Salisbury 70.

Overall, ODAC teams went 5-2 on the day. Other winners were Roanoke, Averett, W&L, and Shenandoah. VWU took it on the chin from Mary Washington, as did H-SC vs Emory.

ODAC teams go 5-1 yesterday. Winners were Roanoke, W&L, H-SC, RMC, and Guilford.

Shots weren't falling for Misericordia in their lopsided loss to RMC. The Jackets haven't gotten rusty with a couple of long layoffs (13 days, then two games, the 9 days) but Misericordia's 14 days off, plus the travel to Ashland, appears to have taken a toll. They are a better team than the score suggests. Congrats to Coach Merkle on his 300th win in 14+ seasons as a head coach -- 234 of those wins are in his 10+ years at RMC.

From the box score, Bridgewater looks to have had a tough time making shots, including free throws (2-10) in a nine points loss.

Seven teams in action today. Yesterday's five winners, plus Averett and Shenandoah.

Averett falls to D1 Longwood. Shenandoah falls to D1 Radford. In the only D3 v D3 game, Bridgewater downs Medgar Evers 66-58.

Six games tomorrow, all vs D3.

Another 2-1 day for ODAC teams RMC cruises past Augsburg 85-49. And, as mentioned above, Roanoke gets a lopsided win over Wilson, 104-69 and H-SC loses 91-90 to Redlands in a game that was close from start to finish.

Players and coaches get a nice break. No more games until Sunday the 28th.

Merry Christmas to all.

^^^ Yes, Roanoke's win over Guilford didn't help them as much as I thought it might. Redlands is just much better at that style of play. Guilford will probably get better at it with time.

ODAC teams take two of three games yesterday. RMC has no trouble with Centre, starting out on a 22-3 run. The Colonels cut the deficit to eight with five minutes left in the first half, but the Jackets outscored them by 30 points the rest of the way for an 84-46 win.

H-SC downs Wilson 86-67.

In the matchup of top 25 teams, Roanoke struggles against Redlands' pressure defense and quick pace of play, losing 79-60. The Bulldogs have what I think is referred to as "length" -- players who appear lean and lanky and have long arms that seem to take up a lot of space. Plus they are quick.

The same three ODAC teams play today. RMC faces Augsburg, another team that plays pressure defense, though not as aggressively or effectively as Redlands. Roanoke & H-SC switch opponents at the H-SC Holiday Classic.

In games yesterday and today ODAC teams went 4-2. W&L, Averett, Lynchburg, and EMU got wins. Randolph took a loss and VWU dropped a double OT game at CNU.

Yesterday Roanoke gave up a 17-point halftime lead and lost by one point, (80-79) to Catholic. Today they got outscored by 18 points in the 4th quarter against Principia (a small school in Elsah, IL). Luckily for Roanoke they entered the frame leading by 21, so they held on for a 3-point win, 79-76. Looks like the Maroons have trouble finishing games.

In the same tournament, at Catholic U. in D.C., Randolph-Macon gets two wins -- 62-44 over Principia and 68-57 over Catholic. RMC sophomore Erin Porter had a huge game today vs Catholic with 28 points, making 9 of 16 field goals (including 6 of 12 from beyond the arc) and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.

Shout out to the announcer who was exceptionally well prepared, even noting that Porter's six made three-pointers was one off the single game record for RMC, set a decade ago by Hannah Livermon.

Prin loses to Roanoke today 79-76. Just like yesterday vs Randolph-Macon, they trailed significantly entering the fourth quarter (21 points today, 17 yesterday), but mounted another comeback. This one nearly worked as the Panthers outscored Roanoke by 18 in the final stanza.

^^^ ODAC teams take two more losses today. So, over the past three days Bridgewater, Lynchburg, Shenandoah, W&L and EMU have all fallen.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on September 16, 2025, 12:00:47 PMPrincipia was the talk of this board at the end of last season, so let's talk about them again to start the new season. Their schedule is posted and among their games is a trip to Washington, DC in mid-December to face a couple of ODAC schools -- Randolph-Macon and Roanoke -- in a four team "Classic" at Catholic University. Randolph-Macon is my alma mater. They were 29-2 last season and made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Their two losses were to the same team (Gettysburg in the 2nd game of the season and in the Sweet Sixteen). But RMC graduated three key players, whereas Principia had only one senior last season. I'll be looking forward to this game.

The Principia/RMC game is in the books. RMC wins 62-44, but it was much more competitive than the final score. Prin cut a 20-point 4th quarter deficit to eight before going cold again. They are quick and have players with good offensive moves and are pesky in both their man and zone defenses. They were hurt by poor shooting in the second and third quarters and were significantly out-rebounded. Their tough non-conference schedule should have them well prepared for SLIAC play, though I'm surprised at their early loss to Westminster. Will be interested in how they fare tomorrow against another ODAC opponent in Roanoke.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on December 15, 2025, 03:07:08 PM

Quote from: y_jack_lok on December 14, 2025, 09:13:21 AM^^^ Then, 24 hours later, Greenville plays at Elmhurst. Maybe not as much fun to watch, though.

48 hours?

Oh, right. My bad.