MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Dr. Acula]

Up 24 midway through the 2nd half to up 5 in the final minute.  Freaking Wilmington, man.  It seems like every time they play them at some point Wilm has some avalanche run where they're pressing, Mount is turning it over and Wilm is making everything.  It just feeds on itself until Mount snaps out it and regains their footing (the Farrington and 1 today).

ONU took down Muskie 73-65 in Ada.  Fish were 3-19 from 3 and 12-21 on FT.  Ouch.

[Dr. Acula]

This is a big week for sorting out the top of the conference.  Muskie has Wilm and Ott at home this week.  ONU is at Ott on Tuesday.  That's a big game for who can lay claim to #2 in the conference right now.  If ONU wins they will have beaten both Muskie and Ott and lost to Mount by 2* in Alliance.  If Ott wins they will be 5-1 with their only loss being at Mount, but then they go right on the road to Muskie on Saturday.


* ONU hit an uncontested 3 at the buzzer so it was technically a 2 point game.

[Dr. Acula]

The dust is starting to settle a little in the top 25 poll.  The ORV is slimming down.  Mount moved up a spot to #4 and got a 1st place vote this week.  Calvin stayed put at #16.  No other region 7 team is even receiving a vote. 

[raiderpa]

Who do you call about the Flosports feeds?  These commercial runs in the middle of action are deplorable. I had at least 7 in the second half of the Mount-Marietta game. A few of the commercials came back to time outs.  It was nuts, and not what we pay for.

[Dr. Acula]

Mount is up 24-5 on Cap right now.  Not starting slow tonight. 

[D3fanboy]

Vaden is a difference maker when he's on the court.  Him and Taylor out there at the same time just doesn't seem fair defensively

[Dr. Acula]

Agreed.  They're so long with those two roaming around defensively.  Vaden got the start and I haven't seen Laurich at all tonight.  Hopefully he's okay.  Let's hope Tucker cools down a little at halftime.  20 points on 6-7 from 3 is scary.  Cap needs him to stay hot considering they're still down 16 despite the unconscious shooting from Tucker.

[Dr. Acula]

Muskie dropped 113 on Wilm winning easily.  Ott outlasted ONU 74-66.  Sets up a big game between the Cards (13-2, 5-1) and the Fish (12-3, 4-2) on Saturday in New Concord.  Ott has won 8 straight!

Mount ended up winning 91-78.  Cap battled back in the 2nd half cutting to single digits.  At one point Cap made 8 straight FG.  This was probably the best overall game Vaden has played.  He started and played 26 minutes.  10 pts (5-5 FG), 6 reb, 5 blk, 3 stl.  And only 1 personal foul.  He is really improving even within this season and it's fun to watch.  Casenhiser had 27 and 8 reb.  Hamilton had 18, 6 ast, 3 stl.  I will say there were a few careless turnovers last night, but Cap isn't good enough to take advantage.  Also, Cap is 1-6 now.  They are not the worst team in the OAC.  No way they end up there IMO.   

 

[Dr. Acula]

I forgot to mention but awesome to add, Mount had almost 1100 in attendance for a weeknight game Wed.  That's a huge crowd for a weeknight and well deserved for a team obliterating the consecutive wins streak.

[BillyRayJimBob]

I haven't seen Laurich at all tonight.  Hopefully he's okay.

I received access to the game a little late (without a lengthy explanation, I can only point blame to FloSports) and did not see Laurich on the floor. I checked the stats web site, and it did not show him at all. I tried to see if he was on the sidelines, but could not tell 100%, but guessing "No." Maybe the flu or the stomach bug and Coach said, "Stay away from the Team and get better." With a week off (and "only" playing Capital), that made sense. Hope the actual situation is nothing worse.

This was probably the best overall game Vaden has played.  He started and played 26 minutes.  10 pts (5-5 FG), 6 reb, 5 blk, 3 stl.  And only 1 personal foul.  He is really improving even within this season and it's fun to watch. 

No arguments here about that young Man! Although, I watched him put the ball on the floor a couple of times and it was awkward. A long way down for his dribble. A more alert defense would have had the steal.

Like the Good Doctor, I am sure, I am interested in seeing the Otterbein @ Muskingum game tomorrow. Something interesting to have on while I do the annual purging/shredding of the household files.

[BillyRayJimBob]

Like the Good Doctor, I am sure, I am interested in seeing the Otterbein @ Muskingum game tomorrow. Something interesting to have on while I do the annual purging/shredding of the household files.

Well, that game didn't quite go the way that I had hoped.
The Fightin' Fish tried to make it interesting somewhat early in the second half when they pulled within 6 points, but the Red Birds put their claw on the throttle and flew away with it.

[Dr. Acula]

I caught the tail end of the 1st half and the first 10 min of the 2nd half.  I thought Muskie was going to make a game of it, but Ott just wouldn't let them.  They're clearly the #2 team.  The Cards aren't flashy.  They don't have a spotlight-grabbing star.  Heckman is very good in an understated way.  They just play well as a team.  They're well coached.  When Mount beat them in Alliance I was not overly impressed with Ott.  But in hindsight I was basing that off what I thought Mount was which at that time in my mind was nowhere near a top 5 team.  I thought Mount was a solid team with a lot of potential to be really good by the end of the season.  Turns out Mount has just been a really good team the entire time and Ott's game at Mount has a different feel now.

[BillyRayJimBob]

Curious as to how they navigate
- @ Heidi
- @ ONU
- Host Marietta
Before venturing to Otterbein.
Some potential broom-handle trip-ups are in there.

[Dr. Acula]

The trip to Ada won't be easy.  ONU has played them the toughest of anyone this season. 

I went back and looked and over the last 4 or 5 years the largest margin at Ott has been 10.  They've been getting a good challenge from the Cards in Westerville lately so it should be a good one this year.

[Patrick Coleman]

Otterbein ranked No. 24, their first ranking since November 2004.
https://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2025-26/week7